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<UF.I!VI 


THE 

HISTORY   AND   GEOGRAPHY 

OF   THE 

MISSISSIPPI    VALLEY 

TO    WHICH    IS    APPENDED 

A  CONDENSED  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY 

OF  THE 

ATLANTIC  UNITED  STATES, 

AND   THE    WHOLE 

AMERICAN  CONTINENT. 

THIRD   EDITION. 


BY   TIMOTHY  FLINT, 

AUTHOR   OF   'RECOLLECTIONS    OF   THE   LAST    TEN    YEARS   IN   THE 
MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY.' 


SALVE     MAGNA     PARENS. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.   I, 


CINCINNATI: 

E.    H.    FLINT. 

BOSTON: 

CARTER,   HENDEE,   AND   CO. 
1833. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-cme, 
by  Timothy  Flint,  in  the  Clerk's  Ofiice  of  the  District  Court  of  Ohio. 


TO 

JOSEPH   PEABODY,  ESQ. 

salem,  massachusetts. 

Sir: 

I  have  ventured  to  inscribe  this  book  with  your 
name,  for  the  following  reasons:  I  wished  to  prove,  that 
much  as  I  have  wandered,  my  heart  and  my  affections 
have  still  had  their  stationary  points.  It  is  my  pride  to 
hope,  amidst  all  the  vicissitudes  through  which  I  have 
passed,  that  the  friends  of  my  youth  will  be  those  of  my 
age.  Years  in  their  flight  will  never  shed  the  mildew  of 
oblivion  over  kindnesses  which  have  marked  every  period 
of  my  intercourse  with  you.  Those  kindnesses  are  alike 
associated  with  the  remembrance  of  scenes  that  have 
passed  in  the  land  of  my  birth,  and  in  distant  regions  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  To  you  and  one  other  friend,  it  is 
owing  that  I  ever  appeared  before  the  public.  I  know 
not  if  the  public  will  thank  you,  or  if  it  ought.  I  feel  that 
I,  at  least,  ought  never  to  forget  the  kindness  and  munifi- 
cence of  the  motive.  While  your  keels  plough  every 
sea,  bringing  home  the  rich  harvests  of  commerce,  I  have 
always  known  you  the  earnest  and  consistent  friend  of  the 
sacred  soil  and  the  plough.  This  acquaintance,  with 
predilections  apparently  so  foreign  from  those  which  have 
governed  your  pursuits  in  life,  has  added  an  inducement 
to  inscribe  to  you  a  book,  which,  while  it  presents  a  brief 


f>"*3 


*4    * 


DEDICATION. 


sketch  of  all  the  great  interests  of  our  country,  dwells  with 
most  detail  upon  the  fertility  of  the  American  soil,  and 
the  uncounted  millions  of  acres  of  its  untitled  and  teeming 
wilderness,  yet  to  be  occupied  by  independent  and  happy 
yeomen. 

Fortunate  as  has  been  the  general  course  of  your  career 
since  my  first  work  was  inscribed  with  your  name,  you 
have  experienced  a  loss  as  severe  as  can  try  the  human 
heart,  and  have  sustained  it  with  a  firmness  of  Christian 
philosophy,  which  proved  that  in  the  midst  of  prosperity 
you  had  not  forgotten  on  what  tenure  we  hold  all  the 
blessings  of  this  mutable  existence. 

May  you  continue  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  doing  good, 
in  the  tranquil  repose  of  resignation  in  the  midst  of  the 
children  that  remain  to  you,  rendering  your  age  as  happy 
as  your  past  life  has  been  honorable  and  useful. 

With  feelings  of  indelible  gratitude  and  respect, 

I  subscribe  myself  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

TIMOTHY  FLINT. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.   I. 


Introduction.  General  features  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  17.  Face 
of  the  Country,  18.  Minerals,  29.  Climate,  31.  Diseases,  35.  Trees 
and  shrubs,  40.  Vines  and  creepers,  50.  Shrubs,  53.  Herbs,  grasses, 
and  flowering  plants,  54.  Medicinal  plants,  57.  Animals,  6G.  Birds, 
74.  Reptiles,  78.  Fishes,  83.  Rivers,  91.  Indians,  or  Aboriginal 
inhabitants,  107.  Monuments,  131.  Present  Population,  134.  Na- 
tional character  of  the  Western  People,  140.  Religious  character  of  the 
Western  People,  146.     Pursuits  of  the  People,  152. 

Civil  History,  164.  Settlement  of  Canada,  Florida,  and  Louisiana, 
165.  Character  of  the  Colonists,  166.  Settlements  on  the  Ohio  and 
Monongahela,  167.  Settlement  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  167. 
Defeat  of  the  Kentuckians  at  the  Blue  Licks,  168.  Settlement  of  Ohio, 
169.  Invasion  of  Pensacola,  171.  Massacre  of  the  French  at  Natchez, 
171.  Braddock's  Defeat,  172.  Victory  of  Wolfe,  capture  of  Fort  Lou- 
don, and  close  of  the  War,  172.  War  of  the  American  Revolution,  173. 
Peace,  174.  Spanish  Treaty,  175.  Indian  War,  and  Peace,  175. 
Western  Insurrection,  176.  Cession  of  Louisiana,  177.  Burr's  Expe- 
dition, 177.  First  Steam  Boat  on  the  Western  waters,  177.  Renewal 
of  the  Indian  War,  177.  Surrender  of  Detroit,  and  Indian  War  in  the 
South,  178.  Massacre  of  the  Raisin,  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  defence  of 
Fort  Stephenson,  victory  of  Perry,  and  defeat  of  General  Proctor,  179. 
Death  of  Tecumseh,  and  invasion  of  Louisiana  by  the  British,  180. 
Battle  of  the  eighth  of  January,  181.     Peace,  182.     State  of  the  coun 


G  CONTENTS. 

try,  182.    Failure  of  Banks,  184.     Relief  Laws,  185.     Establishment 
of  a  sound  currency,  1S5.     Immigration,  186. 

Florida,  199.  Climate,  199.  Productions,  201.  Minerals,  203. 
Animals,  204.  Birds  and  Fish,  204.  Serpents,  205.  Insects,  Bays, 
Inlets,  and  Sounds,  206.  Rivers,  207.  Islands,  Curiosities,  208. 
Fountains,  Lakes,  and  Springs,  209.  Savages,  Civil  Divisions,  and 
Population,  210.  Comparative  advantages  of  Immigration  to  Florida, 
211.  Chief  Towns,  212.  History,  215.  Acres  of  marketable  Land, 
217. 

Alabama,  218.  Civil  Divisions,  and  Population,  218.  Rivers,  219. 
Face  of  the  Country,  Soil,  &c,  220.  Character  of  the  Population,  222. 
Seminaries,  Climate,  and  Diseases,  223.  Employment  of  the  People, 
and  Chief  Towns,  224.  County  Towns,  and  Constitution  and  Laws, 
227. 

Mississippi,  Names  of  Counties,  Population,  Face  of  the  Country, 
228.  Rivers,  229.  Islands,  Climate,  231.  Indians,  233.  Agricul- 
ture, and  Pursuits  of  the  People,  234.  Attention  to  schools,  &c,  Con- 
tion,  Chief  Towns,  235.     History,  237. 

Louisiana,  Parishes,  Population  by  the  Census  of  1830,  238.  Face 
of  the  Country,  Soil,  &c,  239.  Agriculture  and  Productions,  243. 
Slaves,  248.  Rivers  and  Lakes,  250.  Islands,  238.  Bays,  Prairies, 
259.  New  Parishes,  Fortifications,  202.  Chief  Towns,  263.  Roads 
and  Canals,  271.  Constitution  and  Laws,  272.  Character,  274.  Re- 
ligion 275. 

Arkansas  Territory,  Civil  Divisions,  276.  Face  of  the  Country, 
277.  Rivers,  278.  Soil  and  Productions,  282.  Climate  and  salubrity, 
Settlements,  281.     Chief  Towns,  285.     Indians,  286.     History,  287. 

Missouri,  Civil  Divisions,  288.  Population,  Face  of  the  Country, 
Soil,289.  Productions, 291.  Animals,  291.  Agriculture, 295.  Houses, 
Climate,  296.  Salubrity  of  the  Country,  298.  Scenery,  Roads,  &c, 
299.  Minerals,  Fossils,  &c.,  300.  Rivers,  303.  Game,  &c,  Chief 
Towns,  308.  Constitutions,  Laws,  &c.,  Manners,  &c,  313.  History, 
816. 

Illinois,  Civil  Divisions,  319.  Population,  Face  of  the  Country,  320. 
Rivers,  325.     Minerals,  Climate,  3^'s.     Agriculture  and  Manufactures, 

Chief  Towns,  320.     Diseases,  &c.,  331.     Roads,  Public  Improvements, 


CONTENTS.  7 

Seminaries,  &c.,  Constitution  and  Laws,  332.     History, 333.     Curiosi- 
ties, 334. 

Tennessee,  Civil  Divisions,  330.  Face  of  the  Country,  Earths, 
Fossils,  and  Salts,  338.  Climate  and  Productions,  339.  Rivers,  340. 
Argiculture,  Produce,  and  Manufactures,  Chief  Towns,  341.  Natural 
Curiosities,  343.     Constitution,  Schools,  345.     History,  340. 

Kentucky,  Civil  Divisions,  347.  Population,  349.  Face  of  the 
Country,  350.  Rivers,  351.  Minerals  and  Mineral  Waters,  353. 
Agriculture  and  Produce,  354.  Chief  Towns,  355.  Education,  303. 
Curiosities,  &c,  307.  Characters,  Manners,  &c.  308.  Religion,  309. 
Constitution,  Government,  &c,  370. 

v 

Indiana,  Civil  Divisions,  371.  Population,  Face  of  the  Country, 
Soil,  &c,  373.  Climate,  &c,  375.  Rivers,  370.  Chief  Towns, 
Character  of  the  Country  in  which  they  are  situated,  378.  Navigable 
Waters,  380.  Indians,  387,  Game  and  Fish,  Minerals  and  Fossils,  An- 
tiquities, 388.  Curiosities,  Roads  and  Canals,  Seminaries,  389.  Con- 
stitution and  Government,  390.     History,  391.     Revenue,  392. 

Ohio,  Civil  Divisions,  393.  Population,  Face  of  the  Country,  395. 
Agricultural  Productions,  397.  Rivers,  398.  Minerals  and  Mineral 
Springs,  400.  Climate,  407.  Antiquities,  408.  Increase  of  Popula 
tion,  Religion,  409.  Trade  and  Manufactures,  Colleges  and  Semina- 
ries, 410.  Chief  Towns,  412.  Military  Positions,  Roads  and  Canals, 
425.     Militia,  Penitentiary,  Government,  020. 

West  Pennsylvania,  Population,  Face  of  the  Country,  Education, 
428.    Inhabitants,  Chief  Towns,  429. 

West  Virginia,  Face  of  the  Country,  435.  Streams,  Chief  Towns, 
430. 

Michigan,  Civil  Divisions,  438.  Population,  Face  of  the  Country, 
Rivers,  439.  Indians,  440.  Climate,  441.  Agriculture,  Manufac- 
tures, Exports,  &c,  Chief  Towns,  442.  Government,  443.  History 
Sketches  of  the  Lakes,  and  the  River  Niagara,  444. 

North- West  Territory,  Rivers,  451.  Face  of  the  Country,  Min- 
erals, Climate,  452.    Towns,  453. 


8  CONTENTS. 

Missouri  Territory,  Face  of  the  Country,  455.      Mountains,  456. 
Rivers,  457.     Climate,  459. 

Oregon   Territory,    462.      Rivers,   Face  of  the   Country,  463. 
Temperature,  464.     Discovery  of  the  Country,  Mexican  States,  466. 


PREFACE. 


Had  the  author  been  aware,  when  he  assumed  this  task,  of  the  amount 
of  labor  and  difficulty  in  which  it  would  involve  him,  he  would  have 
shrunk  from  it  in  dismay.  But  he  had  announced  the  work,  and  made 
no  inconsiderable  progress  in  it  before  a  full  view  of  the  difficulties  and 
discouragements  opened  upon  him.  One  of  the  difficulties,  and  that  by 
no  means  an  inconsiderable  one,  was  that  of  procuring  materials  for  all 
that  part  of  the  work  which  could  not  be  supplied  by  his  own  personal 
observation.  From  a  general  consciousness  of  the  western  people  of  the 
incompetence  of  most  of  those  who  have  assumed  to  collect  materials  for 
works  of  this  sort,  and  an  unwillingness  that  their  names  should  stand 
as  authorities,  it  has  happened  that  they  who  were  most  capable  of  fur- 
nishing materials,  have  heard  with  indifference  and  neglect  solicitations 
to  furnish  such  materials. 

There  seems  to  be  but  one  sure  and  adequate  avenue  to  such  collec- 
tion ;  and  that  is,  to  travel  from  state  to  state,  and  from  capital  to  capital, 
to  make  it  in  person.  Such  is  the  expense  attending  this  mode,  that  very 
few,  who  belong  to  the  proverbially  poor  fraternity  of  authors,  can  afford 
it.  Such,  also,  is  the  length  of  time  necessary  to  complete  such  a  tour, 
with  the  requisite  deliberation  and  delay,  that,  owing  to  the  rapid  chan- 
ges effected  in  the  scene  by  time,  the  first  part  of  the  sketch  has  become 
an  inadequate  representation  before  the  last  is  completed.  Whatever  be 
the  industry,  honesty  of  intention,  and  ability  of  the  author  of  such  a 
work,  he  must  be  content  to  prepare  it  under  all  these  disadvantages,  and 
identify  his  fortunes  with  a  class  of  writers,  whose  writing  upon  similar 
subjects,  however  deserving,  have  rapidly  passed  into  oblivion.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  preliminary  difficulties,  the  author  had  to  encounter  that  of 
ill  health ;  which,  whether  it  be  an  allowed  plea  to  enter  in  palliation  of 
defects  or  not,  is  certainly  a  very  great  impediment  in  prosecuting  works 
of  this  sort.  At  the  the  same  time,  his  hands  have  been  filled  with 
laborious  avocations  of  another  kind. 
2 


10  PREFACE. 

But  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  these,  and  various  other  difficulties 
easy  to  name.  The  author  had  given  a  pledge,  and  'put  his  hand  to  the 
plough?  He  felt,  too,  that  he  had  some  grounds  on  which  to  assume 
such  a  work.  He  had  devoted  the  best  portion  of  twelve  years  to  explor- 
ing the  western  country.  He  had  remained  one  or  more  seasons  in  each 
of  its  great  divisions.  He  had  been  familiar  with  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis, 
and  New  Orleans,  the  points  most  central  to  the  information  and  resources 
of  their  respective  divisions,  and  had  resided  in  each  of  those  capitals. 
He  had  traversed  this  great  valley  in  all  its  chief  directions,  in  an  em- 
ployment which  had  necessarily  brought  him  in  contact  with  all  classes 
of  its  people,  and  all  its  aspects  of  society.  He  had  had  abundant  com- 
munications with  its  scholars  and  distinguish  ed  men.  As  an  earnest 
lover  of  nature,  he  had  contemplated  nature  in  the  west,  in  the  original, 
and  in  all  her  phases.  On  foot,  and  alone,  he  had  wandered  beside  her 
long  and  devious  streams.  He  had  been  between  two  and  three  hundred 
days  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributary  waters.  He  had  published 
'Recollections'  of  these  journeyings,  which  had  been  received  by  the 
public  with  great  kindness.  His  chief  efforts,  as  an  author,  had  been 
directed  to  bringing  the  people  of  the  west  acquainted  with  one  another, 
and  the  beauty  and  resources  of  their  own  great  country.  He  hopes  it 
will  not  be  deemed  assumption  for  him  to  say  that  he  has  done  something 
towards  bringing  about  an  intimacy  of  good  feelings  between  the  elder 
sister,  whose  fair  domain  is  the  east  country,  the  fresh  breeze,  and  the 
shores  of  the  sea ;  and  her  younger  sister,  whose  dotal  portion  is  the 
western  woods,  and  the  fertile  shores  of  the  western  streams. 

A  kind  of  affectionate  feeling  for  the  country  where  he  has  enjoyed 
and  suffered  all  that  the  human  heart  can  be  supposed  capable  of  feeling 
on  this  side  of  the  grave ;  which  contains  his  children,  his  charities,  and 
all  those  ties  which  call  forth  aspirations  for  its  well-being  after  he  shall 
be  in  the  dust,  enlisted  his  first  purpose  to  commence  this  work.  The 
general  amenity  of  its  aspect,-  its  boundless  woods  and  prairies;  its  long 
and  devious  streams;  and  its  unparalleled  advancement  in  population 
and  improvement,  filled  his  imagination.  He  had  seen  the  country,  in 
some  sense,  grow  up  under  his  eye.  He  saw  the  first  steam  boat  that 
descended  the  Mississippi.  He  had  seen  much  of  that  transformation,  as 
if  of  magic,  which  has  converted  the  wilderness  to  fields  and  orchards. 
He  has  wished  to  transfer  to  others  some  of  the  impressions  which  have 
been  wrought  on  his  own  mind  by  witnessing  those  changes.  Such  were 
some  of  the  motives  that  impelled  him  to  undertake  this  work. 

He  has  a  distinct  foresight  of  the  views  which  some  will  entertain  and 
express  in  reference  to  this  work.  But  he  can  pronounce  with  perfect 
simplicity  and  confidence,  that  his  least  fears  of  criticism  are  from  those 


PREFACE.  11 

whose  candor,  experience,  and  ability  best  qualify  them  to  judge.  At 
any  rate,  he  will  cheerfully  suffer  the  sentence,  whatever  it  may  be, 
which  the  western  people  shall  pass  upon  this  work.  To  those  who  have 
predicted  that  he  would  draw  too  largely  upon  the  language,  and  the 
coloring  of  poetry  and  the  imagination,  he  can  only  say,  that  it  has  been 
his  first  aim  to  compress  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  useful  informa- 
tion into  the  smallest  compass.  He  has,  therefore,  rather  to  apprehend 
that  the  intelligent  will  find  it  too  statistical  and  laconic,  too  much  abbre- 
viated, and  divested  of  detail. 

Something  more  than  half  the  compass  of  this  work  is  original,  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  the  word,  the  remarks  and  details  being  the  fruit  of  his 
own  observation  or  reflection.  What  has  been  suggested  by  the  reading 
and  observation  of  those  who  have  preceded  him  in  labors  of  this  kind, 
will  be  generally  found,  he  thinks,  to  have  been  assimilated,  to  use  a 
medical  term,  and  to  have  received  in  his  mind  the  moulding  of  his  own 
manner.  But  touching  the  matter  obtained  from  other  books,  he  claims 
no  other  merit  than  that  of  being  a  laborious  and  faithful  compiler.  In 
some  instances,  where  the  thoughts  could  not  be  better,  or  more  briefly 
expressed,  the  words  of  the  original  authors  may  have  been  used.  He 
has  referred  to  at  least  thirty  volumes;  and  to  those  who  might  feel  dis- 
posed to  suggest  that  he  has  made  a  book  from  the  labors  of  others,  he 
would  beg  leave  to  remark,  that  if  they  shall  be  pleased  to  think  that 
they  have  found  the  substance  of  all  these  volumes  in  this  work,  he  shall 
consider  it  the  highest  encomium  they  can  pass  upon  it. 

He  feels  it  to  be  a  duty,  once  for  all,  to  make  the  most  frank  and  ample 
avowal  of  the  sources  to  which  he  has  chiefly  repaired  for  compilation. 
That  works  of  history  and  geography  must  necessarily  be  prepared  in 
this  way,  no  person,  at  all  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  such  writings, 
need  be  told.  As  well  might  a  traveler  presume  to  claim  the  fee-simple 
of  all  the  country  which  he  has  surveyed,  as  a  historian  and  geographer 
expect  to  preclude  those  who  come  after  him  from  making  a  proper  use 
of  his  labors.  If  the  former  writers  have  seen  accurately,  and  related 
faithfully,  the  latter  ought  to  have  the  resemblance  of  declaring  the  same 
facts,  with  that  variety  only,  which  nature  has  enstamped  upon  the  dis- 
tinct elaborations  of  every  individual  mind.  Those  who  have  preceded 
him,  have  availed  themselves  of  the  observations  of  their  predecessors. 
The  author  flatters  himself  that  this  work,  in  its  turn,  will  be  consulted 
by  those  who  will  come  after  him.  As  works  of  this  sort  become  multi- 
plied, volumnious,  and  detailed,  it  becomes  a  duty  to  literature  to  abstract, 
abridge,  and  give,  in  synoptical  views,  the  information  that  is  spread 
through  numerous  volumes.  So  far  from  its  being  the  tendency  of  a 
work  of  this  kind  to  undervalue  and  preclude  the  use  of  works,  from 


12  PREFACE. 

which  it  is  compiled,  he  would  hope,  that  adverting  to  the  original  work?, 
by  pointing  to  the  sources  of  his  information,  would  have  the  contrary 
effect  of  inducing  those  readers  who  wish  to  view  the  subject  in  all  its 
details  and  bearings,  to  repair  to  those  works  and  rescue  them  from 
oblivion.  Many  of  them  are  works  of  great  merit,  and  have  undeserv- 
edly passed  into  disuse. 

He  has  not  considered  it  necessary  to  give  individual  quotations,  or  to 
disfigure  the  margin  with  references  and  authorities.  The  reader  ought 
to  rely  upon  the  fact,  that  nothing  is  here  put  down  which  has  not  been 
previously  weighed  in  the  author's  mind,  and  admitted,  either  as  matter 
of  his  own  observation,  or  on  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  competent  and 
credible  testimony  of  others.  Sometimes,  upon  a  particular  point,  he 
has  adopted  the  phraseology  of  the  author  entire.  At  other  times,  he  has 
adjusted  the  views  of  one  author  by  another,  endeavoring  to  settle  a  just 
medium  from  the  result  of  his  own  observations. 

For  the  topographical  and  geographical  parts,  he  has  chiefly  consulted 
the  following  authors,  viz:  Charlevoix,  Volney,  Barram,  Breckenridge, 
Darby,  Stoddard,  Atwater,  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Navigator,  Dana,  Emi- 
grant's Guide,  Long's  Expeditions,  Pike,  Schoolcraft,  Beck,  successive 
extracts  from  Cincinnati  Directories,  and  Woodruff's  Engraving  of  the 
city,  correspondence  with  Mr.  Dunbar  of  Mississippi,  Dr.  McKay  of  Ar- 
kansas, Judge  Carr  of  St.  Louis,  Rev.  M.  Peers,  and  Professor  Caldwell 
of  Kentucky,  Daniel  Bryan,  Esq.  of  Alexandria,  and  Messrs.  Lanier 
and  Farnham  of  Indiana;  beside,  short  extracts  from  various  corres- 
pondents and  cotemporary  Gazettes,  too  numerous  to  specify. 

In  reference  to  the  second  part  of  this  work,  it  is  from  the  obvious 
necessity  of  the  case,  more  simply  a  work  of  compilation  than  the  former. 
He  has  indeed  brought  every  item  of  his  own  personal  observation  to 
bear  upon  it.  But  that  observation  in  an  individual  case  must  be  limited. 
He  could  not  name,  if  disposed,  all  the  sources  from  which  he  has  sought 
and  obtained  information.  For  many  facts,  he  has  relied  on  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Worcester's  excellent  Gazetteer.  The  portions  of  the  work  that 
treat  of  the  country  beyond  the  United  States,  have  been  chiefly  drawn 
from  Captain  Parry,  Malte  Brim,  Humboldt,  Breckenridge,  and  Bullock. 
But  the  intelligent  reader  will  readily  understand,  that  in  the  present 
state  of  our  intelligence,  touching  the  physical  geography  of  Mexico  and 
South  America,  Make  Brun  has  left  little  to  be  said  after  him.  Of  course 
he  has  been  the  authority  chiefly  followed. 

He  regrets  that  other  motives  than  his  own  inclination,  inculcated  by 
experience,  have  compelled  him  to  omit  the  greater  portions  of  the  history 
of  the  western  country,  and  replace  it  with  more  extended  details  of 


PREFACE.  13 

statistical  and  physical  geography,  the  points  of  absorbing  interest  about 
which  emigrants  to  the  great  West  are  chiefly  solicitous. 

He  would  have  been  amused,  if  an  author  were  apt  to  be  so  amused, 
by  the  criticisms  elicited  by  his  first,  edition.  He  desires  to  withdraw  his 
hands  from  the  scalding  element  of  cotemporary  history,  while  the  parties 
are  still  on  the  stage.  The  manner  and  form  must  have  been  fashioned 
to  the  dictation  of  a  thousand  individuals  to  have  pleased;  and  what  is 
worse,  the  emendation  proposed  by  one  would  have  been  the  most  annoy- 
ing blemish  to  another.  He  knows  no  remedy  for  the  deluge  of  criticism 
that  inundates  the  land,  but  a  callousness  of  patience  equal  to  every 
proof.  The  reader  knows  better  than  himself,  that  it  is  a  great  evil  to 
write  a  great  book.  Though  he  is  desirous  of  perpetrating  the  very 
offence,  there  are  but  too  many  with  whom  it  is  a  more  unpardonable 
fault  to  write  a  good  one. 

His  former  work  met  with  a  criticism  equally  generous,  eloquent,  and 
just,  in  the  North  American  Review,  and  a  shorter  but  not  less  generous 
and  happy  notice  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  he  has  no  doubt,  from 
the  pen  of  William  Bryant,  Esq.,  of  whose  laudatory  notice,  if  any  one 
were  not  proud,  he  would  be  more  or  less  than  man. 

He  would  have  attributed  something  of  the  fervid  and  affectionate 
notice  of  that  work,  he  presumes  from  the  pen  of  his  friend,  Dr.  Caldwell 
to  the  partiality  of  a  long  and  tried  friendship,  had  he  not  been  aware, 
that  he  holds  even  his  partialities  in  severe  subjection  to  his  judgment. 

To  Morgan  Neville  and  Charles  Hammond,  Esqrs.,  he  is  indebted  for 
much  aid  in  furnishing  books  and  documents  on  this  and  various  similar 
occasions.  It  would  be  ungrateful  in  him  to  close  without  referring  to  the 
continued  kindness  of  Henry  Starr,  Esq.,  who  confers  favors  with  so  much 
ease  and  unconsciousness  as,  probably,  to  have  forgotten  that  he  owes 
him  this  public  expression  of  his  gratitude. 

For  the  rest,  every  indulgent  reader  will  overlook  such  errors  of  the 
press  as  have  occurred,  when  informed,  that  a  considerable  part  of  the 
work  was  carried  through  the  press  while  the  author  was  laboring  under 
severe  indisposition. 

Cincinnati,  January  1st,  1832. 


14  POSTSCRIPT. 

The  following  extract  from  a  communication  from  Mr.  Neville  to  the 
author  of  this  work,  in  reply  to  certain  inquiries,  gives  a  condensed  and 
hasty  account  of  the  dreadful  flood  which  has  just  spread  destruction  over 
an  extent  of  rich  and  fertile  country,  of  at  least  1,000  miles.  As  it  re. 
cords  an  event  almost  simultaneous  with  the  publication  of  the  "Geogra- 
phy," and  which  must  form  an  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  West 
I  have  thought  it  not  irrelevant  to  give  it  a  place  in  the  Preface.  It  will 
be  of  more  convenient  reference,  than  the  columns  of  a  newspaper. 

Cincinnati,  February  29th,  1832. 

Sir:  In  reply  to  your  interrogatory  on  the  subject  of  the  freshet,  which 
at  this  moment  presents  such  a  scene  of  desolation  and  suffering,  I  can 
state  that  in  my  opinion  such  a  flood  has  never  happened  since  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Western  Country.  I  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio, 
and  my  recollection  extends  back  to  a  period  when  Cincinnati  was  but  a 
village;  and  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  I  never  saw  the  water  so  high 
by  many  feet. 

The  Ohio,  after  having  been  frozen  up  and  covered  by  the  thickest  ice 
which  was  ever  witnessed  in  this  city,  during  the  whole  of  the  month  of 
December  and  part  of  January,  broke  up  about  the  6th  of  that  month, 
doing  incalculable  damage  throughout  the  whole  course  of  this  noble 
stream.  From  that  period  until  about  ten  days  since,  there  has  been  a 
succession  of  rains,  which  were  sufficient  to  keep  the  river  and  its  tribu- 
taries at  heights  rather  greater  than  ordinary;  on  the  7th  of  this  month, 
the  water  commenced  swelling  with  uncommon  rapidity,  with  a  settled 
rain,  the  wind  at  S,  W.,  and  the  temperature  such  as  to  lead  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  rain  was  as  extensive  as  it  was  heavy.  On  Saturday  night 
the  10th  inst.  it  increased  to  a  perfect  storm.  On  Monday,  12th,  the 
Ohio  had  gained  the  maximum  of  1826,  estimated  the  greatest  rise  for 
the  last  17  years.  At  this  point  it  appeared  to  become  stationary,  and 
probably  had  commenced  receding.  A  few  hours  produced  a  melancholy 
change;  the  river  again  advanced,  and  passing  the  old  marks  of  1815, 
and  1793,  poured  its  flood  through  the  acqueduct  under  Main  street  into 
Columbia.  Shortly  after,  the  river  at  the  lower  part  of  the  town  broke 
over  the  levee,  and  joining  the  water  rushing  out  of  the  acqueduct,  pre- 
sented the  novel  and  distressing  sight  of  a  rapid  river  having  Columbia 
street  for  its  bed.  At  this  time  the  merchants  in  Main  street,  between 
Front  and  Columbia,  after  ineffectually  attempting  to  keep  the  water  out 
of  their  cellars  by  clay  embankments,  yielded  the  contest  and  turned  all 
their  exertions  to  removing  their  goods  from  their  cellars  to  their  first  floors. 
The  merchants  in  Front  street  had  been  driven  to  this  alternative  a  day 
or  two  before.  The  draymen  now  having  nothing  to  do  in  their  usual 
business,  found  ample  employment  in  transporting  business  men  and  oth- 
ers, attracted  by  curiosity,  across  Columbia  street  at  the  different  cross 
streets,  from  Broadway  down  to  the  low  ground  at  the  west  end  of  the 
town.  In  the  mean  time  the  river  continued  rising  at  a  rate  seldom  witnes- 
sed even  when  confined  within  its  banks;  the  merchants  in  Front  street 
were  forced  to  remove  their  property  to  the  second  stories — those  on  Main 
soon  found  it  necessary  to  follow  their  example.  Drays  disappeared, 
and  small  crafts  of  various  and  novel  construction  took  their  place.      It 


POSTSCRIPT.  15 

was  then  found  that  precautions  for  security  had  been  postponed  too  long. 
A  vast  amount  of  merchandise  and  produce  was  destro)'ed  before  it  could 
be  raised  to  the  second  stories.  The  lower  part  of  the  town  was  com- 
pletely inundated,  and  the  small  frame  houses,  which  composed  the  great- 
est amount  of  buildings  in  that  section  of  the  city,  were  threatened  with 
destruction.  I  have  not  yet  understood  how  many  have  been  destroyed, 
but  in  looking  down  upon  them  from  Fourth  street,  I  counted  yesterday 
nearly  20  entirely  upset.  The  call  of  humanity  was  obeyed  before  that 
of  interest;  laborers  could  not  be  had  in  sufficient  numbers  to  assist  the 
merchants,  because  they  were  engaged  in  removing  hundreds  of  wretch- 
ed families  from  the  flood  below.  There  were  several  steam  boats  in 
harbor,  and  the  yawls  of  all  found  ample  employment.  The  edge  of  the 
water  below  Race  street  presented  scenes  only  equalled  in  cases  of  wide 
spread  conflagrations,  such  as  that  at  Fayetteville,  last  summer.  Boats 
were  constantly  landing  unfortunate  families,  who,  with  their  little  prop- 
erty, remained  exposed  to  the  weather  until  the  city  authorities  could 
provide  shelter  and  food.  Finally,  on  Thursday  the  16di  inst.  the  work 
of  desolation  was  consummated ;  the  water  broke  over  the  bank  from  Deer 
Creek  bridge  at  the  east  end  of  the  city,  to  Main  street,  turned  the  current 
of  Columbia  street  down,  and  laid  the  whole  of  the  town  lying  between 
Lower  Market  or  Second  street  and  the  river,  under  water,  except  the 
large  stores  on  the  south  side  of  Pearl  and  Market  streets.  The  cellars  of 
those,  however,  were  filled  with  water,  which,  with  little  variation,  rose 
in  them  all  to  within  an  inch  or  two  of  the  floors.  I  believe  the  cellars 
on  the  north  side  of  these  streets  are  partially  filled  with  water  also. 

The  scene  presented  at  this  moment,  and  the  revolution  produced  in 
the  appearance  of  things  can  scarcely  be  believed  by  ourselves;  it  re- 
sembles more  the  extravagance  of  a  dream,  than  reality.  All  that  part 
of  the  town  below  Walnut  street  under  water  is  occupied  by  private  resi- 
dences, and  probably  includes  nearly  one-third  of  the  population  of  the 
city.  Water,  Front,  and  Columbia  streets  are  distinguished  by  many  ex- 
cellent brick  houses;  the  population  is  more  dense  than  in  any  other 
portion  of  the  town.  When  the  water  reached  the  first  floor,  the  families 
removed  up  stairs,  and  those  who  were  sufficiently  provident  to  have  fuel 
carried  up  in  time,  have  remained  ever  since,  (now  four  days,)  in  their 
houses,  surrounded  by  a  sea  in  miniature ;  many,  however,  have  aban- 
doned their  houses  and  taken  up  their  residence  at  public  houses,  and  with 
their  friends  on  the  hill.  Notwithstanding  this  melancholy  state  of  things, 
the  mode  of  living  is  matter  of  amusement  to  many  of  the  families  thus 
surrounded.  When  misfortune  cannot  be  avoided,  there  is  a  kind  of  in- 
stinctive philosophy  in  man,  which  makes  us  submit  often  with  a  good 
grace.  Thousands  of  boats  have  sprung  into  existence,  like  Minerva, 
from  the  brain  of  the  "Thunderer."  The  scene  is  absolutely  Venetian. 
Every  house  has  its  boat,  already  called  a  gondola,  in  which  the  owners 
travel  about  on  their  necessary  vocations;  visits  are  regularly  made  in  this 
way.  In  passing  down  to  a  friend's  house  yesterday  in  his  "craft,"  I 
passed  two  or  three  gondolas  with  young  gentlemen  in  them,  under  the 
windows  of  their  female  acquaintances ;  I  cannot  say  decidedly  that  they 
were  breathing  vows  or  wafting  sighs  to  the  ears  of  the  laughing  fair  ones ; 
but  I  did  observe  wicker  baskets  drawn  up  by  cords,  which,  on  inquiry, 
I  found  to  be  filled  with  refreshments  instead  of  billets.     This  employ- 


16  POSTSCRIPT. 

ment,  it'  not  so  dangerous  was  doubtless  equally  useful  as  that  of  the  old 
Knights  Errant  relieving  imprisoned  damsels  from  the  castles  of  giants 
and  magicians. 

The  waters  have  commenced  receding  this  day,  the  19th  inst. ;  but  the 
river  falls  slowly.  The  amount  of  damage,  exclusive  of  the  actual  sus- 
pension of  all  business,  cannot  be  yet  estimated;  but  it  must  be  very  con- 
siderable. I  have  already  heard  of  several  individuals  who  have  lost 
from  4  to  6,000  dollars  in  damaged  goods ;  but  the  worst  remains.  We 
dread  to  see  the  state  of  the  streets  and  cellars  when  the  river  subsides. 
It  will  be  terrible,  and  unless  the  most  vigorous  measures  be  immediately 
taken,  our  beautiful  and  flourishing  city  will  probably  next  summer  be 
the  theatre  of  some  malignant  disease. 

This  flood  forms  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi; 
it  is  probably  four  to  five  feet  higher  than  any  freshet  which  has  happened 
since  the  first  settlement  of  the  country ;  and  when  we  reflect  that  it  has 
swept  through  a  country  well  filled  with  towns  and  villages,  and  distin- 
guished by  fertile  fields  and  rich  settlements,  for  the  distance  of  nine  hun- 
dred miles,  our  anticipation  must  needs  be  most  gloomy.  The  loss  of  life 
we  fear,  must  be  great;  the  loss  of  property  can  never  be  calculated. 
The  bottom  ground  plan  of  Cincinnati  is  as  high,  if  not  higher,  than  any 
other  bottom  situation  of  the  river. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati  will  have  cause  to  remember 
the  winter  of  1831-2.  It  was  ushered  in  by  a  series  of  cold  weather 
never  witnessed  before  in  this  country,  either  for  intenseness  or  duration, 
which  closing  the  river  and  canal  for  six  weeks,  made  fuel  as  dear  and 
scarce  as  in  the  Atlantic  cities.  Next  the  Water  Works  was  burnt  down, 
which,  in  addition  to.the  want  of  water,  produced  the  necessity  of  estab- 
lishing Volunteer  Watches,  to  prevent  further  suffering  from  fires.  And 
to  conclude,  we  are  now  visited  by  a  flood  of  a  character  which,  twenty 
days  ago,  we  would  have  considered  as  improbable  as  a  collision  with 
the  expected  comet! 

The  water,  at  its  highest  elevation,  was  sixty-three  feet  above  low  water 
mark.     The  velocity  of  the  current  six  miles  and  a  quarter  per  hour. 


HISTORY    AND    GEOGRAPHY 

OF   THE 

VALLEY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


We  do  not  intend,  in  these  introductory  remarks,  to  enlarge  upon  so 
copious  an  article,  as  the  geology  of  this  Valley.  We  reserve  more 
particular  observations  for  sectional  heads  of  this  subject.  We  dismiss 
it  here,  by  observing  that  the  valley  itself  is  universally  of  what  geolo- 
gists call  secondary  formation,  with  here  and  there  boulders  of  granitic 
rock  out  of  place,-  that  the  western  slopes  of  the  Alleghanies  are  gener- 
ally of  what  is  called  the  transition  character;  that  the  southern  extrem- 
ities of  the  lakes  are  transition,  and  the  northern  granitic  and  primitive 
in  their  formation ;  that  the  Rocky  Mountains  are,  for  the  most  part, 
primitive,  until  we  approach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  in  the  Mexican  State  of 
Texas,  where  the  strata  of  rock  again  appear  to  be  blue  limestone. — 
Over  all  the  immense  valley  between  these  limits,  there  are  marks  of 
recent  formation,  apparent  indications,  as  Volney  conjectured,  that  the 
country  was  once  submerged,  and  has,  not  many  ages  since,  emerged 
from  under  waters ,  and  that  to  casual  inspection,  the  vallies,  the  bluffs, 
and  the  hills,  the  regular  lamina  of  stones,  and  strata  of  soil,  the  marine 
exuvire,  and  in  short,  all  the  physical  aspects  of  the  country  wear  the 
appearance  of  once  having  been  the  bed  of  seas,  or  fresh  water  lakes. 

From  its  character  of  recent  formation,  from  the  prevalence  of  lime- 
stone every  where,  from  the  decomposition  which  it  has  undergone,  and 
is  constantly  undergoing,  from  the  considerable  proportion  of  decomposed 
limestone  in  the  soil,  probably  results  another  general  attribute  of  this 
valley — its  character  of  uncommon  fertility.  We  would  not  be  under- 
stood to  assert  that  the  country  is  every  where  alike  fertile.  It  has  its 
sterile  sections.  There  are  here,  as  elsewhere,  infinite  diversities  of  soil, 
from  the  richest  alluvions,  to  the  most  miserable  flint  knobs;  from  the 

3 


18 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


tangled  cane  brakes,  to  the  poorest  pine  hills.  There  are,  too,  it  is  well 
known,  towards  the  Rocky  Mountains,  wide  belts  that  have  a  surface  of 
sterile  sands,  or  only  covered  with  a  sparse  vegetation  of  weeds  and 
coarse  grass.  But  of  the  country  in  general,  the  most  cursory  observer 
must  have  remarked,  that,  compared  with  lands  apparantly  of  the  same 
character  in  other  regions,  the  lands  here  obviously  show  marks  of  sin- 
gular fertility.  The  most  ordinary,  third  rale  oak  lands,  will  bring 
successive  crops  of  wheat  and  maize,  without  any  manuring,  and  with 
but  little  care  of  cultivation.  The  pine  lands  of  the  southern  regions 
are,  in  many  places,  cultivated  for  years,  without  any  attempts  at 
manuring  them.  The  same  fact  is  visible  in  the  manner  in  which 
vegetation  in  this  country  resists  drought.  It  is  a  proverb  on  the  good 
lands,  that  if  there  be  moisture  enough  to  bring  the  corn  to  germinate, 
and  come  up,  there  will  be  a  crop  if  no  more  rain  falls  until  the  harvest. 
We  have  a  thousand  times  observed  this  crop,  continuing  to  advance  to- 
wards a  fresh  and  vigorous  maturity,  under  a  pressure  of  drought,  and  a 
continuance  of  cloudless  ardour  of  sun,  that  would  have  burned  up  and 
destroyed  vegetation  in  the  Atlantic  country. 

We  have  supposed  this  fertility  to  arise  either  from  an  uncommon 
proportion  of  vegetable  matter  in  the  soil;  from  the  saline  impregnations 
mixed  with  the  earth,  as  evinced  in  the  numberless  licks,  and  springs  of 
salt  water,  and  the  nitrous  character  of  the  soil,  wherever,  as  in  caves  or 
under  buildings,  it  is  sheltered  from  moisture;  or,  as  we  have  remarked, 
from  the  general  diffusion  of  dissolved  limestone,  and  marly  mixtures 
over  the  surface  In  some  way,  spread  by  the  waters,  diffused  through 
the  soil,  or  the  result  of  former  decomposition,  there  is  evidently  much 
of  the  quickening  and  fertilizing  power  of  lime  mixed  with  the  soil. 

Face  of  the  Country,  &c  Our  prescribed  limits  will  necessarily 
dictate  brevity  to  us,  in  touching  on  this  topic.  The  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, as  is  well  known,  stretch  along  in  ridges,  that  run  parallel  to  each- 
other  with  great  uniformity.  They  form  the  eastern  rampart  of  this 
great  valley.  The  middle  ridge  appears  to  be  generally  the  most  elevated ; 
to  separate  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  from  those  of  the  Mississippi ; 
and  gives  name  to  the  rest.  Another  of  these  ridges  has  the  name  of 
the  Laurel  Ridge,  from  the  number  of  laurels  growing  on  its  sides. — 
Approaching  these  ridges  they  are  a  sublime  object,  as  seen  in  the  distance. 
They  rise  before  you,  apparently  an  impassable  barrier,  their  blue  out- 
lines pencilled,  likes  clouds  on  the  sky,  and  their  northern  and  southern 
extremities  both  running  beyond  the  reach  of  vision.  The  ascent  from 
the  Atlantic  side  is  generally  more  abrupt  and  precipitous,  than  on  the 
the  descent  towards  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 


FACE    OF     THE    COUNTRY.  jg 

The  last  western  range  exhibits  very  strikingly  the  regular  distribution 
of  the  lamina  of  limestone,  and  the  uniformity  of  their  dip,  as  though 
they  had  been  laid,  stratum  upon  stratum,  by  art.  The  composition  is, 
for  the  most  part,  either  limestone,  argillite,  gray  wacke,  and  combina- 
tions of  slaty  matter,  with  sulphate  of  iron;  in  short,  those  kinds  of 
combinations  which  occur  between  metaliferous  limestone  and  inclined 
sand  stone. 

Between  the  Alleghany  Mountain  and  the  last  western  ridges,  the 
tributaries  of  the  Ohio  begin  to  show 'themselves  in  the  form  of 
rivers.  Their  murmur  is  heard,  as  they  rapidly  roll  along  their  rocky 
beds,  breaking  the  stillness  of  the  mountain  forest;  and  they  often  wind 
great  distances  before  they  find  their  place  of  escape  from  the  mountains. 
The  scenery  on  one  of  the  transits  over  the  mountains  has  arrested 
the  attention  of  most  travellers.  A  turnpike  road  leads  near  where  the 
Loyalhanna  has  divided  the  Laurel  Ridge  to  its  base.  The  view  that 
appertains  to  this  chasm  is  at  once  striking  and  sublime.  A  beautiful 
mountain  stream,  overhanging  mountains,  the  breeze  sweeping  down  the 
sloping  forest,  profound  solitude,  the  screaming  of  the  jay,  and  the 
dash  of  the  river,  rolling  rapidly  along  its  rocky  bed,  and  its  waters 
hidden  under  the  shade  of  laurels,  conspire  to  soothe  and  elevate  the 
mind. 

After  we  descend  the  last  mountain  summit  towards  the  valley,  the 
country  is  still  a  succession  of  high  hills,  generally  rounded  smoothly 
down  their  declivities,  and  with  more  or  less  of  table  land  on  their 
summits.  On  the  very  tops  of  the  Alleghanies  we  discover  the  indi- 
cations of  approach  toward  the  region  of  coal.  On  the  summits  of 
the  hills  beyond  the  mountains,  the  eye  not  only  traces  it  among  the 
clay  slate,  by  the  blackened  surface  of  the  road,  but  the  sense  of  smell 
detects  it  in  the  atmosphere  about  the  houses,  and  indicates  that  in  the 
midst  of  woods  it  is  the  easiest  fuel  to  procure.  Its  dark  smoke  streams 
from  the  funnel  of  the  blacksmith's  forge.  Pittsburgh  and  Wheeling  are 
blackened  with  its  impalpable  effluvia. 

Following  the  course  of  the  Alleghanies,  south  of  the  Ohio,  and  along 
the  foot  of  the  ridges,  is  generally  a  country  of  undulating  and  elevated 
swells,  covered,  while  in  its  natural  state,  with  a  heavy  forest.  The 
country  about  Pittsburgh  may  be  called  hilly,  though  there  are  few  hills  so 
precipitous  as  not  to  be  susceptible  of  cultivation.  Through  the  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia  sections  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  you  traverse 
hill  beyond  hill,  generally  with  small  and  fertile  vallies  between  them. 
Some  of  these  hills  have  almost  the  character  of  mountains.  They  are 
for  the  most  part,  however,  susceptible  of  good  roads. 


/ 


*2Q  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

On  the  National  Road,  as  we  descend  the  last  mountain  towards 
Brownsville  and  the  valley  of  the  Monongahela,  the  eye  takes  in  an 
horizon,  as  broad  as  it  can  reach,  of  hills,  vallies,  orchards,  and  pasture 
grounds  of  champaign  and  rich  country  in  the  two  States.  The  con- 
trasts of  the  open  pastures  and  fields,  pencilled  by  a  perfectly  straight 
line  on  the  edge  of  the  thick  forests,  and  on  the  rounded  summits  of  the 
hills,  afford  a  delightful  prospect.  The  finest  parts  of  the  interior  of 
New  England  will  scarcely  compare  with  this  view.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  views  of  Tennessee  «md  Kentucky,  as  we  successively  approach 
them,  in  coming  over  the  mountains  from  North  Carolina  and  Virginia. 
After  we  have  left  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  mountains,  Kentucky 
is  neither  hilly  nor  level,  but  has  a  general  surface  of  delightful  undula- 
tion. There  are  beautiful  and  extensive  vallies,  with  only  sufficient 
irregularity  of  surface  to  carry  off  the  waters.  Such  is  that  charming 
valley,  of  which  Lexington  is  the  centre ;  and  such  is  that  embracing  the 
barrens  of  Green  River. 

Tennessee  is  more  generally  hilly.  The  great  ranges  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  diverge  into  separate  mountains  in  this  State,  and  divide  it  into 
two  distinct  sections,  called  East  and  West  Tennessee. 

Keeping  parallel  with  the  mountains,  and  still  advancing  south,  in 
Alabama  the  hills  begin  to  subside,  although  the  northern  and  western 
parts  of  this  State  may  still  be  called  mountainous.  But  on  entering 
this  State  the  features  of  the  country  begin  manifestly  to  change.  On 
the  hills,  instead  of  oaks  and  deciduous  trees,  we  begin  to  hear  the 
breeze  in  the  tops  of  long  leaved  pines.  We  have  a  long  succession 
of  pine  hills  and  fertile  vallies  between  them.  We  soon  mark  another 
very  striking  change  in  the  landscape.  In  coming  from  the  Ohio  we 
have  seen  the  country,  in  a  state  of  nature,  universally  covered  with  a 
thick  forest,  generally  of  deciduous  trees,  with  here  and  there  a  rare 
holly  tree,  or  other  evergreen.  We  have  afterwards  traversed  extensive 
pine  forests  of  the  black,  or  pitch  pine,  with  tall  straight  trees,  and  the 
earth  beneath  them  free  from  under  brush,  covered  with  grass,  and  almost 
entirely  destitute  of  stones.  In  the  rich  alluvial  vallies  we  remark  a 
considerable  portion  of  laurels.  The  forests  preserve  an  unvarying 
verdure  through  the  winter.  We  begin  to  notice  these  forests  first  giv- 
ing place  to  the  barrens,  with  a  few  sparse  trees  ranged,  as  in  an  orchard. 
These  barrens  are  soon  succeeded  by  prairies,  or  savannas,  as  they  are 
here  called.  The  hills  have  subsided  to  extensive,  level  and  grassy  plains  ; 
and  this  order  of  landscape  continues,  until  we  meet  the  belt  of  pine 
forest,  that  skirts  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Its  swampy  and  equable  surface 
rises  but  little  above  the  level  of  the  gulf,  and  is  separated  from  it  by  a 


FACE     OF     THE     COUNTRY. 


21 


margin  of  sand,  driven  into  heaps  by  the  mutual  incessant  action  of  the 
wind  and  the  sea. 

Beginning  again  on  the  north  side  of  the  Alleghany  River,  and 
descending  that  river  between  the  north  bank  and  the  lakes,  the  first 
portion  of  the  country  is  hilly;  but  as  we  descend  towards  the  Ohio  the 
country,  though  in  some  places,  particularly  along  the  Muskingum,  hilly, 
is  generally  only  gently  waving,  and  is,  on  the  whole,  more  level  than 
the  south  side  of  the  Ohio.  Approaching  the  lakes  the  country  becomes 
quite  level ;  and  there  are  various  places  in  the  northern  parts  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois,  near  the  lakes,  where  the  country  is  so  level, 
marshy,  and  low,  as  in  winter  and  spring,  to  be  covered  with  water  from 
four  inches  to  a  foot  in  depth.  The  north-eastern  parts  of  Ohio  may  be 
considered  hilly.  In  passing  on  the  Great  Road  from  Wheeling  to  Cin- 
cinnati there  are,  indeed,  near  the  Scioto,  considerable  plains.  But  the 
general  aspect  of  the  country  presents  fine  elevations,  often  a  league 
across,  with  rich  table  land  on  the  summits,  and  the  declivities  suscepti 
ble  of  cultivation.  For  five  or  six  miles  from  either  bank  of  the  Ohio 
there  are,  almost  universally,  high  hills  of  a  singular  configuration, 
known  by  the  name  of  the  'Ohio  Hills.'  < 

From  the  Scioto  the  aspect  of  the  country  is  more  level ;  and  on  the 

waters  of    this   river  we  begin  to  discover  our  approach  to  the  wide 

prairies  of  the  West.     We  open  upon  the  fine  level  Pickaway,  or  Piqua 

prairies,  or  plains;  and  thence  through  the  northern  parts  of  this  State, 

advancing  west,  along  the  plains  of   Mad   River,   and  into  Indiana, 

prairies  become  more  common  in  the  same  proportion,  as  we  advance 

farther  west.     The  general  surface  of  the  timbered  country  is  more  level. 

As  we  approach  the  Ohio,  the  forest  is  more  dense  and  uniform,  and  that 

river,  in  its  whole  course,  originally  rolled  through  an  unbroken  forest. 

In  Indiana  the  proportion  of  prairie  land  is  far  greater  than  in  Ohio;  and 

in  Illinois  it  has  an  immense  disproportion   over  the  timbered  country. 

Back  of  Shawneetown,  and  between  the  waters  of  the  Saline  of  the  Ohio 

and  those  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  base  of  this  level  country  springs 

up  a  singular  chain  of  hills,  which  a  recent  traveller  has  seen  fit  to  dignify 

with  the  name  of  mountains.     The  remainder  of  the  State  of  Illinois 

may  be,  for  the  most  part,  designated  as  a  country  of  prairies  and  plains. 

Beyond  the  State  of  Illinois,  advancing  north,  on  the  east  side  of  the 

Mississippi,  pine  hills,  ponds,  lakes,  marshes,  and  prairies  alternate  to 

the  sources  of  that  river.     The  plashy  regions  in  that  quarter  are  covered 

with  thick  wild  rice,  and  there  providence  has  provided  inexhaustible 

pasture  for  the  countless  numbers  and  varieties  of  wild  water  fowls,  that 

migrate  to  these  regions,  to  fatten  in  the  autumn,  before  their  return  to 

the  South.    Near  Rock  River,  of  this  region,  we  come  upon  the  hills 


22  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

and  swells  of  land  in  that  extensive  district,  called  the  mineral  country 
where  the  ores  of  lead  are  so  plentifully  found. 

The  surface  of  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  is  generally  much 
more  level  than  east  and  south  of  it.  There  are  bluffs,  often  high  and  pre- 
cipitous, near  the  great  water  courses.  Not  far  west  of  the  Mississippi 
there  is  much  country  covered  with  flint  knobs,  singular  hills  of  conical 
shape,  that  with  a  base  of  a  mile  in  circumference,  often  rise  four  or  five 
hunched  feet  high ,  and  are  covered  on  their  sides  with  fieche,  or  arrow 
stones,  of  a  siliceous  substance,  not  unlike  flints,  and  used  as  substitutes 
for  them.  There  are,  as  in  the  country  between  the  St.  Francis  and  White 
River,  hills  that  might  almost  warrant  the  designation  of  mountains,  appear- 
ing to  be  continuations  of  the  Alleghanies,  whose  spurs  seem  to  cross  the 
Mississippi  in  the  Chickasaw  bluffs,  and  to  be  continued  west  of  it  in 
the  St.  Francis  hills.  But  the  general  surface  of  the  country,  between 
the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a 
vast  plain,  probably,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  largest  one  on  the  globe. 
Except  in  the  bluffs  of  the  rivers,  and  on  the  flint  knobs,  it  is  on  the  sur- 
face free  from  stones,  to  an  astonishing  degree.  The  surface  of  prairie,  a 
hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Mississippi,  is  probably,  in  comparison  with 
the  timbered  country,  in  the  proportion  of  twenty  to  one.  The  little 
timber  that  is  seen,  occurs  only  on  the  skirts  of  water  courses.  As  we 
recede  from  the  margins  of  the  Missouri,  the  Platte,  the  Yellowstone, 
Arkansas  and  Red  rivers,  the  prairies  become  more  dry,  sterile,  and  desti- 
tute not  only  of  wood  and  water,  but  of  all  vegetation.  Travellers 
wander  for  days  in  these  desolate  wastes,  without  having  either  wood  or 
water  in  their  horizon,  over  sandy  deserts,  scantily  covered  with  coarse 
grass  and  weeds.  This  is  the  appropriate  range  of  the  buffalo.  In  some 
parts  there  are,  in  fact,  wastes  of  moving  sand,  like  those  of  the  African 
deserts. 

On  the  lower  courses  of  the  Missouri,  St.  Francis,  White,  Arkansas 
and  Red  rivers,  we  see  extensive  alluvions  skirting  their  banks,  of  great 
and  inexhaustible  fertility.  The  alluvial  prairies,  too,  in  these  regions 
teem  with  vegetation.  But  on  their  upper  waters,  as  soon  as  we  have  re- 
ceded from  a  narrow  and  fertile  belt  on  their  shores,  the  boundless  waste 
of  the  prairies  beyond,  seems  destined  to  be  the  last  resort  of  buffaloes,  or 
the  region  of  herds  of  domestic  cattle,  attended  by  migrating  shepherds. 

Mountains.  We  have  seen,  that  the  general  character  of  the  Alle- 
ghany ridges,  is  to  stretch  along  in  continued  and  parallel  lines,  the  central 
ridge  of  which  gives  name  to  the  rest.  The  spurs  of  these  ridges,  which 
in  Kentucky,  and  particularly  in  Tennessee,  under  the  names  of  the  Bald, 
Iron,  Laurel,  Yellow,  Unaka,  Copper,  Clinch,  Powell's,  Cumberland,  &c. 
originate  streams,  diversify  and  give  grandeur  to  the  scenery  in  these 


MOUNTAINS.  23 

States,  are  all  in  cultivated  and  populous  regions,  and  will  be  described 
under  tbe  heads  of  the  States  in  which  they  lie.  The  cliffs  and  rocks, 
of  which  they  are  composed,  bear,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  general 
character  of  transition  formation ;  and  the  strata  have  that  lamellated 
regularity,  and  that  uniformity  of  dip,  or  inclination,  which  have  been 
scientifically  described  by  geologists.  These  circumstances  are  so 
obvious  and  striking,  as  to  produce,  even  in  unobservant  eyes,  a  degree  of 
surprise. 

That  immense  range  of  lofty  mountains,  which  gives  rise  to  the  long 
rivers,  that  wind  through  such  a  vast  extent  of  prairies,  and  come  into  the 
Mississippi  on  the  west  side,  in  almost  its  whole  course  runs  wide  from 
the  limits  of  cultivation,  and  the  haunts  of  civilized  man. — Their  forma- 
tion, character  and  height,  are  comparatively  but  little  known,  and  present 
descriptions  of  them  must  necessarily  be  vague  and  general.  They  will 
for  ages  only  attract  the  gaze  and  astonishment  of  wandering  hunters,  or 
occasionally  a  few  enterprising  travellers,  that  will  scale  their  summits 
on  their  way  to  the  Western  sea.  Now  and  then,  a  savage,  differently 
constituted  from  the  rest,  will  pause  on  their  snowy  crags,  be  impressed 
with  their  sublimity,  and  think  of  the  Great  Spirit.  The  rest  will  con- 
tinue to  date  their  eras  from  the  time  when  they  hunted  on  their  eastern 
or  western  declivities.  It  will  be  long,  before  the  detached  mountains, 
and  the  prominent  peaks  will  be  named,  classed  and  described.  It  does 
not  appear  that  many  of  them  rise  above  the  region  of  perpetual  ice. 
Though  from  the  passage  of  Lewis  and  Clark  over  them,  and  the  concur- 
rent testimony  of  others,  in  the  latitude  of  47°  north,  immense  quantities 
of  snow  are  on  their  summits,  between  the  Missouri  and  Columbia,  in 
the  months  of  June  and  July.  They  are  seen  like  a  vast  rampart, 
rising  from  the  grassy  plains,  stretching  from  north  to  south.  Sometimes 
their  aspect  is  that  of  continued  ranges,  of  a  grayish  color,  rising  into  the 
blue  of  the  atmosphere,  above  the  region  of  the  clouds.  A  great  num- 
ber are  black,  ragged  and  precipitous;  and  their  bases  strewn  with 
immense  boulders  and  fragments  of  rock,  detached  by  earthquakes  and 
time.  From  this  iron  bound  and  precipitous  character,  they  probably 
received  the  appellation,  'Rocky  Mountains. ' 

Whether  any  of  them  are  volcanic  or  not,  is  not  certainly  known. 
We  have  often  seen  large  masses  of  pumice  stone  floating  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  still  oftener  on  the  Missouri.  These  are  generally  of  a  reddish 
yellow,  or  flame  color,  and  are  among  the  largest  and  finest  specimens  of 
this  kind  of  stone  that  we  have  seen.  Whether  discharged  from  volcanic 
mountains,  or,  as  others  assert,  from  hills  of  burning  coal,  is  not  certainly 
known.  Mica  is  abundantly  carried  along  by  the  waters,  that  flow  from 
these  mountains.    There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  these  ancient  and  mag- 


24 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


nificent  piles  are  of  primitive  formation.  They  are  much  higher,  more 
rugged,  and  have  generally  a  more  Alpine  character,  than  the  Allegha- 
nies.  They  apparently  stretch  along  at  about  the  same  distance  from  the 
Western  sea,  as  the  former  from  the  Atlantic.  The  great  rivers  that  are 
discharged  from  their  eastern  and  western  declivities,  wind  still  further 
between  their  interior  and  exterior  ridges,  in  finding  their  passage 
through  them.  The  Columbia,  or  Oregon  on  the  west,  and  the  Arkansas 
on  the  east,  wind  more  than  an  hundred  leagues,  in  search  of  a  place  of 
escape  from  the  mountains. 

As  on  the  Alleghanies,  the  rivers  that  run  in  opposite  directions  from 
these  mountains,  generally  have  their  sources  near  each  other.  In  fol- 
lowing the  beds  of  these  rivers  up  to  their  sources  in  the  mountains,  we 
find  the  easiest  paths  and  the  gentlest  acclivities,  by  which  to  cross  them. 
The  character  which  they  have  gained,  of  being  continuous,  high,  and 
every  where  alike  rugged,  and  a  barrier  almost  impassable,  between  the 
regions  east  and  west  of  them,  from  the  descriptions  of  the  first  adventur- 
ers who  crossed  them,  seems  now  to  have  yielded  to  a  very  different 
impression.  Various  leaders  of  expeditions  of  trappers  have  crossed 
these  mountains,  in  directions  more  southern  than  those  of  Lewis  and 
Clark.  They  affirm  that  they  found  none  of  those  formidable,  and 
almost  insurmountable  barriers,  which  undoubtedly  exist  on  the  route  of 
those  distinguished  travellers.  We  have  at  this  moment  under  our 
eye,  extracts  from  the  journal  of  Mr.  Ashley,  the  leader  of  an  enter- 
prising and  powerful  association  for  procuring  furs,  who  has  crossed 
these  mountains  at  different  points.  This  journal  narrates  the  account 
of  a  passage  over  them,  from  the  sources  of  the  Platte  to  Lake  Bueneven- 
tura,  on  the  western  side.  It  asserts,  that  he  found  an  easy  passage 
even  for  loaded  carriages;  with  an  ascent  no  where  as  sharp  as  on 
the  national  road  over  the  Cumberland  mountains  to  Wheeling.  He 
even  asserts,  that  the  acclivity  was  so  gentle,  as  no  where  to  have  an 
ascent  of  more  than  three  degrees;  and  that  nature  has  provided  not 
only  a  practicable,  but  a  good  road  quite  to  the  plains  of  the  Columbia. 
The  testimony  of  travellers  seems  to  be  uniform,  that  to  the  eye,  indeed, 
the  ranges  are  unbroken  and  continuous.  But  nature  appears  every  where 
to  have  indicated  her  wish,  that  no  part  of  the  earth  should  be  interdicted 
by  unsocial  barriers  from  communication  with  the  rest.  Through  the 
loftiest  and  most  continued  ranges  there  are  found  chasms,  natural 
bridges,  ascents  along  the  beds  of  rivers,  and  corresponding  descents  on 
the  opposite  side,  that  render  a  passage  over  them  comparatively  smooth 
and  easy. 

We  know  not  exactly  on  what  ground  travellers  have  classed  this  vast 
range  into  the  divisions  of  the  Rocky,  Chepywan,  and  the  Masserne 


GENERAL     SURFACE  jM 

mountains.  The  ranges  at  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas,  and  running 
thence  towards  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  have  so  commonly  borne  the  latter 
name,  that  they  will  probably  retain  it.  A  single  peak  of  this  ridge, 
seen  as  a  landmark  for  immense  distances  over  the  subjacent  plains,  has 
been  called,  and  we  think,  ought  for  ever  to  retain  the  name  of  Mount 
Pike.  It  is  of  incomparable  grandeur  in  appearance,  and  has  been  dif- 
ferently raled  at  from  seven  to  ten  thousand  feet  in  height.  On  the 
ridges  of  this  range  the  Colorado  of  the  Pacific,  the  Rio  del  Norte 
of  New  Mexico,  the  Roche-jaune,  or  Yellowstone,  of  the  Missouri,  and 
the  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers  of  the  Mississippi,  that  have  their  outlets 
at  such  immense  distances  from  each  other,  have  their  sources.  It  will 
hence  be  easily  inferred,  that  this  is  the  highest  land  of  this  part  of  North 
America. 

Geographers  have  supposed,  that  it  is  a  circumstance  of  course,  that 
between  all  rivers,  that  have  any  length  of  course,  there  are  ranges  of 
hills,  more  or  less  elevated,  separating  the  tributary  waters  of  the  one 
river  from  the  other.  It  is  often,  but  by  no  means  always  so,  in  this 
valley.  Many  of  the  large  rivers  have  no  other  separating  ridge,  than  a 
high  and  marshy  plain,  that  discharges,  as  has  been  remarked,  its  waters 
from  one  extremity  into  the  one  river,  and  from  the  other  extremity  into 
the  other.  But,  as  a  general  rule,  in  the  medial  regions  of  this  valley, 
the  considerable  rivers  are  separated  from  each  other  by  ranges  of  hills, 
more  or  less  distinctly  marked.  In  this  region  of  plains,  where  a  person 
may  have  been  born,  and  travelled  to  New  Orleans,  and  lived  to  old 
age  without  ever  seeing  an  elevation,  that  deserved  the  name  of  mountain, 
these  hills  become  respectable  by  comparison.  These  ranges  of  hills 
are  most  considerable  in  the  mineral  country  in  Missouri,  between  St. 
Francis  and  White  River,  in  Arkansas  territory,  between  Washita  and 
Red  River,  and  between  the  latter  river  and  the  Sabine.  South  and  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  there  are  considerable  ridges  of  this  character  in  the 
states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  These  ranges  of  hills  will  be  more 
properly  noticed,  under  the  description  of  the  states  and  territories,  where 
they  respectively  occur. 

The  general  surface  of  this  valley  may  be  classed  under  three  distinct 
aspects;  the  thickly  timbered,  the  barrens,  and  the  prairie  country.  In 
the  first  division,  every  traveller  has  remarked  as  soon  as  he  descends  to 
this  valley,  a  grandeur  in  the  form  and  size  of  the  trees,  a  depth  of  verdure 
in  the  foliage,  a  magnificent  prodigality  of  growth  of  every  sort,  that 
distinguishes  this  country  from  other  regions.  The  trees  are  large,  tall, 
and  rise  aloft,  like  columns,  free  from  branches.  In  the  rich  lands  they 
are  generally  wreathed  with  a  drapery  of  ivy,  bignonia.  grape  vines,  or 

4 


i 


26  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

other  creepers.  Intermingled  with  the  foliage  of  the  trees  are  the  broad 
leaves  of  the  grape  vines,  with  trunks,  sometimes  as  large  as  the  human 
body. — Frequently  these  forests  are  as  free  from  undergrowth,  as  an 
orchard.  Sometimes  the  only  shrub,  that  is  seen  among  the  trees,  is  the 
pawpaw,  with  its  splendid  foliage  and  graceful  stems.  In  other  places, 
especially  in  the  richer  alluvions  of  the  south,  beneath  the  trees,  there  are 
impenetrable  cane  brakes  and  tangle  of  brambles,  briar  vines,  and  every 
sort  of  weeds.  These  are  the  safe  retreats  of  bears  and  panthers.  This 
undergrowth  universally  indicates  a  rich  soil. 

The  country  denominated  'barrens,'  has  a  very  distinct  and  peculiar 
configuration.  It  is  generally  a  country  with  a  surface,  undulating  with 
gentle  hills,  of  a  particular  form.  They  are  long  and  uniform  ridges. 
The  soil  is  for  the  most  part  of  a  clayey  texture,  of  a  reddish  or  grayish 
color,  and  is  covered  with  a  tall  coarse  grass.  In  addition  to  a  peculiar- 
ity of  feature,  more  easily  felt,  than  described,  the  trees  are  generally  very 
sparse,  seldom  large,  or  very  small.  They  are  chiefly  of  the  different 
kinds  of  oaks ;  and  the  barren  trees  have  an  appearance  and  configuration, 
appropriate  to  the  soil  they  inhabit.  The  land  never  exceeds  second 
rate  in  quality,  and  is  more  generally  third  rate.  It  is  favorable,  in  the 
proper  latitudes,  to  the  growth  of  wheat  and  orchards.  On  the  whole, 
this  country  has  an  aspect  so  peculiar  and  appropriate,  that  no  person, 
at  all  used  to  this  country,  is  in  doubt  for  a  moment,  when  he  enters  on 
the  regions  of  the  barrens.  There  are  large  districts  of  this  kind  of 
country  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Alabama.  They  are  common  in 
Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  are  seen  with  more  or  less  frequency,  over  all 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  this  region,  and  in  the  hazel  or  bushy  prairies,  we  most  frequently 
see  those  singular  cavities,  called  'sink  holes.'  They  are  generally  in 
the  shape  of  funnels,  or  inverted  cones,  from  ten  to  seventy  feet  in 
depth,  and  on  the  surface  from  sixty  to  three  hundred  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. There  are  generally  willows,  and  other  aquatic  vegetation,  at 
their  sides  and  bottoms.  The  people  here  have  their  own  theories,  to 
account  for  these  singular  cavities;  and  as  an  earthquake  is  the  agent 
most  likely  to  seize  on  the  imagination,  and  the  most  convenient  one  to 
solve  inexplicable  results,  they  have  generally  supposed  them  the  work 
of  earthquakes.  Others  have  imagined  them  the  huge  wells,  from  which 
the  domesticated  mammoths,  and  the  gigantic  races  of  past  generations 
quenched  their  thirst.  There  is  little  doubt,  that  they  are  caused  by 
running  waters,  which  find  their  way  in  the  lime-stone  cavities,  beneath 
the  upper  stratum  of  soil.  We  shall  see  elsewhere,  that  this  stratum 
generally  rests  on  a  base  of  lime -stone;  and  that  between  this  and  the 
sub-strata,  there  are  often  continuous  cavities,  as  we  see  in  the  lime- 


GENERAL     SURFACE.  27 

stone  caverns;  and  that  in  these  interstices  between  the  different  strata 
of  rocks,  brooks,  and  even  considerable  streams  pursue  uninterrupted 
courses  under  ground.  The  cause  of  these  sink  holes  was  probably  a 
fissure  in  the  superstratum  of  limestone.  The  friable  soil  above  found 
its  way  through  this  fissure,  and  was  washed  away  by  the  running 
waters  beneath.  In  this  manner  a  funnel  shaped  cavity  would  naturally 
be  formed.  In  fact  the  ear  often  distinguishes  the  sound  of  waters  run- 
ning beneath,  at  the  bottom  of  these  sink  holes. 

The  remaining,  and  by  far  the  most  extensive  surface,  is  that  of  the 
prairies.  Although  they  have  no  inconsiderable  diversity  of  aspect,  they 
may  be  classed  under  three  general  divisions;  the  heathy  or  bushy,  the 
alluvial  or  wet,  and  the  dry  prairies.  The  heathy  prairies  seem  to  be 
of  an  intermediate  character  between  the  alluvial  prairies  and  the  bar- 
rens. They  have  springs,  are  covered  with  hazel  and  furzy  bushes,  small 
sassafras  shrubs,  with  frequent  grape  vines,  and  in  the  summer  with  an 
infinite  profusion  of  flowers,  and  the  bushes  are  often  overtopped  with 
the  common  hop  vine.  Prairies  of  this  description  are  very  common  in 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  they  alternate  among  the  other 
prairies  for  a  considerable  distance  towards  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  dry  prairies  are  for  the  most  part  destitute  of  springs,  and  of  all 
vegetation,  but  weeds,  flowering  plants  and  grass.  To  the  eye  they  are 
so  nearly  level,  and  the  round ings  of  their  undulations  so  gentle,  that 
the  eye,  taking  in  a  great  surface  at  a  single  view,  deems  them  a  dead 
level.  But  the  ravines,  made  by  the  water  courses  through  them, 
sufficiently  indicate,  that  their  swells  and  declinations  communicate  a 
quick  motion  to  the  waters,  that  fall  on  them.  This  is  by  far  the  most 
extensive  class  of  prairies.  These  are  the  plains  over  which  the  buffaloes 
range.  These  are  the  plains,  without  wood  or  water,  in  which  the  trav- 
eller may  wander  for  days,  and  see  the  horizon  on  every  side  sinking  to 
contact  with  the  grass. 

The  alluvial  or  wet  prairies  form  the  last  and  smallest  division.  They 
generally  occur  on  the  margins  of  the  great  water  courses,  although 
they  are  often  found,  with  all  their  distinctive  features,  far  from  the 
point,  where  waters  now  run.  They  are  generally  basins,  as  regards  the 
adjacent  regions,  and  their  outlines  are  marked  by  regular  benches. 
They  are  for  the  most  part  of  a  black,  deep,  and  very  friable  soil,  and  of 
exhaustless  fertility.  In  the  proper  latitudes,  they  are  the  best  soils  for 
wheat  and  maize;  but  are  ordinarily  too  tender  and  loamy  for  the  culti- 
vated grasses.  They  rear  their  own  native  grasses,  of  astonishing 
height  and  luxuriance.  An  exact  account  of  the  size  and  rankness  of 
the  weeds,  flowering  plants  and  grass  on  the  richer  alluvial  prairies  of 
Illinois  and  Missouri,  would  seem  to  those,  who  have  not  seen  them,  an 


2S  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

idle  exaggeration.  Still  more  than  the  rolling  prairies,  they  impress  the 
eye  as  a  dead  level;  but  they  still  have  their  slight  inclinations  towards 
their  benches,  where  their  waters  are  arrested,  and  carried  off.  But, 
from  their  immense  amount  of  vegetation,  and  from  the  levelness  of  their 
surface,  wherever  they  are  considerably  extensive,  they  have  small  ponds, 
plashes  and  bayous,  which  fill  from  the  rivers,  and  from  rains,  and  are 
only  drained,  during  the  intense  heat  of  summer,  by  evaporation. 
These  ponds  in  the  alluvial  prairies,  that  are  connected  with  the  rivers, 
when  they  overflow  by  bayous  are  filled,  in  the  season  of  high  waters, 
with  fish  of  the  various  kinds.  As  the  water  subsides,  and  their  connec- 
ting courses  with  the  river  become  dry,  the  fish  are  taken  by  cart  loads 
among  the  tall  grass,  where  the  water  is  three  or  four  feet  deep.  When 
the  waters  evaporate,  during  the  heats  of  summer,  the  fish  die;  and 
although  thousands  of  buzzards  prey  upon  them,  they  become  a  source 
of  pollution  to  the  atmosphere. — Hence  these  prairies,  beautiful  as  they 
seem  to  the  eye,  and  extraordinary  as  is  their  fertility,  are  very  unfavor- 
able positions,  in  point  of  salubrity.  Flocks  of  deer  are  seen  scouring 
across  these  rich  plains,  or  feeding  peaceably  with  the  domestic  cattle. 
In  the  spring  and  autumn,  innumerable  flocks  of  water  fowls  are  seen 
wheeling  their  flight  about  the  lakes  and  ponds  of  these  prairies.  They 
find  copious  pasture  in  the  oily  seeds  of  the  plants  and  grasses,  that 
have  seeded  during  the  summer. 

During  the  months  of  vegetation,  no  adequate  idea  could  be  conveyed 
by  description  of  the  number,  forms,  varieties,  scents  and  hues  of  the 
flowering  plants,  and  the  various  flowers  of  the  richer  prairies.  In  the 
barrens  are  four  or  five  varieties  of  'ladies  slippers',  of  different  and 
the  most  splendid  colors.  The  violets,  and  the  humbler  and  more  mod- 
est kinds  of  garden  flowers,  are  not  capable  of  competing  with  the  rank 
growth  of  grass  and  weeds,  that  choke  them  on  the  surface.  Some  of  the 
taller  and  hardier  kinds  of  the  liliaceous  plants  struggle  for  display,  and 
rear  themselves  high  enough  to  be  seen.  Most  of  the  prairie  flowers 
have  tall  and  arrowy  stems,  and  spiked  or  tassellated  heads,  and  the 
flowers  have  great  size,  gaudiness  and  splendor,  without  much  fragrance 
or  delicacy.  The  most  striking  of  these  flowers  we  shall  attempt  to 
class  and  describe,  in  another  place;  only  remarking  here,  that  during 
the  summer,  the  prairies  present  distinct  successions  of  dominant  hues, 
as  the  season  advances.  The  prevalent  color  of  the  prairie  flowers  in 
spring,  is  blueish  purple;  in  midsummer,  red,  with  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  yellow.  In  autumn,  the  flowers  are  very  large,  many  of  them  of 
the  helianthus  form,  and  the  prairie  receives  from  them  such  a  splendid 
coloring  of  yellow,  as  almost  to  present  to  the  imagination  an  immense 
surface  of  gilding. 


M  r  xN  K  R  A  L  3 


iJ9 


Minerals.  There  are  diffused  in  the  different  positions  of  this  valley 
the  common  proportions  of  minerals,  oxides,  neutral  salts  fossils,  and  ihe 
different  kinds  of earths.  Salt  springs,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  elsewhere 
to  remark,  are  found  in  a  thousand  places,  in  all  proportions  of  saline 
impregnations,  from  water,  that  is  merely  brackish,  to  that  which  is  much 
Salter  than  sea  water.  It  is  obvious  to  remark,  the  wise  and  benevolent 
provision  of  Providence  for  the  population  of  the  country,  in  thus 
providing,  at  such  distances  from  the  sea,  an  article  so  essential  and 
indispensable  to  the  comfort  and  subsistence  of  civilized  man.  Hence  it 
results,  that  there  is  no  point  in  this  valley  far  removed  from  the  means  of 
an  easy  and  cheap  supply  of  this  necessary  article.  The  cattle  have  dis- 
covered this  impregnation  in  innumerable  licks.  It  is  found  in  form  like  a 
hoar  frost  in  'Salt  Prairie',  between  the  Osage  and  the  Arkansas.  Arkan- 
sas and  Red  river  are  at  times  perceptibly  brackish,  from  the  quality  of 
salt  in  solution  in  the  water.  Nitre  is  found  almost  pure,  and  is  lixivated 
from  the  earths  in  the  lime  stone  caves,  that  abound  in  various  places. 
Muriate  of  magnesia,  or  Epsom  salts,  is  found  in  caves  in  Indiana. 
Sulphates  of  iron  and  alumine  are  found  in  greater  proportions,  than  in 
most  countries;  and  copperas  and  alum  might  be  among  the  manufactures 
of  this  region.  Carbonate  of  lime  abounds,  as  we  have  seen,  every 
where.  Sulphate  of  lime,  or  gypsum,  is  found  in  various  places.  We 
have  seen  most  beautiful  specimens,  striated  with  needles  in  stars,  and 
when  pulverized  and  prepared,  of  a  snowy  whiteness, — said  to  have  been 
brought  from  the  Kansas  of  the  Missouri.  Quarries  of  gypsum  are 
affirmed  to  exist  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Tennessee, 
and  in  various  other  places.  That  call  for  the  use  of  this  material, 
which  would  alone  lead  to  adequate  search  for  it,  has  not  yet  been 
heard.  It  has  not  been  required,  or  used  in  building,  or  the  arts;  and 
such  is  the  universal  fertility  of  the  soil,  that  it  will  be  long,  before  it  will 
be  sought  after  as  a  manure.  But  that  time  will  come,  and  then,  in  this 
region  of  secondary  formation,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  a  sufficiency 
of  this  article  will  be  discovered  for  all  the  necessities  of  the  country. 

On  the  waters  of  the  Little  Sioux  of  the  Missouri,  and  on  a  branch  of 
the  St.  Peters  of  the  upper  Mississippi,  is  found  a  beautiful  species  of 
indurated  clay, — constituting  a  stone  of  the  most  singular  appearance, 
commonly  called  'pipe  stone',  from  the  circumstance,  that  the  savages 
in  all  these  regions,  quite  to  the  western  sea,  make  thair  pipes,  and  some- 
times their  other  ornaments  of  it.  It  is  said  to  be  cut  from  the  quarry, 
almost  with  the  ease  of  wood.  It  hardens  in  the  air,  and  receives  an 
exquisite  polish  of  impalpable  smoothness.  It  is  nearly  of  the  color  of 
blood;  and  is  a  beautiful  article  for  monumental  slabs,  vases  and  require- 
ments of  that  sort.     If  it  be  as  abundant,  and  as  easily  procured,  as  has 


30  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

been  said,  it  will  one  day  become  an  article  of  extensive  use  througb  the 
country.  For  although  marble  abounds,  this  is  a  more  beautiful  material, 
than  any  marble  that  we  have  seen.  It  has  been  generally  asserted, 
that  an  imaginary  line  of  truce  extends  round  the  places,  where  this 
stone  is  found,  within  which  the  most  hostile  tribes  pursue  their  business 
of  cutting  out  stones  for  pipes  in  peace. 

We  have  seen  frequent  specimens  of  ores,  said  to  be  ores  of  cinabar. 
There  are  unquestionably,  abundant  ores  of  copper  and  zinc.  Copper,  it 
is  known,  is  not  found  so  abundantly  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  as  it 
was  anticipated  it  would  be.  A  vast  number  of  specimens  of  copper  ore 
are  found  in  different  points  in  this  valley.  Specimens  of  pure  and  mal- 
leable copper  have  been  shown  to  us;  one  of  which  said  to  have  been  found 
in  Illinois,  thirty  miles  east  of  St.  Louis,  weighed  three  pounds.  There  is 
a  river  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  forty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
souri, called  by  the  French,  'Cuivre'  or  Copper  river,  from  the  supposed 
mines  of  copper  on  its  banks.  Ores  of  copper  have  been  found  at  different 
points  on  the  Illinois.  Considerable  quantities  are  smelted  at  Galena, 
dug  with  the  ores  of  lead.  Iron  ore  is  abundant  in  too  many  places  to  be 
named.  Ores  of  antimony  and  manganese  are  occasionally  seen ;  but  the 
progress  of  the  arts,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  country  not  having 
called  for  these  articles,  little  note  has  been  taken  of  the  discoveries. 
Hunters  and  travellers  have  asserted,  that  gold  dust  is  brought  down  to  the 
Missouri  by  its  upper  waters,  and  has  been  seen  on  the  sand  bars  at  low 
wafer.  Whether  it  be  so,  or  whether  the  shining  particles,  which  they 
undoubtedly  saw,  were  only  of  mica  or  talc,  is  not  known.  On  the  ranges 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  continued  in  Mexico,  it  is  well  known  the  pre- 
cious medals  abound.  A  great  many  mines  of  silver  are  wrought  on  the 
western  spurs  of  the  Masserne  Mountains,  near  Santa  Fe.  It  is  natural  to 
infer,  that  the  same  ranges  when  thoroughly  explored  on  the  eastern  side, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  sources  of  the  Yellowtone,  Platte,  Arkansas,  and  Red 
Rivers,  will  be  also  found  to  have  their  mines  of  silver  and  gold.  It  is 
at  present  asserted,  that  a  silver  mine  has  been  recently  discovered  in 
Indiana. 

The  only  mines  that  are  yet  wrought  in  this  country  to  any  extent,  are 
those  of  iron  and  lead.  Near  Pittsburgh,  and  on  the  Monongahela,  in 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Missouri,  are  manufactories  of  iron  from 
native  ores  which  we  shall  notice  when  we  speak  of  those  States.  Lead 
ore  is  found  in  different  points  of  this  valley  with  more  ease,  and  in  greater 
abundance,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  part  in  the  world.  The  particular 
sections  of  country  where  these  ores  are  dug  in  greatest  abundance,  are 
in  the  county  of  Washington  in  Missouri,  from  twenty  to  fifty  miles  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  waters  of  Big  Creek,  a  river  of  the  Maramec; 


CLIMATE. 


31 


and  near  Rock  River,  at  Dubuque's  mines,  in  the  State  of  Illinois;  and  at 
Riviere  du  feve,  improperly  called  Fever  River,  upon  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi. We  shall  naturally  speak  of  the  mines,  when  we  treat  of  the 
states  in  which  they  are  found. 

Climate.  In  a  country  of  such  immense  extent,  the  climate  must 
necessarily  be  various.  We  must,  of  course,  be  brief  on  so  copious  a 
head.  Between  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  there  is  every  variety  of  temperature,  from  that  of  the 
Arctic  regions,  to  that,  where  flourish  the  olive  and  the  sugar  cane.  We 
may,  perhaps,  obtain  conceptions  of  some  exactness,  by  inspecting  our 
thermometrical  tables  of  the  temperature  at  different  points  of  the  valley. 
We  have  resided  through  Jhe  season  in  the  northern,  middle  and  southern 
regions  of  it.  We  are  confident,  as  a  general  fact,  that  the  climate  more 
exactly  and  uniformly  corresponds  to  the  latitude,  than  that  of  any  other 
country.  The  amount  of  heat  and  cold,  or  the  mean  temperature  through 
the  year  is  greater  or  less,  at  any  place,  according  as  its  position  is  more 
or  less  to  the  south.  In  ascending  the  Mississippi  from  New  Orleans  to 
St.  Louis,  or  Cincinnati,  in  the  spring,  we  take  a  direction  generally 
north.  One  of  the  swifter  steam  boats  will  considerably  out-travel  the 
progress  of  spring;  and  from  the  region,  where  the  foliage  of  the  trees  and 
vegetation  generally  have  unfolded  into  all  their  verdure,  we  find  the 
foliage  on  the  banks  of  the  river  gradually  diminishing,  as  we  ascend; 
and  after  we  pass  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  we  shall  perhaps,  see  the  buds 
on  the  trees  just  beginning  to  swell.  In  descending  the  same  river 
in  the  autumn,  we  observe  this  influence  of  the  climate  reversed  in  a 
most  impressive  manner.  At  Pittsburgh  the  trees  are  stripped  of  their 
leaves  by  frost.  At  Cincinnati  nature  is  laying  on  the  last  mellow 
colors  of  autumn,  and  the  leaves  are  beginning  to  fall.  At  Natchez  the 
forests  are  still  in  the  verdure  of  summer.  We  have  noted  this  beauti- 
fully graduated  and  inverted  scale  of  the  seasons,  more  than  once,  in 
ascending  and  descending  rivers. 

It  is  very  obvious  why  climate  in  this  valley  should  so  accurately  cor- 
respond to  latitude.  It  is  an  immense  basin,  spreading  from  north  to 
south.  There  are  no  ranges  of  mountains  spread  across  the  valley  in  an 
eastern  and  western  direction,  to  change  the  current  or  temperature  of 
the  winds,  or  to  give  a  material  difference  of  temperature  to  places,  situ- 
ated in  the  same  latitude.  Hence  it  is,  that  in  traversing  the  country  from 
south  to  north,  we  discover  the  diminution  of  temperature,  as  marked 
by  that  sensible  and  unerring  thermometer,  the  vegetable  creation,  very 
accurately  indicating  the  latitude  of  the  place. 


32  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY; 

Mr.  Jefferson  has  supposed,  that  in  this  valley  the  temperature  is 
higher,  than  in  the  same  parallels  in  the  Atlantic  country.  Dr.  Drake 
and  others  have  successfully  combated  this  idea.  Mr.  JeSerson  asserts, 
that  the  reed  cane,  myegia  macrospcr?na,  and  paroquets,  are  seen  farther 
north  on  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  than  on  the  Atlantic  shore.  If  it 
be  so,  the  inference  drawn  from  these  facts,  might  easily  be  shown  to  be 
erroneous,  by  showing  that  their  locality  along  these  streams  is  fixed  by 
other  circumstances  than  temperature.  On  the  Tennessee,  the  cane 
finding  a  congenial  soil,  and  circumstances,  on  the  banks  of  a  river  run- 
ning from  south  to  north,  will  spread  its  seeds  along  those  banks  to  a 
point  more  northern,  than  its  native  residence.  The  immense  numbers 
of  paroquets,  that  are  seen  on  the  lower  courses  of  the  Mississippi,  will 
naturally  push  their  colonies  far  to  the  north  on  that  river,  where  they 
still  find  all  circumstances,  but  temperature,  the  same;  where  there  are 
old,  large  and  hollow  sycamore  trees,  the  favorite  haunts  of  this  brilliant 
bird,  furnishing  it  at  once  fiod,  shelter,  and  a  home. 

These  regions,  sheltered  from  the  damp  and  cold  northeastern  gales  of 
the  Atlantic  shores  in  the  spring,  will  probably  have  that  season  milder 
and  more  forward,  than  in  the  corresponding  latitudes  of  the  Atlantic. 
But  in  such  a  vast  basin,  inclining  from  north  to  south,  and  permeated 
in  its  whole  extent  by  such  a  river,  as  the  Mississippi,  an  atmosphere  of 
the  cold  air  of  the  elevated  regions  of  the  table  lands  at  its  sources  will 
naturally  be  set  in  motion  at  times  by  atmospheric  changes,  and  be  pro- 
pelled towards  the  south.  The  colder  air  will  often  rush  down  to 
supply  the  vacuum,  mads  by  the  rarefaction  of  southern  temperature. 
Hence  north  and  south  winds, — in  other  words,  winds  up  and  down  this 
basin,  frequently  alternate,  and,  together  with  their  collateral  winds,  the 
northeast  and  southwest,  are  the  prevailing  winds  felt  in  the  valley. 
Southern  and  southwestern  gales  predominate  in  the  summer,  and  north- 
ern and  western  in  winter.  Hence  the  winter  is  much  more  changeable, 
than  that  of  the  Atlantic  country,  frequently  softening  even  in  its  north- 
ern parts,  from  weather,  in  which  the  mercury  stands  below  zerri^  to 
weather  of  such  mildness,  as  to  invite  people  to  sit  at  the  open  windows 
in  January  and  February. 

In  the  medial  regions  of  this  country,  the  winter  commences  about 
Christmas.  The  severest  weather  is  ordinarily  between  that  time  and 
the  second  week  in  February.  The  common  snows  are  from  two  to 
eight  inches  deep,  and  they  seldom  lie  many  days.  We  have,  however, 
seen  the  snow  at  New  Madrid,  near  3b'°  north,  lie  more  than  a  fortnight. 
North  of  this  mean  region,  as  at  Prairie  du  Chien,onthe  upper  Mississippi, 
and  the  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri,  that  is  to  say,  not  far  from  the 
climate  of  New  York  and  Albany,  the  snow  does  not  fall  as  deep  as  at 


C  LIMA  T  E  .  33 

ifiose  places  or  lie  so  long.     The  cold  sometimes  is  severe,  but  oftener 
intermits,  and  is  followed  by  mild,  and  even  warm  days. 

We  may  class  four  distinct  climates,  between  the  sources  and  the 
outlet  of  the  Mississippi.  The  first,  commencing  at  its  sources,  and  ter- 
minating at  Prairie  du  Chien,  corresponds  pretty  accurately  to  the 
climate  between  Montreal  and  Boston;  with  this  difference,  that  the 
amount  of  snow  falling  in  the  former,  is  much  less  than  in  the  latter 
region.  The  mean  temperature  of  a  year  would  be  something  higher  on 
the  Mississippi.  The  vegetables  raised,  the  time  of  planting,  and  the 
modes  of  cultivating  them,  would,  probably,  be  nearly  the  same.  Vege- 
tation will  have  nearly  the  same  progress  and  periodical  changes.  The 
growing  of  gourd  seed  corn,  which  demands  an  increase  of  temperature 
over  that  requisite  for  the  corn  of  the  northern  states,  to  bring  it  to  matu- 
rity, is  not  planted  in  this  region.  The  Irish  potatoe  is  raised  in  this 
climate  in  the  utmost  perfection.  Wheat  and  cultivated  grasses  succeed 
well.  The  apple  and  the  pear  tree  require  fostering,  and  southern  expos- 
ure to  bring  fruit  in  perfection.  The  peach  tree  has  still  more  the  habits 
and  the  fragile  delicacy  of  a  southern  stranger,  and  requires  a  sheltered 
declivity,  with  a  southern  exposure,  to  succeed  at  all.  Five  months  in  the 
year  may  be  said  to  belong  to  the  dominion  of  winter.  For  that  length  of 
time,  the  cattle  require  shelter  in  the  severe  weather,  and  the  still  waters 
remain  frozen. 

The  next  climate  includes  the  opposite  states  of  Missouri  and  Illinois, 
in  their  whole  extent,  or  the  country  between  41°  and  37°.  Cattle, 
though  much  benefitted  by  sheltering,  and  often  needing  it,  seldom  receive 
it.  It  is  not  so  favorable  for  cultivated  grasses,  as  the  preceding  region. 
Gourd  seed  corn  is  the  only  kind  extensively  planted.  The  winter  com- 
mences with  January,  and  ends  with  the  second  week  in  February.  The 
ice  in  the  still  waters,  after  that  time  thaws.  Wheat,  the  inhabitant  of  a 
variety  of  climates,  is  at  home,  as  a  native,  in  this.  The  persimon  and 
the  pawpaw  are  found  in  its  whole  extent.  It  is  the  favored  region  of  the 
apple,  the  pear,  and  the  peach  tree.  Snows  neither  fall  deep,  nor  lie  long. 
The  Irish  potatoe  succeeds  to  a  certain  extent,  but  not  as  well,  as  in 
the  former  climate ;  but  this  disadvantage  is  supplied  by  the  sweet  potatoe, 
which,  though  not  at  home  in  this  climate,  with  a  little  care  in  the  culti- 
vation, flourishes.  The  increased  temperature  of  March  and  April,  and 
the  subsequent  grandeur  of  vegetation,  indicate  an  approach  towards  a 
southern  climate. 

The  next  climate  extends  from  37°  to  31°.  Below  35°,  in  the  rich  allu- 
vial soils,  the  apple  tree  begins  to  fail  in  bringing  its  fruit  to  perfection. 
We  have  never  tasted  apples  worth  eating,  raised  much  below  New  Mad- 
rid.    Cotton,  between  this  point  and  33°,  is  raised,  in  favorable  positions, 

5 


34  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

for  home  consumption;  but  is  seldom  to  be  depended  upon  for  a  crop. 
Below  33°  commences  the  proper  climate  for  cotton,  and  it  is  the  staple 
article  of  cultivation.  Festoons  of  long  moss  hang  from  the  trees,  and 
darken  the  forests.  The  palmetto  gives  to  the  low  alluvial  grounds  a 
grand  and  striking  verdure.  The  muscadine  grape,  strongly  designating 
climate,  is  first  found  here.  Laurel  trees  become  common  in  the  forest, 
retaining  their  foliage  and  their  verdure  through  the  winter.  Wheat  is  no 
longer  seen,  as  an  article  of  cultivation.  The  fig  tree  brings  its  fruit  to 
full  maturity. 

Below  this  climate,  to  the  gulf,  is  the  region  of  the  sugar  cane  and  the 
sweet  orange  tree.  It  would  be,  if  it  were  cultivated,  the  region  of  the 
olive.  Snow  is  no  longer  seen  to  fall,  except  a  few  flakes  in  the  coldest 
storms.  The  streams  are  never  frozen.  Winter  is  only  marked  by  nights 
of  white  frosts,  and  days  of  north  west  winds,  which  seldom  last  longer 
than  three  days  in  succession,  and  are  followed  by  south  winds  and  warm 
days.  The  trees  are  generally  in  leaf  by  the  middle  of  February,  and 
always  by  the  first  of  March.  Bats  are  hovering  in  the  air  during  the 
night.  Fireflies  are  seen  by  the  middle  of  February.  Early  in  March, 
the  forests  are  in  blossom.  The  delightful  white  flowers  of  the  cornus 
Jlorida,  and  the  brilliant  red  tufts  of  the  Redbud,  or  cercis  canadensisy 
are  unfolded.  The  margins  of  the  creeks  and  streams  are  perfumed 
with  the  meadow  pink,  or  honeysuckle,  yellow  jessamine,  and  other  fra- 
grant flowers.  During  almost  every  night,  a  thunder  storm  occurs. 
Cotton  and  corn  are  planted  from  March  to  July.  In  these  regions,  the 
summers  are  uniformly  hot,  although  there  are  days,  when  the  mercury 
rises  as  high  in  New  England,  as  in  Louisiana.  The  heat,  however, 
is  more  uniform  and  sustained,  commences  much  earlier,  and  continues 
later.  From  February  to  September,  thunder  storms  are  common,  often 
accompanied  with  severe  thunder,  and  sometimes  with  gales,  or  torna- 
does, in  which  the  trees  of  the  forest  are  prostrated  in  every  direction, 
and  the  tract,  of  country,  which  is  covered  with  these  fallen  trees,  is  called 
a  'hurricane.'  The  depressing  influence  of  the  summer  heat,  results 
from  its  long  continuance,  and  equal  and  unremitting  tenor,  rather  than 
from  the  intensity  of  its  ardor  at  any  given  time.  It  must,  however,  be 
admitted,  that  at  all  times,  the  unclouded  radiance  of  the  vertical  sun  of 
this  climate  is  extremely  oppressive.  Such  are  the  summers  and  autumns 
of  me  southern  division  of  this  valley. 

The  winters,  in  the  whole  extent  of  the  country,  are  variable,  passing 
rapidly  from  warm  to  cold,  and  the  reverse.  Near  the  Mississippi,  and 
where  there  is  little  to  vary  the  general  direction  of  the  winds,  they  ordi- 
narily blow  three  or  four  days  from  the  north.  In  the  northern  and  middle 
regions,  the  consequence  is  cold  weather,  frost,  more  or  less  severe,  and 


DISEASES.  .,r 

perhaps  storm,  with  snow  and  sleet.  During  these  days,  the  rivers  are 
covered  with  ice.  The  opposite  breeze  alternates.  There  is  immedi- 
ately a  bland  and  relaxing  feeling  in  the  atmosphere.  It  becomes  warm ; 
and  the  redbirds  sing  in  these  days,  in  January  and  February,  as  far 
north  as  Prairie  du  Chien.  These  abrupt  and  frequent  transitions  can 
hardly  foil  to  have  an  unfavorable  influence  upon  health.  From  40°  to 
36°  the  rivers  almost  invariably  freeze,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period, 
through  the  winter.  At  St.  Louis  on  the  Mississippi,  and  at  Cincinnati 
on  the  Ohio,  in  nearly  the  same  parallels,  between  33°  and  39°,  the  two 
rivers  are  sometimes  capable  of  being  crossed  on  the  ice  for  eight  weeks 
together . 

Although  the  summers  over  all  this  valley  must  be  admitted'to  be 
hot,  yet  the  exemption  of  the  country  from  mountains  and  impediments, 
to  the  free  course  of  the  winds,  and  the  circumstance,  that  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  country  has  a  surface  bare  of  forests,  and,  probably, 
other  unexplained  atmospheric  agents,  concur  to  create,  during  the  sul- 
try months,  almost  a  constant  breeze.  It  thence  happens,  that  the  air 
on  these  wide  prairies  is  rendered  fresh,  and  the  heats  are  tempered,  in 
the  same  manner,  as  is  felt  on  the  ocean. 

There  is  a  circumstance,  pertaining  to  vegetation  in  the  middle  and 
southern  regions  of  this  country,  that  we  have  not  seen  noticed  by  other 
writers,  but  which  we  have  often  remarked  with  surprise;  and  it  is,  that 
the  same  degree  of  heat  in  the  spring  does  not  advance  vegetation  as 
rapidly,  as  at  the  north.  We  have  seen  a  brilliant  sun,  and  felt  the  las- 
situde of  the  warm  spring  days  continued  in  succession,  and  yet  have 
remarked  the  buds  to  remain  apparently  stationary,  and  the  developement 
of  vegetation  almost  imperceptible.  The  same  amount  of  heat  at  Quebec 
would  have  completely  unfolded  the  foliage,  and  clothed  the  earth  with 
verdure.* 

Diseases.  A  satisfactory  account  of  the  diseases  of  this  valley  would 
occupy  more  space,  than  we  have  to  bestow  upon  the  subject,  and  could 
only  be  expected  in  treatises,  professedly  devoted  to  medicine.  General 
remarks  upon  the  subject  can  only  be  expected  here.  In  such  a  variety 
of  climates  and  exposures — in  a  country  alternately  covered  in  one  point 
with  the  thickest  forests,  and  in  another  spreading  out  into  grassy 
plains — in  one  section  having  a  very  dry,  and  in  another  a  very  humid 
atmosphere — and  having  every  degree  of  temperature,  from  that  of  the 
Arctic  regions,  to  that  of  the  West  Indies,  there  must  necessarily  be 
generated  all  the  forms  and  varieties  of  disease,  that  spring  simply  from 
climate.  Emigrants  from  the  Atlantic  country  will  always  find  it  un- 
•  For  table  of  climate  see  appendix,  table  No.  I. 


3q  M I S  S I  SSI P  PI    V  A  L  I.  E  V  . 

safe,  to  select  their  residence  near  stagnant  waters  and  creeping  bayous, 
on  the  rich  and  heavy  timbered  alluvions.  Yet  these,  from  their  fertility, 
and  the  ease  with  which  they  are  brought  into  cultivation,  are  the  points 
most  frequently  selected.  The  rich  plains  of  the  Scioto  were  the  graves  of 
the  first  settlers.  They  have  long  since  been  brought  into  cultivation, 
and  have  lost  their  character  for  insalubrity.  A  thousand  places  in  the 
West,  which  were  selected  as  residences  by  the  first  immigrants,  on 
account  of  their  fertility,  and  which  were  at  first  regarded  as  haunts  of 
disease  and  mortality,  have  now  a  character  for  salubrity. 

On  the  lower  courses  of  the  Ohio,  the  Wabash,  the  Tennessee,  the 
Mississippi,  and  its  southern  tributaries, — in  short,  wherever  the  bottoms 
are  wide,  the  forests  deep,  the  surface  level,  and  sloping  back  from  the 
river,  the  vegetation  rank — wherever  the  rivers  overflow,  and  leave  stag- 
nant waters,  that  are  only  carried  off  by  evaporation — wherever  there  are 
ponds  and  lagoons  in  the  bottoms,  to  catch  and  retain  the  rains  and  the 
overflow,  it  may  be  assumed,  as  a  general  maxim,  that  such  positions 
will  be  unhealthy;  and  more  or  less  so,  as  more  or  less  of  these  circum- 
stances concur.  Wherever  these  causes  of  disease  exist,  there  is  no  part 
of  this  valley,  which  has  not  a  summer  of  sufficient  heat  and  duration,  to 
quicken  these  causes  into  fatal  action. 

The  very  rich  and  extensive  alluvial  prairies  of  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
and  of  the  Illinois,  which  are  covered  with  a  prodigious  growth  of  grass 
and  weeds,  generally  contain  marshy  basins,  small  lakes  and  plashes, 
where  the  water  from  the  bluffs  and  the  highlands  is  caught  and  retained. 
They  will  ordinarily  prove  unhealthy, — some  think,  more  so,  than  the 
timbered  country, — until  these  reservoirs  of  stagnant  waters  are  all 
drained,  and  the  surplus  vegetation  is  burned  off",  or  otherwise  removed 
by  the  progress  of  vegetation.  These  places  strike  the  eye  delightfully, 
and  their  openness,  and  exposure  to  be  swept  by  the  winds,  seem  to  pre- 
clude them  from  the  chance  of  sickliness.  Their  extraordinary  fertility, 
and  their  being  at  once  ready  for  the  plough,  hold  out  allurements  to 
immigrants.  But  there  appears  to  be  in  the  great  plan  of  Providence  a 
scale,  in  which  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  human  condition 
are  balanced. — Where  the  lands  are  extremely  fertile,  it  seems  to  be 
appended  to  them,  as  a  drawback  to  that  advantage,  that  they  are  gener- 
ally sickly. 

Immigrants  have  scarcely  ever  paused  long  enough,  or  taken  sufficient 
elements  into  the  calculation,  in  selecting  their  residence,  with  a  view  to 
its  salubrity.  When  the  choice  is  to  be  made,  they  are  often  encumbered 
with  families,  and  generally  feel  stinted  both  in  time  and  money,  and  are 
in  a  hurry  to  commence  operations  for  the  provision  of  their  families. 
They  are  apt  to  give  too  little  weight  to  the  most  important  motive  of 


diss  a  sea  ;i- 

all,  which  ought  to  determine  their  election.  A  deep  bottom,  a  fertile 
soil,  a  position  on  the  margin  of  a  boatable  or  navigable  stream;  these 
are  apt  to  be  ihe  determining  elements  of  their  choice.  The  heavy 
forest  is  levelled.  A  thousand  trees  moulder  about  the  cabin.  The 
stagnant  waters,  that,  while  shielded  from  the  action  of  the  sun  by  the 
forest,  had  remained  comparatively  innoxious,  exposed  now  to  its 
burning  rays,  and  rendered  more  deleterious  by  being  filled  with 
trunks  and  branches  of  decaying  trees,  and  all  kinds  of  putrid  vege- 
tation, become  laboratories  of  miasm,  and  emit  on  every  side,  the  seeds 
of  disease. — When  we  know,  that  such  have  been  precisely  the  circum- 
stances, in  which  a  great  portion  of  the  immigrants  to  the  western 
country  have  fixed  themselves  in  open  cabins,  that  drink  in  the  humid 
atmosphere  of  the  night,  through  a  hundred  crevices,  in  a  new  and  untried 
climate,  under  a  higher  temperature,  under  the  influence  of  new  diet 
and  regimen,  and,  perhaps,  under  the  depressing  fatigue  of  severe  labor 
and  exposure,;  need  we  wonder,  that  the  country  has  acquired  a  general 
character  of  unhealthiness? 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  in  the  southern  and  middle  regions  of 
this  valley,  the  wide,  level  and  heavy  timbered  alluvions  are  intrinsically 
more  or  less  unhealthy.  It  cannot  be  disguised,  that  in  these  situations, 
the  new  resident  is  subject  to  bilious  complaints,  to  remitting  fevers, 
and  more  than  all,  to  intermitting  fever,  or  fever  and  ague.  This  com- 
plaint is  the  general  scourge  of  the  valley. 

It  is  an  undoubted  fact,  explained  in  different  ways,  and  by  different 
theories,  by  the  people,  that  even  in  the  most  unfavorable  positions  on 
the  lower  waters  of  the  Ohio,  or  even  the  bayous  of  Arkansas,  or  Red 
River,  the  immigrant  is  not  so  much  exposed,  while  his  cabin  is  still 
under  the  shade  of  the  unbroken  forest.  The  most  dangerous  period 
is,  after  the  trees  have  been  levelled  a  year  or  two,  and  while  they  are 
still  decaying  about  the  dwelling.  This  well  known  fact  would  seem 
to  give  plausibility  to  the  doctrine,  that  these  deep  and  grand  forests 
feed  their  foliage  with  an  atmosphere,  that  is  adverse  to  the  life  of  man  ; 
and  that  when  the  forests  are  cleared  away,  the  miasm,  the  noxious  air, 
that  used  to  be  absorbed  and  devoured  by  the  redundant  vegetation  and 
foliage  of  the  forests,  and  incorporated  with  its  growth,  thus  detached 
and  disengaged,  inhaled  by  the  new  residents,  becomes  a  source  of  disease. 

Another  fact,  in  relation  to  the  choice  of  a  residence  with  a  view  to 
its  salubrity,  has  been  abundantly  and  unanswerably  proved  by  experi- 
ence. It  is,  that  bluffs  on  the  margins  of  wide  bottoms  and  alluvial  prairies 
are  more  unhealthy  situations,  than  those,  in  the  bottom  or  prairie,  which 
they  overlook.  This  fact  has  been  amply  demonstrated  on  the  Ohio 
bottoms  and  bluffs,  on  the  margins  of  the  alluvial  prairies  of  the  Upper 


33  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Mississippi,  and,  in  short,  wherever  a  high  bluff  overlooks  a  wide  bottom. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  airy  and  beautiful  bluffs  that  bound  the  noble 
prairies  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  in  an  atmosphere,  apparently  so  pure, 
as  to  preclude  all  causes  of  disease,  are  far  moie  subject  to  fever 
and  ague,  than  the  people  that  inhabit  below  them  on  the  level  of  the 
prairies.  The  same  has  been  remarked  of  the  Chickasaw  bluffs,  fort 
Pickering,  or  Memphis,  fort  Adams,  Natchez,  Baton  Rouge,  and  the 
bluffs,  generally,  along  the  great  water  courses.  Yet,  though  such  is  the 
uniform  teaching  of  experience,  so  deceptive  is  the  salubrious  aspect  of 
these  airy  hills,  that  swell  above  the  dun  and  murky  air,  that  seems  to 
lie  like  a  mist  over  the  wide  bottoms  below  them,  that  most  people,  in 
choosing  their  residence,  will  be  guided  by  their  senses,  in  opposition  to 
their  experience.  We  know  not,  whether  the  theory,  by  which  this  fact 
is  explained,  is  a  sound  one  or  not.  It  is  said  that  the  miasm,  or  noxious 
air,  from  putrid  vegetation,  and  stagnant  water  in  the  swamps  and 
bottoms,  is  specifically  lighter  than  atmospheric  air;  that,  of  course,  it 
rises  from  the  plains,  and  hovers  over  the  summits  of  the  bluffs,  here 
finding  its  level  of  specific  gravity;  and  that,  were  it  colored,  it  would  be 
seen  overlaying  the  purer  strata  of  air  beneath  it. 

The  slopes  of  the  Alleghanies,  the  interior  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  of 
Tennesse  and  Indiana,  where  the  forest  is  cleared  away,  and  the  land 
has  been  for  a  sufficient  time  under  cultivation,  is  sufficiently  remote 
from  stagnant  waters — the  high  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Missouri — the 
dry  pine  woods  of  the  lower  and  southern  country — parts  of  the  plains 
of  Opelousas  and  Attakapas — considerable  portions  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi — and,  generally,  the  open  country  towards  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, may  be  considered  as  healthy  as  any  other  country.  As  a  general 
remark,  the  inhabitants  of  this  valley  are  more  subject  to  bilious  com- 
plaints, than  those  of  the  northern  and  middle  Atlantic  states;  but, 
probably,  not  so  much  so,  as  those  on  the  sea  board  of  the  southern 
Atlantic  states. —  Jilious  symptoms,  especially  in  the  southern  regions, 
are  apt  to  be  combined  with  all  forms  of  disease.  Intermitting  fevers  are 
common  through  all  the  country,  as  they  were  even  in  New  England,  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  its  settlement,  and  while  it  was  still  covered  with 
forests.  It  is  seldom  a  severe  disease;  and  in  most  instances,  readily 
yields  to  the  universally  established  modes  of  treatment,  by  previous 
evacuations,  and  bark.  Sometimes  it  becomes  complicated  with  other 
diseases,  and  assumes  a  strongly  bilious  type;  and  it  is  then  a  formidable 
disease.  It  is  a  well  known  symptom  of  this  disorder,  that  it  recurs  at 
regular  intervals.  When  the  links  of  the  associated  chain  of  disease  are 
formed,  tf-4h«  disorder  be  cured,  it  is  apt  to  recur  again.  All  indisposi- 
tion is  apt  to  take  this  form;  and  it  has  this  advantage  in  security  against 


DISEASES. 


39 


other  diseases,  that  when  a  person  has  been  for  a  considerable  time  sub- 
ject to  ague,  whatever  form  of  disease  may  happen  to  assail  him,  it  ulti- 
mately runs  into  the  form  of  ague.  But  these  agues,  when  often  repeated, 
and  long  continued,  gradually  sap  the  constitution,  and  break  down  the 
powers  of  life.  The  person  becomes  enfeebled  and  dropsical.  Maras- 
mus, or  what  is  called  'cachexy,'  ensues.  A  very  common  result  is,  that 
enlargement  of  the  spleen,  vulgarly  called  'an  ague  cake.'  This  form  of 
disease  is  most  perceptible  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  valley. 

In  the  summer  and  autumnal  months,  bilious  fevers  are  apt  to  prevail, 
probably  to  a  greater  extent,  than  in  the  Atlantic  country.  But  it  is  be- 
lieved, they  more  generally  assume  the  remittent  or  intermittent  form; 
that  they  are  not  so  frequently  attended  with  inflammatory  symptoms,  and 
that  they  more  readily  yield  to  medicine.  The  continued  bilious  fever 
of  this  country,  as  in  other  countries,  is  always  a  formidable  disease.  In 
the  lower  and  southern  country,  in  the  heats  of  summer  and  autumn, 
when  it  prevails  in  towns  and  compact  villages,  it  often  assumes  a 
malignant  type.  Prevention  here,  as  elsewhere,  is  found  to  be  better 
than  remedy;  and  avoidances  of  exposure  of  night  air,  to  rains,  and  the 
direct  and  continued  influence  of  the  sun,  and  strict  temperance  in  eating 
and  drinking,  would  no  doubt,  prevent  many  of  these  terrible  diseases. 
Persons,  especially,  who  are  passing  through  the  process  of  acclimation, 
ought  not  only  to  adopt  this  plan,  but  occasionally  to  take  cathartics,  fol- 
lowed by  the  use  of  bark. — The  grand  remedies  of  the  western  country,  it 
is  well  known,  are  calomel  and  bark.  We  have  no  doubt,  that  the  great 
quantities  of  calomel  that  are  administered,  equally  by  quacks  and  regu- 
lar physicians,  in  adherence  to  a  system,  that  has  grown  into  a  fashion,  and 
which  level  all  skill  to  the  mechanical  application  of  a  certain  number  of 
grains  of  those  medicines,  will  eventually  yield  to  a  more  discriminating 
mode  of  practice.  The  present  course  of  procedure  is  too  often  ruinous 
to  the  teeth,  and  even  when  the  patient  is  cured,  must  tend  to  sap  and 
break  down  the  powers  of  life. 

From  the  variable  character  of  the  winters,  and  from  other  causes, 
rheumatism  is  a  common  complaint.  Severe  colds  and  pneumonic  affec- 
tions are  apt  to  prevail  in  the  winter.  There  is  but  too  much  propriety 
in  calling  the  two  first  months  of  autumn,  in  many  places  in  the  south, 
'the  sickly  months.'  But,  as  if  to  compensate  for  the  prevalence  of 
bilious  affections,  and  the  fever  and  ague,  pulmonic  consumption  is  a 
very  uncommon  disease,  not  often  witnessed  even  in  the  northern  regions 
of  the  country.  Fifty  persons  fall  victims  to  this  terrible  destroyer  in 
the  Atlantic  country,  to  one,  that  dies  of  it  here. 

It  is  a  very  trite,  but  true  and  important  remark,  that  in  proportion  as 
the  country  becomes  opened,  cultivated  and  peopled,  in  proportion  as  the 


40 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


redundance  and  rankness  of  natural  vegetation  is  replaced  by  that  of 
cultivation,  the  country  becomes  more  healthy.  We  shall  naturally  re- 
mark again  on  the  peculiar  features  of  disease,  in  particular  sections  of 
the  country,  when  we  treat  of  those  sections.  We  shall  only  add  in  this 
place,  that  in  ihe  southern  regions  of  this  valley,  the  inhabitants  are  sub- 
ject to  a  common  and  troublesome  affection,  called  the  'bowel  complaint.' 
It  is  particularly  fatal  to  children.  When  it  is  prolonged  to  a  chronic 
diarrhoea,  it  is  sometimes  fatal  to  adults.  It  is  a  very  different  complaint 
from  that  disorder  which  sometimes  prevails  in  the  Atlantic  country,  as  a 
sweeping  epidemic — the  dysentery.  The  latter  is  an  uncommon  disorder 
in  this  region. 

Trees  and  Shrubs.  It  will  not  be  expected,  that  we  shall  dwell  on 
this  subject,  in  relation  to  this  country,  as  professed  naturalists.  We 
propose  only  to  take  popular  views  of  the  subject,  which,  after  all,  we 
suspect,  are  best  understood,  most  interesting,  and  most  useful.  We  re- 
fer those,  who  wish  to  take  more  detailed  and  scientific  views  of  this 
subject,  to  the  writings  of  Bartram,  Bradbury,  Pursh,  Michaux  and  Nuttal  • 
The  following  is  believed  to  be  a  tolerably  ample  and  exact  enumeration 
of  the  trees  and  shrubs,  that  are  common  to  the  Mississippi  valley.  The 
divisions  of  them  according  to  climate,  will  occur  in  the  account  of  the 
regions  where  they  are  found. 

In  forming  this  catalogue,  we  have  had  to  encounter  the  common 
difficulty  of  selecting  the  Linnsean  names  from  conflicting  authorities. 
It  belongs  to  the  foppery  of  the  easy  assumption  of  science  in  botany, 
as  in  geology,  that  different  authors  either  create,  or  adopt  different 
nomenclatures,  as  suits  their  fancy.  We  would  prefer  that  nomenclature 
by  which  the  trees  and  shrubs  have  been  longest  known.  It  may  be, 
that  there  are  trees  and  shrubs  known  in  this  valley,  which  are  not  in- 
cluded here.  But  it  is  believed,  that  few,  if  any,  that  are  well  or 
familiarly  known,  are  omitted.* 

As  respects  the  divisions  of  these  trees,  that  belong  to  particular 
climates,  we  may  remark,  that  most  of  the  oaks  and  hickories,  and  the 
cotton  wood,  are  common  to  all  the  climates.  The  White,  or  Norwegian 
pine,  is  only  found  in  the  north,  northwestern  and  northeastern  regions. 
The  cypress  is  not  often  found  north  of  36°.  The  long  leaved  pitch 
pine,  and  the  laurel  magnolia,  are  not  often  seen  north  of  33°.  The 
live  oak  seldom  extends  north  of  31°. 

<>n  the  Alleghany,  on  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  between 
Rock  River  and  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  in  some  places  on  the  Illinois, 
the  Weymouth,  or  Norwegian  pine — the  white  pine  of  New  England — is 

+  For  table  of  trees,  plants,  tifc.  see  nppendix,  table  No  II. 


TREES     AND     SHRUBS. 


41 


found  in  all  its  beaufy  and  perfection.  It  no  where  has  a  larger  and  taller 
shaft,  or  a  more  beautiful  verdure  of  foliage,  than  on  the  Alleghany;  and  it 
is  from  the  banks  of  this  distant  stream,  and  from  its  waters  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  that  New  Orleans  is  supplied  with  white  pine  plank  of 
the  greatest  clearness  and  beauty.  On  the  Gasconade,  the  Ossage  and 
the  southern  rivers  of  the  Missouri,  in  the  mine  country  in  Missouri, 
and  from  that  point,  to  the  upper  waters  of  White  River,  and  across  to 
the  Arkansas,  the  common  short  leaved  pitch  pine  is  abundant.  It  is 
tall,  straight,  and  of  a  fine  size  for  the  saw  mill. 

The  cypress  begins  to  be  seen  on  the  swampy  and  overflowed  lands, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  It  is,  along  with  the  swamp  gum,  the  most 
common  tree  in  the  deep  swamps  from  that  point  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
It  is  in  every  respect  a  striking  and  singular  tree.  Under  its  deep  shade 
arise  a  hundred  curiously  shaped  knobs,  called  'cypress  knees.'  They 
are  regular,  cone  shaped  protuberances,  of  different  heights  and  circum- 
ferences, not  unlike  tall  and  taper  circular  bee  hives.  We  have  often 
remarked  a  very  small  cypress  sprig,  that  had  started  from  the  apex  of 
one  of  these  cypress  knees;  and  we  believe,  that  it  will  ultimately  be 
found  that  each  one  of  the  knees  is  the  natural  matrix  of  the  tree .  The 
tree  itself  always  has  a  buttress,  which  has  the  exact  appearance  of  an 
enlarged  cypress  knee. 

The  noble  trees  rear  their  straight  columns  from  a  large,  cone  shaped 
buttress,  whose  circumference  at  the  ground  is,  psrhaps,  three  times 
that  of  the  regular  shaft  of  the  tree.  This  cone  rises  from  six  to  ten  feet 
with  a  regular  and  sharp  taper,  and  from  the  apex  of  the  cone  towers 
the  perpendicular  column,  with  little  taper,  after  it  has  left  the  cones 
from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  clear  shaft.  Very  near  its  top,  it  begins  to 
throw  out  multitudes  of  horizontal  branches,  which  interlace  with  those 
of  the  adjoining  trees,  and  when  bare  of  leaves,  have  an  air  of  desolation 
and  death,  more  easily  felt  than  described.  In  the  season  of  vegetation, 
the  leaves  are  short,  fine,  and  of  a  verdure  so  deep,  as  almost  to  seem 
brown,  giving  an  indescribable  air  of  funeral  solemnity  to  this  singular 
tree.  A  cypress  forest,  when  viewed  from  the  adjacent  hills,  with  its  num- 
berless interlaced  arms,  covered  with  this  dark  brown  foliage,  has  the 
aspect  of  a  scaffolding  of  verdure  in  the  air.  It  grows  too,  in  deep  and 
sickly  swamps,  the  haunts  of  fever,  musquitos,  moccasin  snakes,  alliga- 
tors, and  all  loathsome  and  ferocious  animals,  that  congregate  far  from 
the  abodes  of  man,  and  seem  to  make  common  cause  with  nature  against 
him.  The  cypress  loves  the  deepest,  most  gloomy,  inaccessible  and  in- 
undated swamps;  and  south  of  33°,  is  generally  found  covered  with  the 
sable  festoons  of  long  moss,  hanging  as  it  seems,  a  shroud  of  mourning 
wreaths  almost  to  the  ground.     It  seems  to  flourish  best,  where  water 

6 


42  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

covers  its  roots  for  half  the  year.  When  it  rises  from  eight  or  ten  feet 
water  of  the  overflow  of  rivers,  the  apex  of  its  buttress  is  just  on  a  level 
with  the  surface  of  the  water.  It  is  then,  in  many  places,  that  they  cut 
it.  The  negroes  surround  the  tree  in  periogues  and  thus  get  at  the 
trunk  above  the  huge  and  hard  buttress,  and  fall  it  with  comparative  ease. 
They  cut  off  the  straight  shaft  as  suits  their  purpose,  and  float  it  to  the  raft, 
or  the  nearest  high  grounds.  Unpromising,  as  are  the  places  and  the 
circumstances  of  its  growth,  no  tree  of  the  country,  where  it  is  found, 
is  so  extensively  useful.  It  is  free  from  knots,  is  easily  wrought,  and 
makes  excellent  planks,  shingles,  and  timber  of  all  sorts.  It  is  very 
durable,  and  incomparably  the  most  valuable  tree  in  the  southern 
country  of  this  valley.  It  is  a  fortunate  circumstance,  that  it  inhabits 
the  most  gloomy  and  inaccessible  regions,  which  will  not  come  into  cul- 
tivation for  ages.  It  will  of  course  have  a  better  chance,  not  to  share  the 
fate  of  the  most  useful  timber  on  the  valuable  uplands.  The  improvi- 
dent axe  soon  renders  timber  difficult  to  be  procured,  in  a  country  in  the 
centre  of  forests.  All  the  cypress  forests,  however,  that  are  easily  acces- 
sible, on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  and  its  tributaries,  have  been  stripped  of 
their  timber  by  the  Mississippi  lumberers,  who  have  floated  to  New  Or- 
leans millions  of  feet  of  this  timber,  from  the  lands  of  the  United  States, 
and  who  have  already  created  a  scarcity  of  this  species  on  the  margin  of 
the  Mississippi.  There  are,  however,  in  the  vast  swamps  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, Arkansas,  Red  River,  and  Florida,  inexhaustible  supplies  of  cypress 
still  remaining. 

The  next  most  useful  tree  of  this  region  are  the  oaks  of  which  there 
are  enumerated  in  this  valley  twelve  varieties;  and  there  are,  probably 
more  than  that  number.  The  most  important  of  these  is  tbe  upland  white 
oak.  It  is  a  larger  and  handsomer  tree,  than  in  the  Atlantic  country; 
but  is  less  firm,  hard  and  durable.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  swamp 
white  oak,  quercus  aquatica,  which  grows  of  a  prodigious  height,  size  and 
beauty.  There  is  the  black  oak,  with  large  and  small  leaves;  the  yellow 
oak,  and  the  post  oak,  growing  on  cold,  level,  wet  and  clayey  lands.  It 
receives  its  name  from  the  durability  of  posts  made  of  it  in  the  ground. 
It  is  said  to  be  the  most  durable  timber  of  the  oak  kind  in  the  upper 
country,  for  boat  and  ship  building.  The  overcup  oak  receives  its  vu]_ 
gar  name  from  the  size  of  the  cups  of  its  acorns.  The  Spanish,  willow, 
red  and  black  oaks,  have  nothing  peculiar  to  distinguish  them.  The 
black-jack  is  a  scrubby  and  small  kind  of  oak,  growing  on  plashy,  and 
cold,  level  lands. 

South  of  31°,  in  the  lower  country  along  the  coast  of  Florida,  extend- 
ing into  the  interior  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  miles,  and  along  the  shore 
of  Louisiana,  for  half  that  depth,  is  the  region  of  the  live  oak,  quercus 


TREES     AND     SHRUBS.  43 

sempervirens.  It  is  not  a  tall,  but  a  spreading  tree,  with  long  lateral 
branches,  looking  at  a  distance,  like  an  immense  spread  umbrella.  It 
is  a  tree,  extremely  hard,  compact,  and  difficult  to  cut;  and  when  green, 
is  so  heavy,  as  to  sink  in  the  water.  It  is  almost  incorruptible.  The 
islands  on  the  shore  of  the  gulf  furnish  this  tree  in  abundance.  It  is 
so  difficult  to  cut  clown,  to  burn,  or  otherwise  clear  from  the  soil,  that 
in  those  islands,  which  have  recently  begun  to  be  in  request,  as  sugar 
lands,  this  tree,  elsewhere  considered  so  valuable  for  ship  timber,  is 
regarded  as  an  incumberance.  It  is  valuable  f n-  its  acorns,  affording  the 
finest  range  for  swine.  The  value  of  this  timber  in  ship  building  is 
well  known. 

There  are  enumerated  in  this  country  ten  or  twelve  varieties  of  the 
hickory.  More  than  half  of  these  we  have  not  seen  in  the  Atlantic 
country.  One  of  these  varieties,  jugluns  amara,  vel  portina,  pignut 
hickory,  is  loaded  with  a  nut,  whose  shell  is  softer  than  an  acorn,  and  the 
meat  to  the  pressure  of  the  fingers  yields  a  copious  oil,  of  use  in  the  finer 
kinds  of  painting.     It  is  acrid,  and  bitter  to  the  taste. 

The  large  walnut  is  a  fruit  of  the  size  of  a  considerable  apple,  and  is 
common  in  the  middle  regions  of  the  valley. 

The  peccan  is  found  far  up  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois,  and  thence  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  a  tree  of  beautiful  form  and  appearance,  and 
the  most  useful  of  the  whole  class,  except  black  walnut,  for  building  and 
for  rails.  Its  nut  is  long,  cylindrical,  and  olive  shaped,  with  a  shell  com- 
paratively soft.  The  meat  lies  in  two  oblong  lobes,  is  easily  taken  out 
entire,  and  excels  all  other  nuts  in  delicacy  of  flavor.  Unfortunately 
it  soon  becomes  rancid,  and  is  seldom  carried  to  the  Atlantic  country  in 
its  original  perfection. 

Black  locust,  acacia  triacanthos.  This  is  a  common  and  beautiful 
tree  in  the  richer  soils  of  the  valley.  It  furnishes  a  durable  and  useful 
timber  for  rails,  and  other  purposes,  and  is  beginning  to  be  much  used  in 
the  construction  of  steam  boats,  and  has  been  found  both  stronger  and 
more  durable,  than  any  timber,  that  has  been  used  for  that  purpose.  The 
flowers  of  this  tree  yields  an  exquisite  perfume. 

The  white  flowering  locust  differs  in  no  respect  from  that  of  the  north. 

The  sugar  maple  is  very  abundant  in  the  northern  and  middle  regions 
of  this  valley.  The  process  of  obtaining  sugar  from  the  sap  of  this  tree 
is  sufficiently  well  known,  and  need  not  be  here  described. ,  There  are 
various  districts,  where  an  ample  sufficiency  of  sugar  might  be  made  for 
the  supply  of  a  numerous  population-  In  different  parts  of  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Illinois  and  Missouri,  it  is  made,  not  only  for  consump- 
tion, but  for  sale.  The  tree  is  of  itself,  apart  from  its  uses,  a  most  beau- 
tiful one.     It  is  one  of  the  first,  that  puts  on  the  livery  of  spring.     The 


44  M  I  S  S  T  S  S  1  P  P  I     V  A  L  L  B  Y  . 

season  of  making  it  is  generally  one  of  festivity  and  high  holiday.  We 
have  tasted  loaf  sugar  refined  from  it,  which  could  in  no  way  be  distin- 
guished from  that  made  from  the  cane.  The  cheapness  of  the  latter 
kind,  the  abundance  and  excellence  of  its  growth  in  the  lower  country, 
and  the  diminished  expense  of  transporting  it  to  the  upper  states,  in 
consequence  of  the  multiplication  of  steam  boats,  has  diminished  the  de- 
mand for  what  is  called  'country  sugar,'  and  the  manufacture  of  it  has 
decreased,  since  the  use  of  steam  boats. 

The  black  walnut,  juglans  nigra,  is  a  splendid  tree,  and  often  grows 
to  a  great  size.  Its  nuts  resemble  those  of  the  white  walnut,  or  what 
is  called  'butter  nut,'  in  the  northern  states.  It  is  much  used  in  the 
middle  regions  of  the  country,  for  ornamental  finishing  of  houses, 
and  cabinet  furnitifre;  and  when  rubbed  with  a  weak  solution  of  nitric 
acid,  can  be  distinguished  from  mahogany  only  by  an  experienced  eye. 

The  white  walnut  is  abundant.  An  extract  of  the  bark  of  this  tree 
furnishes  an  useful  and  common  cathartic. 

The  sycamore,  platanus  occidentalis,  is  the  king  of  the  western  forests. 
It  flourishes  alike  in  every  part  of  the  valley,  that  we  have  seen.  It  is  the 
largest  tree  of  our  woods,  and  rises  in  the  most  graceful  forms,  with  vast, 
spreading,  lateral  branches  covered  with  bark  of  a  brilliant  white.  These 
hundred  white  arms  of  the  sycamore,  interlacing  with  the  branches  of  the 
other  forest  trees,  in  the  rich  alluvion,  where  it  delights  to  grow,  add 
one  of  the  distinguishing  traits  of  grandeur  and  beauty  to  the  forests.  A 
tree  of  this  kind,  near  Marietta,  measured  fifteen  feet  and  a  half  in  diam- 
eter.— We  have  seen  one  on  the  Big  Miami,  which  we  thought  still  larger. 
Judge  Tucker,  of  Missouri,  cut  off"  a  section  of  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  syc- 
amore, and  applied  a  roof  to  it,  and  fitted  it  up  for  a  study.  It  was  reg- 
ularly cylindrical,  and  when  fitted  up  with  a  stove,  and  other  arrangements 
made  an  ample  and  convenient  apartment.  We  saw  this  gigantic  sec- 
tion of  a  tree,  conveyed  on  sleds  prepared  on  purpose,  and  drawn  by  a 
sufficient  number  of  oxen  to  its  resting  place.  It  is  very  common  to 
observe  this  beautiful  tree  on  the  margin  of  rivers,  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
in  circumference. 

The  yellow  poplar,  tulipifcra  liriodcndron,  is  a  most  splendid  tree, 
and  next  in  size  to  the  sycamore.  It  rears  into  the  air  a  shaft  of  prodi- 
gious height  and  size.  It  flowers  with  gaudy  bell  shaped  cups,  and  the 
leaves  are  of  beautiful  forms.  It  is  a  very  useful  timber  for  plank  and 
rails,  and  all  the  purposes  of  building,  and  splits  with  great  ease. 

The  cotton  wood,  populus  dcltoides,  is  probably,  more  abundant  on  the 
lower  courses  of  the  Ohio,  on  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi, 
Missouri,  St  Francis,  White  River,  Arkansas,  and  Red  River,  than  any 
other  tree.     It  is  a  tree  of  the  poplar  class,  and  in  appearance  between 


TREES     AND     SHRUBS.  <  , 

the  balm  of  Gilead,  and  the  Lombardy  poplar.  It  is  a  noble  and  lofty 
forest  tree,  and  sometimes  vies  with  the  sycamore  itself  for  predominance 
in  size  and  grandeur.  It  is  of  singular  beauty,  when  its  foliage  is  but 
partly  unfolded  in  the  spring.  We  have  seen  these  trees,  especially  in 
the  valley  of  Red  River,  twelve  feet  in  diameter;  and  there  are  single 
trees  that  will  make  a  thousand  rails.  When  they  are  cut  in  the  winter, 
the  moment  the  axe  penetrates  the  centre  of  the  tree,  there  gushes  out  a 
stream  of  water,  or  sap;  and  a  single  tree  will  discharge  gallons.  On 
the  sand  bars  and  islands  of  the  rivers,  wherever  the  alluvial  earth 
begins  to  deposit,  there  springs  up  a  growth  of  cotton  wood,  the  young 
trees  standing  so  thick  as  to  render  it  difficult  for  a  bird  to  fly  among 
them,  and  having,  to  a  person  passing  at  a  little  distance  on  the  river, 
a  singular  appearance  of  regularity,  as  though  they  had  been  put  out  to 
ornament  a  pleasure  ground.  The  popular  name,  'cotton  wood,'  is 
derived  from  the  circumstance,  that  soon  after  the  foliage  is  unfolded,  it 
flowers,  and  when  the  flowers  fall,  it  scatters  on  the  ground  a  downy 
matter  exactly  resembling  short  ginned  cotton  in  feeling  and  appearar.ce. 
Catalpa.  Some  have  undertaken  to  say  that  this  is  net  a  tree  indigenous 
to  the  country.  For  our  part,  we  have  no  question  on  the  subject.  We 
have  seen,  on  the  waters,  near  cape  Girardeau,  catalpas  much  older 
than  the  settlements  of  the  whites  in  this  valley.  We  have  seen  them, 
below  the  Chalk  Banks  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  of  a  very 
large  size,  and  evidently  of  natural  growth.  It  is  a  tree,  beautiful  from 
the  great  size  and  peculiar  shape,  and  deep  green  of  its  foliage.  When 
in  blossom,  its  rounded  top  is  a  tuft  of  flowers  of  great  beauty,  and  un- 
equalled fragrance.  One  tree  in  full  flower  fills  the  atmosphere  for  a 
considerable  circumference  round  it,  with  its  delicious  odors.  Tor  the 
gracefulness  of  its  form,  for  the  grandeur  of  its  foliage,  and  the  rich  and 
ambrosial  fragrance  of  its  flowers,  and  for  the  length  and  various  forms 
of  its  knife  shaped,  pendant  seed  capsules,  two  feet  in  length,  we  have 
seen  no  ornamental  tree,  which,  in  our  view,  equals  the  catalpa. 

Magnolia  grandifora.  Bartram,  and  others,  by  overrating  the  beauty 
of  this  tree,  have  caused,  that  when  strangers  first  behold  it,  their  esti- 
mation of  it  falls  too  low.  It  has  been  described  as  a  very  large  tree. 
We  have  been  it  in  Florida,  where  Bartram  saw  it.  We  have  seen  it  in 
its  more  congenial  position  for  full  developement,  the  rich  allu'ions  of 
Louisiana ;  and  we  have  never  seen  it  compare  with  the  sycamore,  the 
cotton  wood,  or  even  the  ash,  in  point  of  size.  It  is  sometimes  a  tall 
tree,  often  graceful  in  form;  but  ordinarily  a  tree  of  fourth  or  fifth  rate, 
in  point  of  comparative  size,  in  the  forest  where  it  grows.  Its  bark  is 
smooth,  whitish,  very  thick,  and  something  resembles  that  of  the  beech. 
The  wood  is  soft,  and,  for  aught  we  know,  useless.     The  leaves  strongly 


46  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

resemble  those  of  the  orange  tree,  except  in  being  larger,  thicker,  and 
having  a  hoary,  yellowish  down  upon  their  under  side.  The  upper  side 
has  a  perfect  verdure,  and  a  feel  of  smoothness,  as  if  it  were  oiled.  The 
flowers  are  large,  of  a  pure  white,  nearest  resembling  the  Northern  Pond 
Lily,  [nymphea  odorata,)  though  not  so  beautiful;  and  are,  ordinarily, 
about  twice  the  size.  The  fragrance  is,  indeed,  powerful,  but  rather 
offensive.  We  have  felt,  and  we  have  heard  others  complain  of  feeling 
a  sensation  of  faintness,  in  going  into  a  room  where  the  chimney  place 
was  filled  with  these  flowers.  The  tree  continues  to  put  forth  flowers 
for  two  months  in  succession,  and  seldom  displays  many  at  a  time.  We 
think  few  have  been  in  the  habit  of  examining  flowering  trees  more  at- 
tentively than  ourselves,  and  we  contemplated  this  tree  for  years,  in  the 
season  of  flowers.  Instead  of  displaying,  as  has  been  represented,  a 
cone  of  flowers,  we  have  seldom  seen  a  tree  in  flower  which  did  not  re- 
quire some  attention  and  closeness  of  inspection  to  discover  where  the 
flowers  are  situated  among  the  leaves.  We  have  not  been  led  to  believe 
that  others  possessed  the  sense  of  smell  more  acutely  than  ourselves. 
In  advancing  from  points  where  these  trees  were  not,  to  the  pine  forest, 
on  the  water  courses  of  which  they  are  abundant,  we  have  been  warned 
of  our  approach  to  them  by  the  sense  of  smell,  at  a  distance  of  some 
thing  more  than  half  a  mile ;  and  we  question  if  any  one  ever  perceived 
ths  fragrance  much  farther,  except  by  the  imagination.  The  magnolia 
is  a  striking  tree,  and  an  observer  who  saw  it  for  the  first  time,  would 
remark  it  as  such. — But  we  have  been  unable  to  conceive  whence  the 
extravagant  misconceptions,  respecting  the  size,  number,  fragrance,  and 
beauty  of  its  flowers  had  their  origin. 

There  are  six  or  seven  varieties  among  the  laurels  of  the  magnolia 
tribe,  stnne  of  which  have  smaller  flowers  than  those  of  the  grandiflora, 
but  much  more  delicate  and  agreeably  fragrant.  A  beautiful  evergreen 
of  this  class  is  covered,  in  autumn,  with  berries  of  intense  blackness, 
and  we  remarked  them  in  great  numbers  about  St.  Francisville.  The 
holly  is  a  well  known  and  beautiful  tree  of  this  class.  But  that  one 
which  las  struck  us,  as  being  the  handsomest  of  the  family ,  is  the  laurel 
almond  (laurus  ccrasus  vel  Caroliniensis.)  It  is  not  a  large  tree.  Its 
leaves  strongly  resemble  those  of  the  peach:  and  it  preserves  a  most 
pleasin*  green  through  the  winter.  Its  flowers  yield  a  delicious  perfume. 
It  grows  in  families  of  ten  or  fifteen  trees  in  a  cluster.  Planters  of  taste 
in  the  valley  of  Red  River,  where  it  is  common,  select  the  place  of  their 
dwelling  amidst  a  cluster  of  these  trees. 

Bois  d^arc;  maclura  aitrantica,  bow  wood,  is  a  striking  and  beautiful 
tree,  found  on  the  upper  courses  of  the  Washita,  the  middle  regions  of 
Arkansas,  and  occasionally  on  the  northern  limits  of  Louisiana,     It  in 


TREES     AND     S  H  R  TT  B  S  . 


47 


habits  a  very  limited  region ;  and  we  do  not  know,  that  it  is  a  native 
elsewhere.  It  has  large  and  beautiful  leaves,  in  form  and  appearance 
between  those  of  the  orange  tree  and  catalpa;  and,  taken  altogether,  is 
a  tree  of  extraordinary  beauty. — It  bears  a  large  fruit,  of  most  inviting 
appearance,  resembling  a  very  large  orange.  Tempting  as  it  is  in 
aspect,  it  is  the  apple  of  Sodom  to  the  taste.  Most  people  consider  it 
the  most  splended  of  all  forests  trees.  We  never  saw  it  in  the  flowering 
season.  There  is  a  solitary  tree,  growing  in  a  garden  in  St.  Louis.  It 
was  there  sheltered  by  a  wall;  and  we  do  not  know,  if  it  would  flourish  in 
a  situation  so  northern,  without  protection  of  that  kind.  We  remember 
to  have  seen  one'^beautiful  tree  growing  near  Natchitoches,  apparently  na- 
tive there.  It  is  said  there  is  no  other  within  a  distance  of  many  miles. 
The  wood  is  as  yellow  as  that  of  fustic,  and  yields  a  similar  dye.  It  is  hard, 
heavy,  durable,  and  so  elastic,  as  to  receive  its  French  name  from  the 
circumstance,  that  all  the  southwestern  savages  use  it  for  bows.  It  is 
thought  to  be  a  wood  more  incorruptible  than  live  oak,  mulberry,  or 
even  cedar.  We  were  invited  to  visit  the  hulk  of  a  steam  boat,  built 
above  the  Raft,  on  Red  River,  whose  timbers  were  entirely  of  this  wood. 
China  tree.  This  is  a  tree  more  cultivated  in  the  southern  regions 
of  this  valley,  as  an  ornamental  shade  tree  than  any  other.  It  has  fine, 
long  spiked  leaves,  eight  or  ten  inches  in  length,  set  in  corresponding 
pairs  on  each  side  of  a  stem  two  feet  long.  The  verdure  is  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  deep  shade  in  nature.  In  the  flowering  season,  the  top  is 
one  tuft  of  blossoms,  in  color  and  fragrance  resembling  the  lilac,  except 
that  the  tufts  are  larger.  It  holds  in  flower  a  long  time.  It  is  a  tree 
of  the  most  rapid  growth  of  any  known  in  our  country.  These  trees 
planted  out  in  a  village,  in  a  few  years  completely  embower  it;  and 
from  the  intenseness  of  their  verdure,  they  impart  a  delightful  freshness 
to  the  landscape,  in  that  sultry  climate.  After  the  leaves  have  fallen  in 
autumn,  the  tree  is  still  covered  with  a  profusion  of  redish  berries,  of 
the  size  of  haws,  that  give  it  the  appearance  at  a  little  distance,  of  remain- 
ing in  flower.  Robins  immigrate  to  this  region  in  the  latter  part  of 
winter,  settle  on  these  trees  in  great  numbers,  and  feed  on  the  berries. 
They  possess  an  intoxicating,  or  narcotic  quality;  and  the  robins,  sitting 
on  the  trees  in  a  state  of  stupefaction,  may  be  killed  with  a  stick.  The 
bark  is  said  to  be  a  powerful  vermifuge. 

Dog  wood,  cornus  forida.  Redbud,  cercis  canadensis.  These  are 
both  of  an  intermediate  size,  between  shrubs  and  .trees.  The  former 
has  a  beautiful,  heart  shaped  and  crimped  leaf,  and  an  umbrella  shaped 
top.  It  covers  itself  in  spring  with  a  profusion  of  brilliant  white  flowers, 
and  in  autumn  with  berries  of  a  fine  scarlet.  The  latter  is  the  first  shrub 
that  is  seen  in  blossom  on  the  Ohio.     It  is  then  a  complete  surface  of 


48  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

blossoms,  resembling  those  of  the  peach  tree,  and  a  stranger  would  take 
it  at  that  time,  to  be  that  tree.  The  shrubs  are  dispersed  every  where  in  the 
woods;  and  in  descending  the  Ohio  early  in  the  spring,  these  masses  of 
brilliant  flowers  contrast  delightfully  with  the  general  brown  of  the 
forest.  The  first  time  that  the  voyager  descends  this  river,  the  redbud 
imparts  a  charm  to  the  landscape,  that  he  will  never  forset.  These  two 
are  at  once  the  most  common  and  the  most  beautiful  shrubs  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley.  The  dog  wood,  especially,  is  found  every  where,  from 
Pittsburgh  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  and,  seen  through  the  forests,  in  blos- 
som, is  far  more  conspicuous  for  its  flowers  than  the  magnolia.  It  has 
been  asserted,  that  the  dog  wood  belonged  to  the  family  of  the  quinqui- 
nas. Its  bark  is  certainly  a  powerful  restorative,  in  cases  of  the 
ague. 

Pawpaw,  annona  triloba,  ficus  Indicus.  This,  in  our  view,  is  for  beau- 
ty the  prince  of  wild  fruit-bearing  shrubs.  The  leaves  are  long,  of  a  rich 
appearance,  and  green,  considerably  resembling  the  smaller  leaves  of 
tobacco.  The  stem  is  straight,  white,  and  of  unrivalled  beauty.  In 
fact,  we  have  seen  no  cultivated  shrub  so  ornamental  and  graceful  as  the 
pawpaw.  The  fruit  closely  resembles  a  cucumber,  having  a  more 
smooth  and  regular  appearance.  When  ripe,  it  is  of  a  rich  yellow. 
There  are  generally  from  two  to  five  in  a  cluster.  A  pawpaw  shrub, 
hanging  full  of  fruits,  of  a  size  and  weight  so  disproportioned  to  the 
stem,  and  from  under  long  and  rich  looking  leaves  of  the  same  yellow 
with  the  ripened  fruit,  of  an  African  luxuriance  of  growth,  is  to  us  one 
of  the  richest  spectacles,  that  we  have  ever  contemplated,  in  the  array 
of  the  woods. — The  fruit  contains  from  two  to  six  seeds,  like  those  of 
the  tamarind,  except  that  they  are  double  the  size.  The  pulp  of  the  fruit 
resembles  egg  custard  in  consistence  and  appearance.  It  has  the  same 
creamy  feeling  in  the  mouth,  and  unites  the  taste  of  eggs,  cream,  sugar 
and  spice.  It  is  a  natural  custard,  too  luscious  for  the  relish  of  most 
people.  The  fruit  is  nutricious,  and  a  great  resource  to  the  savages. 
So  many  whimsical  and  unexpected  tastes  are  compounded  in  it,  it  is 
said,  that  a  person  of  the  most  hypochondriac  temperament  relaxes  to  a 
smile  when  he  tastes  the  pawpaw  for  the  first  time. 

Persimon,  dyo.spyros  Virginlana.  From  the  body  of  this  tree,  which 
resembles  that  of  a  mazard  cherry,  when  pierced,  exudes  a  copious  gum, 
not.  unlike  gum  Arabic  in  appearance.  The  leaves  resemble  those  of  a 
wild  black  cherry.  The  fruit  is  of  the  size  of  a  common  horse  plumb. 
When  green,  it  is  astonishingly  astringent.  It  is  only  ripened  by  the  frost 
of  winter.  There  arc  varieties  in  its  size,  from  low  shrubs  to  considera- 
ble trees.  When  the  small  blue  persimon  is  thoroughly  ripened,  it  is 
oven  sweeter  than  the  fig,  and  is  a  delicious  fruit.     If   the  best  kinds 


TREES     AND     SHRUBS.  4^ 

were  cultivated,  and  purchased  from   beyond  the  seas,  it  would  probably 
be  much  more  known,  and  used,  than  it  now  is. 

Wild  plums.  The  Chickasaw  plum  is  common  from  34°  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  It  is  found  in  the  greatest  abundance,  and  ripens  early 
in  June.  -  Prairie  plums  are  most  abundant  in  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
on  the  hazle  prairies.  They  are  of  various  sizes  and  flavors.  Their 
general  color  is  redish,  and  their  flavor  tart.  Some  of  them  are  large 
and  delicious.  For  an  experiment  of  the  yield,  two  bushels  were  gath- 
ered from  one  tree.  In  places  they  are  found  in  inconceivable  quantities, 
the  surface  of  acres  being  red  with  them.  The  yellow  Osage  plums  of 
this  class,  when  the  better  kinds  are  cultivated,  are  among  the  most  de- 
licious plums  we  have  eaten.  So  rich  and  delightful  a  fruit,  and  so  easily 
cultivated,  weil  deserves  to  be  transplanted  to  the  Atlantic  country. 

Crab  apple,  pyrus  coronarla.  In  the  middle  regions  of  the  valley,  on 
prairies  of  a  particular  description,  there  are  great  tracts  covered  with  an 
impenetrable  mat  of  crab  apple  shrubs.  The  form,  color,  and  fragrance 
of  the  blossoms  are  precisely  like  the  blossoms  of  the  cultivated  apple 
tree.  When  the  southern  breeze  comes  over  a  large  tract  of  these  shrubs 
in  full  blossom,  it  is  charged  with  a  concentrated  fragrance  almost  too 
strong  to  be  grateful.  They  are  useful  as  stocks,  in  which  the  cultivated 
apple  and  pear  may  be  engrafted.  Their  fruit,  when  properly  prepared, 
makes  the  finest  of  cider;  and  the  apple  is  much  used  as  a  preserve. 

Mulberry.  There  are  said  to  be  two  species  in  the  country;  the  white 
and  the  black.  We  have  never  seen  the  white  indigenous;  but  have  so 
often  heard  it  asserted  to  exist,  as  a  native,  that  we  are  compelled  to 
credit  it.  The  common  mulberry  is  the  black,  and  it  is  found  in  every 
part  of  the  valley  that  we  have  seen.  In  some  places  it  constitutes  no 
inconsiderable  proportion  of  the  timber.  We  have  seen  whole  groves 
of  small  and  young  trees,  apparently  in  the  right  stage  to  be  useful  for 
feeding  the  silk  worm.  Experience  has  demonstrated,  that  the  worm 
thrives  on  these  leaves,  and  that  the  product  is  of  good  quality.  The 
wide'  diffusion,  and  the  great  prevalence  of  the  mulberry,  the  general 
temperature  of  the  valley,  and  the  condition  and  habits  of  the  people, 
clearly  indicate  to  them,  that  this  country  oughfto  devote  itself  extensively 
to  the  making  of  silk. 

In  this  country  of  forests,  and  where  there  are  such  numbers  and  vari- 
eties of  trees,  we  might  select  many  other  interesting  ones  for  description ; 
perhaps  some  of  them  more  so  than  those  which  we  have  here  attempted 
to  describe.  The  necessary  brevity  of  our  limits  forbids  our  enlarging. 
From  Michaux  we  learn  that  our  trees  are  larger,  taller,  and  more  of 
them  useful  for  timber,  than  those  of  Europe.     The  forest  has  a  genera- 

7 


50  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

physognomy.  an  aspect  of  luxuriance,  which  discriminates  it  to  the  most 
superficial  observer,  from  that  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains.  We 
may  add,  that  the  varieties  of  trees  of  the  same  class  appear  to  be  more 
numerous.  We  apprehend,  that  most  of  the  trees  of  that  region  are 
found  here,  while  a  number  of  the  trees  here  are  peculiar  to  this  valley. 
Trees  of  the  same  class  here  are  inferior  to  those  that  are  there,  for  the 
same  uses  as  timber.  They  are  less  tough,  elastic,  and  durable.  We 
may  add,  that  the  pine  forests  of  the  south  contain  countless  millions  of 
tall  and  straight  pines,  and  would  furnish,  without  sensible  diminution, 
masts  and  spars  for  all  the  navies  in  the  world, 

Vines  and  Creepers.  The  common  grape  vine,  vitis  sylvestris,  is 
diffused  through  all  the  climates.  Nothing  is  so  familiar  to  the  eye  of  a 
traveller  in  this  country,  as  soon  as  he  enters  on  the  richer  lands,  as  to 
see  vines,  often  of  a  prodigious  size,  that  are  perpendicularly  attached  at 
the  top  branches,  sixty  or  eighty  feet  from  the  ground,  and  at  a  great 
lateral  distance  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  It  is  a  standing  puzzle  to  a 
young  man,  first  brought  into  these  woods,  to  task  his  ingenuity,  by  put- 
ting to  him  to  account  for  the  manner  in  which  a  vine,  perhaps  nearly  of 
the  size  of  the  human  body,  has  been  able  to  rear  itself  to  such  a  height. 
There  can  be,  however,  no  doubt,  that  the  vine,  in  this  case,  is  coevat 
with  the  tree ;  that  the  tree,  as  it  grew,  reared  the  vine,  and  that  the  vine 
receded  from  the  trunk,  with  the  projection  of  the  lateral  branches,  until, 
if*  the  lapse  of  time,  this  singular  appearance  is  presented.  In  many 
places  half  the  trees  in  a  bottom  are  covered  with  these  vines.  In  the 
deep  forests,  on  the  hills,  in  the  barrens,  in  the  hazle  prairies,  and  in  the 
pine  woods,  every  form  and  size  of  the  grape  vine  presents  itself.  We 
presume  there  is  no  scientific  and  complete  description  and  arrangement 
of  these  vines.     The  most  obvious  popular  division  follows. 

Winter  grape,  vitis  hyemalis.  This  is  the  large  vine  that  so  generally 
clings  to  the  trees  in  the  alluvial  forests.  The  leaves  are  large,  and  of  a 
fine  rich  green,  intermediate  between  the  size  of  the  leaves  of  the  cul- 
tivated grape  and  the  fox  grape.  They  climb  to  the  top  of  the  highest 
trees  of  the  forest.  Probably  not  more  than  one  in  fifty  of  them  bears 
any  fruit  at  all.  The  fruit,  when  produced,  is  a  small  circular  berry, 
not  unlike  the  wild  black  cherry.  It  is  austere,  sour,  and  unpleasant, 
until  it  has  been  mellowed  by  the  frosts  of  winter.  But  it  is  said,  when 
fermented  by  those  who  have  experience  in  the  practice,  to  make  a  tol- 
erable wine. 

Summer  grape,  vitis  (Kstiva.  We  have  never  seen  it  in  deep  bottoms. 
It  is  found  on  the  rolling  barrens,  and  the  hazle  prairies.  It  has  a  larger 
leaf  than  the  former  vine,  and  the  wood  of  the  vine  is  finely  colored  of 


VINES     AND     CREEPERS. 


51 


a  blueish  purple.  The  grape  is  more  than  twice  the  size  of  the  winter 
grape,  is  ripe  in  the  first  month  in  autumn,  and  when  matured  under 
the  full  influence  of  the  sun,  is  a  pleasant  fruit.  It  grows  in  the  greatest 
abundance,  but  is  too  dry  a  grape  to  be  pressed  for  wine. 

June  grape,  vitis  vernalis.  This  is  a  small,  sweet  grape,  found  on 
the  islands  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  Illinois,  that  ripens  in  June. 
We  have  seen  the  vine,  but  have  never  tasted  the  fruit.  It  is  said  to  be 
the  grape,  of  which  the  French,  in  the  early  periods  of  their  establishment 
in  this  country,  used  to  make  wine.  Various  animals  prey  upon  it,  and 
it  has  almost  disappeared  from  the  country. 

Parsley  leaved  water  grape,  vitis  aquatica.  We  have  never  seen  this 
vine  in  bearing. 

Fox  grape,  vitis  riparia.  Is  of  the  same  size,  form  and  quality  with 
the  same  species  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountains.     It  is  not  common. 

Muscadine  grape,  vitis  verrucosa.  This  vine  strongly  designates  climate. 
It  is  seldom  seen  north  of  34°.  South  of  that  is  becomes  abundant. 
It  is  found  in  the  deep  alluvial  forests,  clinging  to  the  tall  trees.  The 
vine  is  smooth,  of  a  fine  olive  green;  and  the  leaves  are  smaller  than 
those  of  the  cultivated  grape.  The  fruit  grows  in  more  sparse  clusters 
than  those  of  other  grapes.  Like  other  fruits,  they  fall  as  they  ripen,  and 
furnish  a  rich  treat  to  bears,  and  other  animals,  that  feed  upon  them. 
The  grape  is  of  the  size  of  a  plum,  of  a  fine  purple  black,  with  a  thick; 
tough  skin,  tasting  not  unlike  the  rind  of  an  orange.  The  pulp  is  de- 
liciously  sweet,  but  is  reputed  unwholesome. 

Pine  woods  grape.  In  ignorance  of  its  proper  designation,  we  shall 
call  it  vitis  humilior,  from  its  habit  of  creeping  on  the  ground.  It  is 
agreed,  that  there  are  varieties  of  this  fine  grape,  which,  from  the  frequent 
burning  of  the  pine  woods,  is  becoming  uncommon.  It  is  surprising 
how  little  curiosity  has  been  excited,  even  where  it  grows,  by  this  rich 
fruit.  It  has  a  slender,  blueish  purple  vine,  that  runs  on  the  ground 
among  the  grass.  It  ripens  in  the  month  of  June,  is  large,  cone  shaped, 
transparent,  with  four  seeds,  redish  purple;  and  is  a  fine  fruit  for 
eating. 

On  the  sandy  plains,  at  the  sources  of  Arkansas  and  Red  River,  the 
gentlemen  of  Long's  expedition  concur  with  hunters  and  travellers,  in 
relating,  that  they  found  large  tracts  of  sand  plain,  from  which  grew  a 
grape  which  we  infer  from  the  description,  to  be  of  the  same  species  as 
the  pine  woods  grape.  They  have  described  the  clusters  to  be  large  and 
delicious;  and  that  the  sand,  drifting  about  them,  covers  up  the  redundan 
vegetation,  performing  the  best  operation  of  pruning  on  the  vine.  The 
sun,  too,  strongly  reflected  from  a  surface  of  sand,  must  have  a  powerful 
influence  to  mature  them.     It  is  possible,  that  some  of  the  admiration 


52  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

which  has  been  felt,  in  seeing  such  sterile  tracts  covered  with  these 
abundant  and  rich  clusters,  and  the  high  zest  with  which  they  were  de- 
voured, may  have  been  owing  to  the  surprise  of  finding  such  a  phenomenon 
in  contrast  with  a  white  and  moving  sand,  and  eating  the  fruit  under  as- 
sociations created  by  hunger  and  thirst. 

The  universal  diffusion  of  such  numbers  and  varieties  of  the  vine  would 
seem  to  indicate  this  valley  to  possess  a  natural  aptitude  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  vine.  It  would  be  an  experiment,  it  would  appear,  well  worth  the 
trial,  to  engraft,  or  bud  every  variety  of  the  cultivated  grape  on  the  stocks 
of  each  of  these  native  varieties.  It  is  possible,  that  the  exotics  might 
thus  be  at  once  acclimated;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  changes  might 
be  produced  in  them,  favorable  to  their  enduring  the  climate,  and  to  their 
flavors  and  vinous  properties. 

Bignonia  radicans^is  a  creeper,  beautiful  for  its  foliage  and  flowers. 
It  has  a  vine  of  a  grayish  white  color,  and  long  and  delicate  spike-shaped 
leaves,  in  alternate  sets.  It  climbs  the  largest  trees  in  preference,  mounts 
to  their  summits,  and  displays  a  profusion  of  large  trumpet-shaped  flowers 
of  flame  color.  Planted  near  a  house,  in  two  or  three  seasons  a  single 
vine  will  cover  a  roof,  throwing  its  fibrous  and  parastic  roots  so  strongly 
under  the  shingles  as  to  detatch  them  from  the  roof. 

Ivy.  There  are  varieties  of  this  creeper.  Every  traveller  in  the  rich 
alluvions  has  been  impressed  with  the  spectacles  exhibited  there,  of  the 
thousands  of  large  and  lofty  columns  of  the  cotton  wood,  wreathed  from 
the  ground  to  the  branches,  with  an  architectural  drapery  of  this  deep 
verdure.  We  have  seen  huge  trunks  of  dead  trees  so  ornamented.  It  is 
one  of  those  charms  of  nature  that  never  tire  on  the  eye.  It  is  thus  that 
nature  ornaments  the  pillars  of  her  great  temple,  to  fit  it  to  inspire  delight 
and  adoration  in  the  solitiry  worshiper. 

Supple  jack.  We  have  first  remarked  this  creeper  in  about  latitude  35°. 
The  vine  resembles  that  of  the  muscadine  grape;  but  the  olive  color  is 
deeper.  It  is  well  known  to  attach  itself  so  strongly  to  the  shrub  it  en- 
twines, as  to  cause  those  curious  spiral  curves  and  inner  flatlenings  that 
give  its  singularity  and  value  to  the  supple  jack  cane.  The  foliage  of 
the  vine  is  an  exact  copy,  in  miniature,  of  that  of  the  China  tree.  The 
richness  of  its  verdure,  the  impervious  thickness  of  its  dark  green  foliage, 
and  the  profusion  of  deep  black  berries,  with  which  it  is  covered,  would 
render  it  a  beautiful  creeper  with  which  to  cover  a  pavillion,  or  a  piazza. 

There  is  a  creeper  which  we  have  not  seen  noticed  by  travellers  or 
botanists,  and  which,  indeed,  we  have  not  often  seen  ourselves,  and 
then  only  on  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi,  between  New  Madrid  and 
the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.     Its  vine  and  foliage  somewhat  resemble 


VINES     AND     CREBPERS.  53 

those  of  the  supplejack.  We  never  saw  it  climbing  shrubs  more  than 
ten  feet  in  height.  The  flowers  were  long  and  rich  tufted  wreaths 
on  small,  flexile,  twiny  stems  and  much  resembling  the  purple  blossoms 
of  the  pea.  They  were  gathered  for  the  garnishing  of  the  chimney 
places  of  the  cabins;  and  we  have  seen  no  flowers,  that  exceeded  them 
in  splendor  and  beauty. 

The  rich  alluvial  districts  of  the  lower  country  of  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries,  are  tangled  with  creepers  of  various  kinds,  foliage 
and  forms.  Some  of  them  are  annual,,  and  some  perennial.  Many  of 
them,  as  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  are  non-descripts. 

Cane,  arundo  gigantca,  vel  micgia  macrospcrma. — Some  assert  that 
the  lower  and  bastard  cane  and  the  tall  reed  cane  are  the  same  species,  and 
differ  only  in  size  and  heighl.  Others,  and  it  is  the  prevalent  opinion, 
assert,  that  they  are  varieties.  Every  one  has  seen  this  reed  in  the  form 
in  which  is  is  used  for  angling  rods.  It  grows  on  the  lower  courses  of  the 
Mississippi,  Arkansas  and  Red  River,  from  fifteen  to  thirty  feet  in  height. 
We  have  seen  some,  in  these  rich  soils,  that  would  almost  vie  in  size  with 
the  bamboo.  The  leaves  are  of  a  beautiful  green — long,  narrow  and 
dagger-shaped,  not  unlike  those  of  Egyptian  millet.  It  grows  in  equidis- 
tant joints,  perfectly  straight,  almost  a  compact  mass;  and  to  us,  in  winter 
especially,  is  the  richest  looking  vegetation  that  we  have  ever  seen.  The 
smallest  sparrow  would  find  it  difficult  to  fly  among  it;  and  to  see  its  ten 
thousand  stems,  rising  almost  contiguous  to  each  other,  and  to  look  at  the 
impervous  roof  of  verdure,  which  it  forms  at  its  top,  it.  has  the  aspect 
of  being  a  solid  layer  of  vegetation.  A  man  could  not  make  three  iniles 
in  a  day  through  a  thick  cane  brake.  It  is  the  chosen  resort  of  bears  and 
panthers,  which  break  it  down,  and  make  their  way  into  it,  as  a  retreat 
from  man.  It  indicates  a  dry  soil,  above  the  inundation,  and  of  the 
richest  character.  The  ground  is  never  in  better  preparation  for  maize, 
than  after  this  prodigious  mass  of  vegetation  is  first  cut  down,  and  burned. 
When  the  cane  has  been  cut,  and  is  so  dried,  as  that  it  will  burn,  it 
is  an  amusement  of  holiday  to  the  negroes,  to  set  fire  to  a  cane  brake,  thus 
prepared.  The  rarefied  air  in  the  hollow  compartments  of  the  cane  bursts 
them  with  a  report,  not  much  inferior  to  a  discharge  of  musquetry ;  and 
the  burning  of  a  cane  brake  makes  a  noise  as  of  a  conflicting  army,  in  which 
thousands  of  muskets  are  continually  discharging.  This  beautiful  vege- 
table is  generally  asserted  to  have  a  life  of  five  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
period,  if  it  has  grown  undisturbed,  it  produces  an  abundant  crop  of 
seed,  with  heads  very  like  those  of  broom  corn.  The  seeds  are  farinace- 
ous, and  said  to  be  not  much  inferior  to  wheat,  for  which  the  Indians, 
and  occasionally  the  first  settlers,  have  substituted  it.  No  prospect  so 
impressively  shows  the  exuberant  prodigality  of  nature,  as  a  thick  cane 


54  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

brake.  Nothing  affords  such  a  rich  aud  perennial  range  for  cattle,  sheep 
and  horses.  The  butter  that  is  made  from  the  cane  pastures  of  this 
region,  is  of  the  finest  kind.  The  seed  easily  vegetates  in  any  rich  soil  • 
It  rises  from  the  ground,  like  the  richest  asparagus,  with  a  large  succulent 
stem;  and  it  grows  six  feet  high,  before  this  succulency  and  tenderness 
harden  to  wood.  No  other  vegetable  furnishes  a  fodder  so  rich,  or  abund- 
ant; nor,  in  our  view,  does  any  other  agricultural  project  so  strongly  call 
for  a  trial,  as  the  annual  sowing  of  cane,  in  regions  too  far  north  for  it 
to  survive  the  winter.     We  suppose  this  would  be  in  latitude  39°. 

Gooseberry.  All- its  varieties  are  seen  indigenous  in  all  parts  of  this 
valley.  It  grows  to  a  great  height  and  size  in  the  middle  regions,  and 
covers  itself  with  fruit.  We  have  seen  in  Missouri  a  gooseberry  hedge, 
of  a  height,  compactness  and  thorny  imperviousness,  to  turn  all  kinds  of 
cattle.  It  would  have  the  advantage  of  attaining  its  full  size  in  three  or 
four  years. 

Privet.  This  beautiful  ornamental  shrub,  too  well  known  to  need 
description,  is  indigenous  to  various  parts  of  the  valley.  When  clipped, 
it  forms  a  compact  wall  of  verdure,  like  the  box,  used  for  the  same 
purpose  at  the  north. 

Hazle  bush.  Immense  tracts  of  the  prairies  are  covered  with  this 
bush;  and  the  nuts  are  fine  and  abundant. 

The  whortleberry  is  not  so  common,  as  in  the  Atlantic  country;  but, 
where  it  does  grow,  is  of  great  size.  It  is  found  in  great  abundance, 
and  in  full  perfection,  at  the  bases  of  the  flint  knobs,  in  the  St.  Francis 
country,  and  along  the  upper  courses  of  White  River. 

We  have  seldom  seen  the  red  raspberry ;  but  it  is  said  to  grow  of  fine 
size  and  flavor,  from  the  middle  to  the  northern  regions  of  this  valley. 

Blackberries,  high  aud  creeping,  are  found  in  prodigious  abundance, 
from  the  north  to  the  south. 

The  prairies,  in  many  places,  in  the  season,  are  red  with  fine 
strawberries. 

For  the  rest,  the  fruit  bearing  shrubs  and  plants  do  not  materially 
differ  from  those  of  the  Atlantic  country.  With  the  exception  of  the 
strawberry  and  blackberry,  they  are  not  so  common  here  as  there . 

Herbs,  Grasses,  and  Flowering  Plants.  The  unversal,  indigenous 
grass  of  this  country,  in  all  its  climates  and  extent,  covering  the  millions 
of  acres  of  the  prairies,  is  what  is  commonly  called  prairie  grass,  poa 
pratensis.  It  grows  equally  in  the  forests  and  barrens,  wherever  there 
is  an  interval,  sufficiently  unshaded  to  admit  its  growth. — It  is  tall, 
coarse,  and  full  of  seed  at  the  top;  and  when  ripe  it  is  rather  too  wiry 
for  fodder.     It  is  cut  for  that  purpose  in  September.     If  it  were  cut 


OF     GRASSES     AND     PLANTS.  55 

earlier,  and  before  it  had  lost  its  succulence  and  tenderness,  it  would, 
probably,  be  excellent  fodder.  As  it  is,  the  prairies  yield  inexhaustible 
quantities;  and  the  towns  and  villages  in  the  prairie  regions  are  copious- 
ly supplied.  When  young,  and  before  it  has  thrown  up  its  stems,  it  re- 
sembles wheat  in  appearance.  We  have  seen  cattle,  turned  into  the 
wheat  fields  in  the  spring,  to  eat  down  the  redundant  growth  of  wheat, 
feed  on  the  grass  along  the  margins  of  the  fields,  in  preference  to  the 
wheat. 

The  only  grass  that  yields  a  fine,  soft  swnrd,  is  called  blue  glass,  and 
is  not  unlike  the  common  spear  grass  of  New  England.  We  are  not 
satisfied,  whether  it  be  indiginous,  or  not.  We  have  constantly  observed 
it  growing  about  deserted  houses,  and  Indian  villages.  On  the  upper 
prairies  of  Illinois,  it  is  said  in  many  places  to  be  displacing  the  prairie 
grass.  It  seems  to  be,  like  the  robin-redbreast,  attached  to  the  abodes  of 
civilized  man. 

We  have  recently  read,  that  in  the  wet  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Indiana, 
the  fowl  meadow  grass  of  New  England  was  growing  in  abundance. 
Whether  this  be  fact,  or  not,  whoever  would  introduce  this  valuable  grass 
to  notice  in  the  wet  prairies  of  the  West,  would  be  a  benefactor  to  that 
region. 

The  rush,  equisctum.  hycmale,  grows  on  bottoms,  in  grounds  of  an 
intermediate  elevation  between  those  of  the  cane  brake  and  the  deep 
overflow.  It  is  found,  of  a  humbler  growth,  quite  to  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi.  But  it  finds  its  full  developement  between  36°  and  33°. 
We  have  travelled  among  this  grass,  a  perfect  mat,  as  high  as  the  shoulders. 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  brilliance  of  its  verdure,  especially  when  seen 
in  winter,  jn  contrast  with  the  universal  brown.  When  it  grows  high  and 
thick,  it  is  difficult  to  make  way  through  it;  and  it  has  a  disagreeable 
kind  of  rustling,  which  produces  the  sensation,  that  is  called  setting  the 
teeth  on  edge.  In  northern  regions  its  tubular  stock  is  apt  to  fill  with 
compact  icicles.  It  is  well  known  to  be  the  favorite  range  of  horses  and 
cattle,  and  is  devoured  by  them  with  more  greediness,  than  even  cane. 
When  filled  with  ice,  and  thus  swallowed,  it  produces  a  chill  in  the 
stomach  of  the  cattle,  that  is  apt  to  prove  fatal.  To  the  cattle  and  horse 
boats,  that  descend  the  Mississippi,  it  is  an  invaluable  resource.  The 
cattle  and  horses,  pent  up  and  immovable  in  these  floating  barns,  for 
many  days  in  succession,  are  turned  loose,  and  find  holiday  pasture  in 
this  rich  range. 

Pea  vine.  This  is  a  small,  fibrous  vine,  that  covers  the  soil  in  the 
richer  forest  lands.  It  receives  its  name  from  the  resemblance  of  its 
leaves  and  flowers  to  .those  of  the  cultivated  pea.  It  is  a  rich  and  almost 
universal  forest  range  for  cattle;  but  when  once  eaten  down,  is  not  apt 


56  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

to  renew  itself.     Of  course,  it  disappears  in  the  vicinity   of  compact 
population. 

Swamp  grass.  This  grass  is  found  in  low,  wet  and  miry  swamps,  on 
hassocks  elevated  above  the  water.  It  is  of  the  brightest  verdure, 
remaining  green  through  the  frosts  of  winter.  It  seems  to  be  the  same 
grass,  which  grows  in  boggy  meadows  in  New  England.  Its  sharp  edges, 
when  drawn  rapidly  through  the  fingers,  cut  them,  fn  the  middle  regions 
of  the  valley,  cattle  are  driven  to  these  swamps,  to  subsist  through  the 
winter. 

Wild  rice,  zizania  aquatica,  vel  fatuis  arena.  By  the  French,  folles 
avoines.  By  the  Indians,  mcnomene.  It  is  found  in  the  greatest  abund- 
ance on  the  marshy  margins  of  the  northern  lakes,  and  in  the  plashy 
waters  on  the  upper  courses  of  the  Mississippi.  It  grows  in  those  regions 
on  a  vast  extent  of  country.  It  is  there,  that  the  millions  of  migrating 
water  fowls  fa'tten,  before  they  take  their  autumnal  migration  to  the 
south.  It  is  there,  too,  that  the  northern  savages,  and  the  Canadian 
traders  and  hunters,  find  their  annual  supplies  of  grain.  But  for  this 
resource,  they  could  hardly  exist.  It  is  a  tall,  tubular,  reedy,  water  plant, 
not  unlike  the  bastard  cane  of  the  southern  countries.  It  very  accurately 
resembles  the  cane  grass  of  the  swamps  and  savannas  on  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  It  springs  up  from  waters  of  six  or  seven  feet  in  depth,  where 
the  bottom  is  soft  and  muddy.  It  rises  nearly  as  high  above  the  water. 
Its  leaves  and  spikes,  though  much  larger,  resemble  those  of  oats,  from 
which  the  French  give  it  its  name.  Its  culm  is  jointed,  as  large  as  the 
little  finger;  leaves  broad,  and  linear,  panicle  more  than  a  foot  in  length; 
the  lower  branches  with  spreading  barren  flowers,  the  upper  with  fertile 
and  erect  ones.  The  seeds  are  blackish,  s'mooth,  narrow,  cylindrical^ 
about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  long,  deciduous.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
discovered  in  the  brooks  of  Massachusetts.  When  it  is  intended  to  be 
preserved  for  grain,  the  spikes  are  bound  together,  to  preserve  them  from 
the  ravages  of  birds  and  water  fowls,  that  prey  upon  them  in  immense 
numbers.  It  thus  has  a  chance  to  ripen.  At  the  season  for  gathering  it, 
canoes  are  rowed  among  the  grain.  A  blanket  is  spread  upon  them,  and 
the  grain  is  beaten  upon  the  blankets.  It  is,  perhaps,  of  all  the  cerea- 
lla,  except  the  maize,  the  most  prolific.  It  is  astonishing,  amidst  all  our 
eager  and  multiplied  agricultural  researches,  that  so  little  attention  has 
been  bestowed  upon  ibis  interesting  and  valuable  grain.  It  has  scarcely 
been  known,  except  by  Canadian  hunters  and  savages,  that  such  a  grain, 
the  resource  of  a  vast  extent  of  country,  existed.  It  surely  ought  to  be 
ascertained  if  the  drowned  lands  of  the  Atlantic  country,  and  the  immense 
marshes  and  stagnant  lakes  of  lire  south,  will  grow- it.  It  is  a  mistake, 
that  il  is  found  only  in  the  northern  regions  of  this  valley.     It  grows  in 


MEDICINAL     PLANTS 


57 


perfection  on  the  lakes  about  Natchitoches,  south  of  32°;  and  might 
probably,  be  cultivated  in  all  climates  of  the  valley.  Though  a  hardy 
plant,  it  is  subject  to  some  of  the  accidents,  that  cause  failure  of  the  other 
grains.  The  grain  has  a  long  slender  hull,  much  resembling  that  of  oats, 
except  that  it  is  longer  and  darker.  In  detaching  this  hull,  the  Indians 
use  a  process  of  drying,  that  probably  in  most  instances  destroys  its  ger- 
minating principle.  Those  who  have  found  this  grain  unpleasant  have 
perhaps  eaten  it  when  smoked  and  badly  prepared.  There  is,  probably, 
the  same  difference  in  quality,  too,  as  in  other  grains.  The  grain  that 
we  have  eaten,  was  as  white  as  the  common  rice.  Puddings  made  of  it 
tasted  to  us  like   those  made  of  sago. 

Palmetto,  chcmarops  latanier-  This  is  a  perennial  plant,  strongly 
marking  climate.  It  commences  in  the  same  regions  with  long  moss — 
that  is  to  say  about  33°.  It  throws  up  from  a  large  root,  so  tough  as 
to  be  cut  with  difficulty  by  an  axe,  and'  hard  to  be  eradicated  from  the 
soil,  large,  fan-shaped  palms,  of  the  most  striking  and  vivid  verdure,  and 
ribbed  with  wonderful  exactness.  It  indicates  a  deep  swampy  soil,  and 
grows  six  feet  in  height.  The  infallible  index  of  swampy  and  southern 
climate,  and  having  no  resemblance  to  any  plant  seen  at  the  north,  its 
foreign  aspect  and  its  deep  green,  unchanged  by  winter,  when  first  seen 
by  the  immigrant  from  the  north,  with  a  surprise  connected  with  rather 
unpleasant  associations,  strongly  reminds  him  that  he  is  a  stranger  and  in 
a  new  country.  It  is  used  by  the  savages,  and  the  poorer  Creoles,  as  thatch 
for  their  cabins;  and  from  the  tender  shoots  of  the  season,  properly 
prepared,  a  very  useful  kind  of  summer  hats,  called  palmetto  hats,  are 
manufactured. 

Medicinal  Plants.  On  this  head,  but  little  is  yet  known  of  this 
■country;  and  that  little,  except  the  most  obvious  points,  falls  within  the 
proper  limits  of  description  by  a  physician.  In  a  climate  so  various, — 
a  soil  so  prolific, — and  a  Flora  so  immense  as  that  of  the  prairies,  where 
such  an  infinite  variety  of  plants  and  flowers  is  renewed,  and  perishes 
every  season, — and  in  a  country  so  fresh,  it  may  be  readily  conceived, 
that  the  medicinal  properties  of  but  very  few  of  the  plants  have  been 
sufficiently  experimented.  Most  of  the  medicinal  plants  of  the  Atlantic 
country  are  found  here;  and  many  that  are  peculiar  to  this  region. 

Varieties  of  the  hop  are  natives  of  the  country;  and  the  hazle  prairies 
have  their  clumps  of  hazle  bushes  often  surmounted  with  the  beautiful 
wreathings  of  the  clusters  of  the  common  hop. 

Virginia  snake  root;  a  species  of  ipecacuanna,  called  'Indian  physic ,' 
American  columbo;  frasera  Caroliniensis,  a  plant  growing  six  feet  high, 
and  covering  itself  with  brilliant  flowers ;  thoroughwort,  upatorium  per- 

8 


58  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

foliatum;  ginseng;  all  the  varieties  of  the  mints;  blood  root,  sanguinaria 
canadensis; — these  plants  are  common,  and  widely  diffused. 

May  apple,  podophyllum  peltatum,  is  a  beautiful  plant,  that  completely 
covers  the  ground  where  it  grows,  with  the  freshest  and  most  cheering 
verdure  of  spring.  It  has  a  handsome  white  blossom,  and  bears  a  fruit 
of  the  appearance  and  taste  of  a  lemon.  Its  root  is  a  powerful  cathartic, 
and  has  been  successfully  introduced  into  medicine  as  a  substitute  for 
jalap. 

Seneka,  polygala  seneka;  American  senna,  cassia,  marilandica;  poke 
weed,  pJiytollacca  decandria;  Oswego  tea,  monarda  kalminina;  poison 
sumach,  rhus  vernix;  solanum  nigrum,  or  nightshade ;  wake  robin,  tril- 
lium  oernuum;  golden  rod,  solidago  odor  a;  misletoe,  viscum  album; 
horehound,  &,c.  are  common. 

Strammony,  strammonium  datura,  a  poisonous  weed,  perniciously  com- 
mon through  the  western  country.  On  the  richest  bottoms  it  grows  fif- 
teen feet  in  height,  and  of  a  size  and  compactness  to  prevent  cattle  from 
running  among  it.  It  has  splendid  flowers,  and  a  great  quantity  of  oily 
seeds.  Its  smell  is  nauseous;  and  it  is  a  common  and  annoying  tenant 
of  the  villages  on  the  alluvial  margins  of  rivers.  In  some  places  no  in- 
considerable part  of  the  labor  on  the  highways  is  to  cut  up  this  weed 
from  the  roads  and  outlots  of  the  villages.  Its  popular  name  is  jimson, 
probably  a  corruption  of  Jamestown,  the  place  whence  it  is  said  to  have 
been  brought.     It  is  used  in  medicine  in  spasmodic  asthma. 

The  next  most  common  and  annoying  weed  along  the  roads,  especially 
in  Louisiana,  is  a  very  tall  plant,  resembling  cassia  marilandica.  It 
renders  the  paths,  and  the  banks  of  the  bayous  in  that  region  almost  im- 
passable in  autumn,  until  the  cattle  have  trodded  it  down. 

Cockle  burs,  in  the  same  situations,  are  excessively  annoying  weeds, 
filling  the  outlots,  and  uncultivated  places  to  such  a  degree  that  the  burrs 
attach  to  the  clothes  of  passengers,  and  mat  the  wool  of  sheep  running 
among  them  with  an  inextricable  tangle. 

Virginia  snake  root,  aristolochia  serpentaria,  wormwood,  artemesia, 
all  the  varieties;  southernwood;  wormseed;  wild  horehound,  cupatorium 
pilosum;  black  henbane,  hyoscyamus  nigra;  deadly  nightshade,  atropa 
belladona;  Indian  tobacco,  lobelia  injlata;  white  horehound,  marrubium 
vulgare;  balm,  melissa  officinalis;  among  the  mints,  pennyroyal,  mentha 
pulegium,  growing  to  a  great  size;  sarsaparilla,  smilax;  Carolina  pink, 
spigelia  marilandica;  common  nettle,  urtica,  every  where  annoying  to 
the  summer  traveller  in  the  woods;  valerian  officinalis,  common  on  the 
Ohio;  gentian;  all  the  species  of  the  violets;  prairie  wax  weed,  common 
in  the  prairies,  from  four  to  six  feet  high,  when  perforated  exuding  a  yel- 
low terebenthinc  wax  of  aromatic  smell,  and  to  which  many  virtues  are 
ascribed  by  the  settlers. 


MEDICINAL     PLANTS.  59 

*"The  medical  plants  which  the  Western  Country  has  in  common  with 
other  countries,  possess  the  same  virtue,  under  variations  from  climate 
and  local  circmstances;  the  too  common  opinion  of  their  inferiority  will 
often  be  changed  by  a  fair  trial.  Different  species  also  promise  a  reward 
of  examination  from  the  generic  similarities ;  when  these  are  actually  in 
use  among  the  people  of  the  country,  the  probability  of  their  value  is 
the  greater. 

An  application  of  these  principles  will  bring  the  following  plants  to 
particular  notice:  agrimony,  potentilla  qiunquefolium,  polygonum-bis- 
torta,  gentiana,  fumaria,  angelica,  cochlearia,  erysimum  officinale,  arum, 
symphitum,  inula  campana,  asarurn,  all  grow  in  the  northern  and  middle 
states,  and  are  the  same  with  or  near  a  kin  to  those  classed  among  the 
best  simples  by  Dr.  Cullen  in  his  Materia  Medica.  The  gentiana 
growing  in  the  glades  of  Pennsylvania,  is  by  Dr.  Schoeph  esteemed  the 
best  of  their  several  species.  The  arum  is  generally  called  Indian  turnip, 
from  its  ancient  value  among  the  Indians,  and  often  used  with  other 
ingredients  by  the  country  people  in  that  general  debility  consequent  on 
tedious  fevers.  The  best  recommended  remedies  against  intermittent 
fevers  are  cornus  florida,  dogwood;  quercus  phellos,  live  oak;  persimon, 
lonicera  symphoricarpos ;  by  their  barks;  pyrola  maculata,  with  the 
Indian  name  pipsisseva;  sambucus  Canadensis;  laurus  aestivalis,  spice 
wood,  Benjamin  tree,  benzoin.  The  first  is  more  generally  known;  a 
decoction  of  the  bark  has,  in  many  cases,  been  effectual;  it  is  by  some 
deemed  equal,  when  fresh,  to  the  Peruvian.  The  second  is  much 
valued  in  the  south,  its  native  place;  that  of  persimon  in  North  Carolina 
and  of  lonicera  symphoricarpos  in  Virginia.  An  infusion  of  the  plant, 
pyrola  maculata  has  been  frequently  used  for  some  years  in  Pennsylvania, 
under  the  name  of  pipsisseva.  The  sambucus  Canadensis,  red  berry 
elder,  is  by  the  Indians  called  the  fever-bush;  a  decoction  of  its  wood 
and  buds  being  of  ancient  renown  among  them.  The  laurus  aestivalis 
spice-wood,  Benjamin  tree,  is  also  distinguished  with  that  name  by  the 
people  in  the  northern  parts,  for  the  salutary  decoction  of  its  wood  and 
leaves.  The  bark  of  the  liriodendron,  tulip  tree,  is  also  very  generally 
esteemed  a  good  substitute  for  the  Peruvian,  especially  that  of  the  root. 
We  may  observe  on  these  and  other  febrifuges,  that  the  variety  probably 
corresponds  with  the  diversity  of  the  fevers,  which  is  very  considerable 
from  latitude,  season,  and  personal  constitution :  thus,  for  example,  the 
above  spice-wood  is  of  peculiar  benefit  in  that  moderate  but  tedious  kind 
called  slow  fever,  which  is  almost  continual. 

Against  rheumatism  these  are  worthy  of  trial :  the  root,  in  decoction, 
of  aralia  spinosa,  angelica  tree;  the  cones  of  pinus  strobus,  white  pine; 

*  Winterbotham's  America,  vol.  in.  page  508. 


gO  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

the  twigs  and  roots  of  magnolia  glauca,  swamp  sassafras,  both  in  decoc- 
tion and  bath;  the  fresh  bark  of  jnglans  alba,  hickory  applied  externally 
is  much  used  by  the  Indians. 

Dysentery  has  been  cured  by  the  bark  and  gum  of  liquidambar  styr- 
acfleua,  sweet  gum;  cynoglossum  Virgimanum,  foliis  amplexicaulibus 
ovatis,  hound's  tongue;  triosteum  angustifolium,  floribus  oppositis  ped- 
unculatis;  the  root  of  white  oak  in  powder. 

Antidropsical,  well  recommended,  are  the  leaves  of  calicarpa  Ameri- 
cana; the  root,  in  decoction,  of  aralia  nudicaulis,  foliis  binis  tematis; 
that  of  sassafras  in  extract. 

Cholic  is  removed  by  the  oil  of  the  above  spice-wood  berries;  the 
flatulent  and  hysteric  kinds,  eminently  so  by  angelica  lucida;  foliolis 
sequalibus  ovatis  inciso-serratis. 

The  best  among  pleuritic  remedies  must  be  the  pleurisy  root,  so  much 
extolled  in  Pennsylvania,  discribed  by  Schoeph  asclepias  tuberosa,  foliis 
alternis  lanceolatis,  caule  divaricato  pilcso;  another  asclepias,  bears  a 
high  value,  called  also  butterfly  root;  the  asclepias  decumbcns,  pleurisy 
root,  mentioned  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  must  be  one 
of  these.  The  bark  and  berries  of  the  above  magnolia,  either  in  decoc- 
tion, or  infusion  of  spirituous  liquors,  is  generally  salutary  in  those  great 
colds  which  affect  the  sides,  back  and  breast  with  painful  stiches,  attended 
with  febrile  chills  and  general  langour. 

Anthelmintics  are  the  chenopodium,  and  the  spigelia  Marylandica, 
caule  tetragono,  foliis  omnibus  oppositis.  Carolina'pink,  a  southern  plant, 
will  destroy  the  worms,  but  caution  in  the  dose  is  requisite. 

Spiraea  trifoliata,  foliis  tematis  serratis  subrequalibus,  floribus  subpan- 
iculatis,  ipecacuanha,  Indian  physic,  is  an  effectual  and  safe  emetic. 
Podophyllum  peltatum,  foliis  peltatis  palmatis,  May  apple,  is  lately 
coming  into  practice  as  a  laxative  by  an  extract  of  the  root  that  removes 
its  emetic  quality.  Convolvulus  panduratus  grows  in  the  middle  lati- 
tudes; and  in  the  south  some  species  similar  to  the  convolvulus  jalappa, 
not  well  explored. 

Ulcers  and  cancerous  sores  arc  frequent  among  those  whose  humours 
are  vitiated  by  perennial  fevers;  in  a  variety  of  remedies  these  deserve 
notice:  iris  versicolor,  ashes  of  magnolia,  glauca,  in  form  of  plaster,  and  a 
strong  bath  of  sassnfras  root,  have  cured  ulcerated  legs.  The  root  of 
saururus  cermius,  foliis  cordatis  petiolatis,  amentis  solitariis  recurvis, 
lizard-tail,  bruised  and  applied  as  a  poultice  to  sore  and  impostumate 
breasts  will  ripen  and  heal  them.  A  species  of  nigella,  called  goldthread. 
Indian  mouth  root,  is  an  excellent  remedy  for  an  ulcerous  mouth.  A 
species  of  geum,  water  avens,  throat  root,  cure  all,  is  an  esteemed 
remedy  for  ulcerated  sore  throat ;  a  decoction  of  the  root  is  both  a  gargle 


MEDICINAL     PLANTS.  (• , 

and  drink.  Rumex  acctosella,  floribus  dioicis,  foliis  lanceolato-hastalis, 
sour  dock,  cancer  root,  is  recommended  against  inveterate  ring-worms; 
this  is  biennis  and  found  over  the  whole  country,  the  juice  is  mixed 
with  vinegar.  The  phytolacca  decandra,  floribus  decandris  decagynis, 
poke,  has  of  late  given  promising  experiments  in  the  cure  of  cancers; 
the  juice  of  the  berries  is  inspissated  by  the  sun;  the  young  sprouts  in 
spring  are  eaten  as  asparagus,  but  grown  too  far  they  are  violently 
cathartic. 

Preservatives  against  venomous  snakes  seem  to  be  scattered  over  the 
whole  country,  and  they  merit  full  investigation,  in  order  to  provide 
prompt  remedies,  in  every  place,  and  against  different  kinds  of  serpents, 
especially  in  new  settlements.  Convolvulus  purpureus,  purple  bind-weed, 
is  very  powerful,  if  it  is  true  that  the  Indians  can  handle  rattle-snakes 
after  anointing  their  hands  with  its  juice,  as  Catesby  relates;  this  grows 
in  the  south.  A  species  of  jussioe  is  mentioned  in  the  cited  memoirs, 
as  growing  in  the  northern  countries  near  the  haunts  of  rattle-snakes, 
called  rattle-snake  plantain.  The  hieracium  venosum,  foliis  cuneiformibus 
hirtis,  scapo  nudo  crassissimo  erecto,  grows  from  the  north  to  the  south 
inclusively;  is  called  poor  Robin's  plantain,  and  said  to  cure  the  bite 
both  of  the  rattle-snake  and  of  his  supposed  precursor  the  pilot-snake. 
Erigeron,  likewise  called  Robert's  plantain,  is  described  by  Dr.  Schoeph 
thus,  "radix  repens;  folia  radicalia  ovata,  basi  attenuata,  dentata  dentibus 
paucis  a  medio  ad  apicem  glanduliferis,  obtusa,  pilosa,  venis  paucis 
Scapus  biuncialis,  pedalis,  striatus,  villosus,  uniflorus,  &c.  &c."  Dr. 
Otto,  a  respectable  practitioner,  informs  that  the  herb  ought  to  be  given 
in  a  plentiful  decoction,  and  also  applied  with  the  root  to  the  wound. 
The  herb  of  folidago  virga  aureu,  golden  rod,^is  used  in  the  same 
manner.  The  root  of  aletris  farinosa  as  taken  in  powder,  or  bruised 
and  steeped  in  liquor;  this  root  is  called  star-root,  blazing  star,  devil's 
bit,  and  greatly  esteemed  both  by  Indians  and  the  people  of  several  states 
for  many  qualities.  The  polygala  Senega  is  well  know.  The  plantain 
of  Negro  Cassar  we  just  mention,  with  a  wish  that  an  authentic  account 
could  be  obtained  of  the  experiments  for  which  he  obtained  a  public 
reward.  Many  credible  testimonies  agree  in  the  fact,  that  the  Indians 
have  extraordinary  skill  in  curing  the  bites  of  serpents;  but  whether  any 
specific  antidote  is  known  appears  doubtful:  the  plants  in  use  act,  how- 
ever, as  powerful  sudorifics  and  absorbents;  a  narrative  on  this  subject, 
would  here  be  too  prolix  for  our  plan. 

The   swertia   diftormis   has   been  recommended  in  canine   madness. 

In  the  search  of  new  medicines,  spicy  trees  and  balmy  evergreens  are 
particularly  inviting.  The  swamps  of  the  low  country  abound  in  plants 
of  aromatic  scent;  the  magnolia  glanca,  so  frequent  in  them  seems  to 


(\2  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

hold  out  her  fragrant  lilies  and  crimson  berries  to  the  skeleton-prey  of 
Stygian  vapours;  probably  her  sisters  are  also  compassionate  to  the  same 
sufferers. 

Indigenous  esculents  claim  attention  in  several  views.  Those  roots, 
herbs,  grains  and  barks,  that  in  case  of  need  can  support  life  may  be 
useful  to  travellers  in  the  wilderness,  and  to  troops  that  carry  on  an 
Indian  war;  the  savages  make  this  use  of  the  inner  bark  of  the  elm 
and  the  roots  of  aralia  nudicaulis.  The  sallads  of  many  kinds,  gathered 
in  divers  parts  of  the  country  during  spring,  should  be  generally  known. 
Several  wild  fruits  might  be  improved  by  culture,  as  wal  nuts,  crab-apples, 
papaws,  annona ,  plums,  grapes,  persimons,  honey-locust,  gleditsia  triac- 
anthos;  some  persons  have  planted  orchards  of  this  and  made  plenty  of 
metheglin  from  the  sweet  pods.  While  the  sugar  maple  is  of  late  justly 
valued,  its  kindred  also  merit  more  attention:  we  are  credibly  informed, 
that  in  Canada  equally  good  sugar  is  made  from  the  weaker  juice  of  the 
red  maple,  a  tree  that  abounds  through  all  the  states.  The  chesnut  oak 
is  said  by  Schoeph  to  yield  in  spring  a  copious  agreeable  drink;  other 
trees  may  have  similar  saps.  Aromatic  plants  deserve  notice:  the  barks 
of  young  sassafras  and  of  calycanthus  Jtoridus,  much  resemble  cinnamon 
the  acorus  calamus  is  used  in  the  west.  The  plants  used  as  tea  in 
divers  parts  deserve  examination:  the  cassine,  called  South  Sea  tea 
tree,  is  obscurely  known,  but  has  long  been  famous  among  the  Indians. 

Many  vegetable  dyes  are  already  in  use,  both  among  the  Indians  and 
the  inhabitants;  some  of  them  are  also  recorded  by  writers,  but  a  collec- 
tion of  scattered  practice,  and  a  selection  of  the  best  in  every  kind,  are 
yet  wanted.  In  this  branch,  the  practice  of  other  countries  may  also  be 
adopted :  thus  the  rhus  toxicodendron  vernix,  varnish  tree,  poison  ash,  is 
probably  the  same  with  the  valuable  species  of  Japan. 

Saps,  roots,  leaves,  flowers,  barks,  may  be  useful  in  a  variety  of  modes; 
for  example — The  roots  of  a«sculus  pavia,  scarlet  horse  chesnut,  and  of 
jucca  filamentosa,  silk  grass,  are  used  for  soap;  chesnuts  can  be  prepared 
for  the  same  use.  The  two  kinds  of  myrica,  candle  berry  myrtle,  are 
known;  the  melia  azcdarach  grows  in  the  south,  under  the  name  of  bead 
tree,  but  its  berries  are  not  yet  in  use  for  tallow,  as  in  Japan.  The 
asclepias,  silk-weed,  has  a  fine  white  down  in  its  pods,  which  in  Massa- 
chusetts is  carded  and  spun  into  very  good  wick-yarn.  White  oaks 
abound,  an  extract  of  their  barks  might,  as  an  article  in  tanning,  be  a 
valuable  export. 

Vegetable  medicines  for  cattle  are  very  interesting;  a  critical  compar- 
ison of  European  treatises,  with  what  is  written  and  practised  in  America 
will  point  out  the  best. 


MEDICINAL     PLANTS.  53 

The  beauties  of  the  American  flora  are  yel  displayed  only  to  those 
admirers,  who  have  sought  them,  in  fields  and  woods  from  spring  to 
autumn,  in  northern  and  southern  climes,  in  the  grand  magniflora  and 
the  humble  lily  of  the  valley.  Many  of  the  wild  flowers  would  adorn 
gardens,  and  embellish  groves  and  meadows:  but  a  great  part  of  these 
are  known  only  in  their  native  places;  and  some  have  not  even  obtained 
a  vernacular  name.  Flowery  shrubs  are  gradually  coming  into  more 
notice;  and  some  of  the  finest  will  endure  the  winter  of  Pennsylvania; 
the  chionanthus,  snoiu  drop,  fringe  tree,  calycanthus  floridus,  bignonia 
radicans,  trumpet  flower,  and  the  beautiful  Franldinia,  all  grow  well 
near  Philadelphia.  Several  of  the  trees  most  agreeable  by  foliage,  bloom, 
or  lofty  growth,  have  a  spontaneous  wide  range,  and  others  will,  under  a 
skilful  hand,  pass  their  natural  limits.'" 

We  could  easily  swell  this  catalogue  with  the  names  of  a  hundred 
other  plants  to  which  various  and  powerful  medicinal  virtues  are  ascribed 
by  the  people.  We  could  add  to  it  the  herbs  which  are  cultivated,  as 
medicinal. — We  have  merely  attempted  a  brief  outline  of  the  most 
common  indigenous  medicinal  plants  of  the  valley.  Almost  every  family 
has  its  panaceum,  in  some  herb  or  plant,  which  that  family  has  exclusively 
experimented.  A  rich  harvest  for  experiment  is  yet  reserved  for  the 
scientific  botanist  and  physician. 

One  flowering  shrub,  the  glory  of  the  vallies  and  declivities  of  the  Alle 
ghanies,  we  ought  not  to  omit.  It  is  a  species  of  laurel,  growing  in  com- 
pany with  the  laures  hurnilior,  or  sheep's  bane,  but  possessing  a  larger 
and  more  beautiful  foliage.  It  grows  in  large  clumps,  with  exquisitely 
formed  leaves  and  stems,  and  covers  thousands  of  acres  of  the  richer 
slopes  and  brook  sides  in  the  darkest  forests  of  the  Alleghanies.  It 
is  in  full  flower  in  mid-summer;  and  whoever  has  passed  their  wide 
ranges  at  that  season,  has  seen  in  these  mountain  solitudes  a  profusion 
of  large  clusters  of  these  splendid  flowers,  surpassing  all  comparison 
with  the  most  beautiful  flower  garden,  and  showing  great  extents  of 
these  dark  and  elevated  regions,  a  wilderness  of  blossoms,  filling  the 
mind  with  admiring  views  of  the  lonely  magnificence  of  nature. 

The  common  kinds  of  aquatic  plants  are  found  in  the  still  and  shallow 
waters  of  the  swamps;  particularly  a  beautiful  kind  of  water  lily,  highly 
fragrant,  and  bearing  no  resemblance  to  the  nymphea  odorata,  which  we 
have  not  seen  here,  but  which  is  said  to  be  found  in  the  northern  regions 
of  the  valley.  A  singular  kind  of  aquatic  vegetation,  which  has  given 
rise  to  the  fiction  of  floating  islands  of  vegetation  on  these  waters, 
is  seen  to  cover  great  extents  of  shallow  lakes  and  muddy  bayous.  It 
appears,  indeed,  to  float  on  the  water;  and  great  masses  of  it,  no  doubt, 
often  are  detached,  and  seen  floating,  as  though  there  were  no  roots 


(J4  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

attached  to  the  soil  at  the  hottom.  But  we  hare  examined  it,  and  found 
its  twiny  stem  of  many  yards  in  length,  hound  to"  the  bottom  by  a 
thousand  fibrous  roots.  It  has  a  small,  beautiful,  elliptical  leaf,  and  a 
diminutive,  but  delicate  white  flower.  We  have  sailed,  when  the  bow  of 
the  vessel  made  a  furrow  through  fields  of  this  curious  plant.  Under 
them  fishes  dart,  alligators  gambol,  and  in  the  proper  season,  multitudes 
of  water  fowls  are  seen,  pattering  their  bills  among  these  leaves.  We 
have  seen  this  plant  designated  by  the  name,  pistia  stratiotes. 

Among  the  flowering  aquatic  plants,  there  is  one,  that  for  magnificence 
and  beauty  stands  unrivalled  and  alone.  We  have  seen  it  on  the  middle 
and  southern  waters;  but  of  the  greatest  size  and  splendour  on  the  bayous 
and  lakes  of  the  Arkansas.  It  has  different  popular  names.  The  upper 
Indians  call  it  panocco.  It  is  designated  by  botanists  by  the  name 
nymphia  nelumbo.  It  rises  from  a  root,  resembling  the  large  stump  of  a 
cabbage,  and  from  depths  in  the  water,  from  two  or  three  to  ten  feet.  It 
has  an  elliptical,  smooth  and  verdant  leaf,  some  of  the  largest  being  of 
the  size  of  a  parasol.  These  muddy  bayous  and  stagnant  waters  are 
often  so  covered  with  leaves,  that  the  sandpiper  walks  abroad  on  the 
surface  of  them  without  dipping  her  feet  in  the  water. — The  flowers  are 
enlarged  copies  of  the  nymphia  odorata,  or  New  England  pond  lily. 
They  have  a  cup  of  the  same  elegant  conformation,  and  all  the  brilliant 
white  and  yellow  of  that  flower.  They  want  the  ambrosial  fragrance  of 
the  pond  lily;  and  resemble  in  this  respect,  as  they  do  in  their  size,  the 
flowers  of  the  laurel  magnolia.  On  the  whole,  they  are  the  largest  and 
most  beautiful  flowers,  that  we  have  seen.  They  have  their  home  in 
dead  lakes,  in  the  centre  of  cypress  swamps.  Musquitoes  swarm  above. 
Obscene  fowls  and  carrion  vultures  wheel  their  flight  over  them.  Alii" 
gators  swim  among  their  roots;  and  moccasin  snakes  bask  on  their  leaves* 
In  such  lonely  and  icpulsive  situations,  under  such  circumstances,  and 
for  such  spectators,  is  arrayed  the  most  gaudy  and  brilliant  display  of 
flowers  in  the  creation.  In  the  capsule  are  embedded  from  four  to  six 
acorn  shaped  seeds,  which  the  Indians  roast,  and  eat  when  green;  or  they 
are  dried,  and  eaten,  as  nuts,  or  are  pulverized  into  meal,  and  form  a  kind 
of  bread. 

We  have  seen  a  large  yellow  flower  on  the  arid  bluffs  of  that  high 
limestone  wall,  that  runs,  like  a  huge  parapet,  between  St.  Genevieve 
and  Herculancum,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  summit 
of  this  parapet  has  not  more  than  two  or  three  inches  of  soil,  and  is  bare 
of  all  vegetation,  but  a  sparse,  seared  grass.  It  was  under  the  burning 
sun  of  July,  when  every  thing,  but  these  flowers,  was  scorched.  The 
cup  of  the  flower  was  nearly  half  the  size  of  the  common  sunflower.  It 
rose  only  four  or  five  inches  from  the  soil,  and  covered  it,  as  with  gilding- 


MEDICINAL     PLANTS.  Q5 

We  have  seen  no  description  of  this  striking  flower,  nor  have  we  seen  it 
existing  elsewhere. 

Misletoe,  viscus  alba.  This  is  a  parasitic  plant,  which  attaches 
itself  to  the  tody  and  larger  limbs  of  trees, — most  frequently  the  syca- 
more and  the  elm.  It  is  common  on  the  trees  along  the  banks  of  the 
Ohio,  from  Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans.  The  bright  green  masses  of 
this  plant,  with  copious  clusters  of  transparent,  white  berries,  make  a 
very  singular  appearance  in  winter,  when  seen  clinging  to  the  naked 
branches.  This  is  the  plant,  to  which  the  Druids  were  said  to  pay 
divine  honors.  The  agglutinated  slime  of  its  berries  is  used  for  bird 
lime. 

Long  moss,  tillandsia  tisneoides.  This  parasitic  and  singular  vegeta- 
tion is  first  seen  in  company  with  the  palmetto,  about  latitude  33°.  It 
hangs  down  in  festoons,  like  the  twiny  stems  of  weeping  willow.  It 
attaches  itself  of  choice  to  the  cypress,  and,  after  that,  to  the  acacia. 
These  pendent  wreaths  often  conceal  the  body  of  the  tree,  when  bare  of 
foliage,  to  such  a  degree,  that  little  is  seen,  but  a  mass  of  moss.  Waving 
in  the  wind,  they  attach  themselves  to  the  branches  of  other  trees,  and 
thus  sometimes  form  curtains  of  moss,  that  darken  the  leafless  forest  of 
winter.  They  are  in  color  of  a  darkish  gray,  and  many  yards  in  length. 
The  moss  bears  a  small,  trumpet-shaped  flower,  of  peach  blow  color, 
and  seeds  still  finer,  than  those  of  tobacco. — Associated,  as  it  naturally 
is,  with  marshy  and  low  alluvions,  where  it  grows  in  the  greatest  profu- 
sion, and  with  the  idea  of  sickness,  this  dark  drapery  of  the  forest  has 
an  aspect  of  inexpressible  gloom.  It  is,  when  fresh,  a  tolerable  fodder 
for  horses  and  cattle,  and  the  deer  feed  upon  it  in  winter.  It  soon  dies 
on  dead  trees.  Prepared,  something  after  the  manner  of  water  rotted 
hemp,  the  bark  is  decomposed,  and  the  fibre  remains,  fine,  black,  strong, 
elastic,  and  apparently  incorruptible.  In  this  state,  in  appearance  and 
elasticity  it  resembles  horse  hair,  and,  like  that,  is  used  for  mattresses. 
Most  of  the  people  in  the  lower  country  sleep  on  them,  and  they  are 
becoming  an  article  of  commerce  in  the  upper  country.  The  Creoles 
make  various  articles  of  harnessing,  as  horse  collars,  and  saddle  stuffinar, 
of  this  article.  For  these  purposes,  considerble  quantities  are  exported  to 
the  upholsterers  and  carriage  makers  in  the  Atlantic  country. 

To  the  eye  of  a  naturalist,  no  doubt,  the  infinite  varieties  of  plants 
and  flowers  in  the  forests  and  on  the  prairies,  that  distract  the  gaze  of  a 
common  observer,  and  confound  all  his  attempts  to  class  them,  may  all 
have  an  e?.sy  arrangement,  'a  local  habitation  and  a  name.'  To  another, 
an  attempt  to  class  them  would  at  first  seem  like  numbering  the  drops  of 
dew,  that  fall  from  them.     The  friable  soil  of  the  western  country  does 

9 


66 


MISSISSIPPI     VAIiLEY. 


not  naturally  cover  itself  with  the  fine  sward  of  the  northern  Atlantic 
country.  It  is  the  region  of  coarse  grass,  tall  flowering  plants,  with 
gaudy  flowers;  and  to  an  unpractised  eye,  presents  a  Flora- of  great 
variety.  We  have  not  presumed  to  give  the  above,  as  any  thing  more 
than  the  sketch  of  a  catalogue.  Many  of  the  barks  of  the  trees  of  this 
valley  have  medicinal  qualities.  The  numbers,  forms  and  gigantic  heights 
of  these  weeds  and  plants  are  not  among  the  least  surprising  curiosities 
to  an  observer  of  nature. 

The  following  are  among  the  garden  flowers,  more  particularly  of  the 
southern  regions. 

Jessamines,  white,  cape,  Armenian  and  yellow.  Different  kinds  of 
sensitive  plants,  Spanish  dagger.  Primrose,  Jonquils,  while  and  yellow 
Iris.  Blue  and  yellow  touch-me-not.  Violets.  Lilies.  Roses,  monthly, 
perpetual,  moss,  scarlet,  white,  Damascus,  multiflora,  bell.  Honeysuckle. 
Woodbine.  Flowering  pomegranate.  Bamboo.  Myrtle.  Altheas, 
white  and  red.  Crape  myrtle.  Daffodil.  These  are  the  common  flow- 
ers, where  they  are  not  curious  in  choice,  or  varieties.* 

Animals.  We  deern  it  useless  to  go  into  detail  in  the  account  of 
animals,  which  this  country  has  in  common  with  those  east  of  the  moun- 
tains. We  believe,  that  the  catamount,  a  ferocious  animal  formerly  seen 
in  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  has  not  been  seen  west  of  the  mountains. 
There  is  a  much  greater  abundance,  if  not  variety,  of  the  deer  kind  here. 

The  milder  winters,  the  deeper  forests,  the  more  luxuriant  pastures, 
the  greater  abundance  and  variety  of  the  nut  and  acorn  bearing  trees, 
the  more  multiplied  means  of  animal  subsistence,  would  give  reason  to 
expect  a  greater  profusion  of  game.  Deer,  from  pairs  10  twenty  together, 
are  so  common  a  sight,  even  in  the  settled  country,  as  not  to  excite  much 
surprise. — Bears,  in  the  middle  and  settled  regions  of  the  valley,  are  not 
common;  and  a  bear  hunt  is  there  a  matter  of  novelty  and  excitement. 
But  high  on  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  and  on  the  lower  courses  of 
the  latter  river  and  its  tributaries,  in  the  deep  cane  brakes  and  swamps, 
bears  still  breed,  and  range  in  security;  and  the  planters  take  the  frequent 
amusement  of  hunting  them.  We  landed  at  the  cabin  of  a  settler,  be- 
tween White  River  and  Arkansas,  who  showed  the  skins  of  twenty  bears, 
which  he  had  killed  that  season. 

In  the  northern  part  of  Illinois,  towards  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi, 

and  southwest  of  the  Missouri,  on  the  Osage,  and  other  wooded  streams 

in  that  direction,  bears  are  still  hunted  for  their  skins  and  their  oil. 

Bear's  oil,  which  is  very  liquid,  transparent,  and,  when  not.  rancid,  mild 

i  For  catalogue  of  plants  and  flowers,  sec  Appendix,  table  No.  III. 


A  XI  MA  I. 


07 


and  agreeable  to  the  taste,  is  in  those  regions  extensively  used,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  butter.  The  hunters  ascend  the  streams  at  the  proper  season 
for  hunting  them,  and  pursue  the  bears  in  the  depth  of  the  wildernesst 
They  remain  for  the  summer  season  in  the  woods.  Late  in  autumn  they 
return  with  bear  skins,  and  the  flesh  cured,  as  smoked  middlings  of  pork, 
and  not  unfrequently  as  fat.  The  oil  is  put  into  a  periogne;  and  we 
have  seen  a  hunter  paddling  one  periogue,  and  having  another  lashed  and 
balanced  alongside  full  of  oil. 

Venison  is  an  important  article  of  food,  and  of  sale  in  most  of  the 
newer  villages  of  the  western  country.  The  markets  in  the  larger  towns 
are  sometimes  supplied  with  it.  It  furnishes  one  of  the  substantial  ele- 
ments in  the  subsistence  of  a  back  settler.  Hunting  the  deer  is  the 
standing  amusement  of  the  southern  planter.  A  night  hunt  seldom  fails 
to  furnish  a  number  of  these  animals.  In  the  northern  regions,  and 
about  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  the  elk  takes  the 
place  of  the  deer.     The  moose  is  sometimes  seen  with  the  elk. 

In  the  vast  prairies  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Arkansas  and 
Red  River,  and  in  all  the  space  beyond  a  belt  of  a  hundred  leagues  from 
white  settlements,  where  they  are  not  seen,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
the  buffalo  is  the  grand  object  of  hunting  and  subsistence  to  the  savages. 
The  flesh  is  the  chief  article  of  food,  not  only  of  the  Indians  of  those 
regions,  but  for  the  while  hunters  and  trappers.  The  skins  furnish  their 
dress,  and  the  couches,  the  seats,  and  the  ornamental  part  of  the  furni- 
ture of  their  cabins.  Tanned  and  stretched  on  tent  poles,  and  erected 
in  neat,  cone  shaped  tents,  they  shelter  the  savages  in  their  distant 
migrations  from  their  villages.  The  buffalo  robes  furnish  one  of  their 
most  important  articles  of  commerce.  Hunting  the  buffalo  is  a  business 
of  great  solemnity,  and  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  savage  life. 
Every  person  engaged  in  it,  has  his  proper  post  of  honor,  and  his  point  of 
concert  with  the  rest.  The  Indians  used  to  hunt  with  bows  and  arrows, 
but  are  now  commonly  armed  with  yagers.  The  attack  is  generally  on 
horseback.  When  the  attacking  party  have  approached  the  drove,  the 
religious  rights  are  renewed,  and  the  cavalcade,  in  confidence  of  the  aid 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  dashes  upon  them.  To  be  successful,  the  horses 
must  be  both  fleet,  and  well  managed.  It  often  happens,  that  the  older 
and  more  daring  animals  turn,  and  make  battle;  in  which  case,  there  is 
danger  to  the  horse  of  being  gored,  and  of  the  rider  to  be  slain — The 
animal,  in  its  agony  and  wrath,  is  terrible.  Sometimes,  when  feathered 
with  many  arrows,  or  pierced  with  many  balls,  it  becomes  a  question, 
who  has  slain  it.  But  there  are  so  many  witnesses,  the  wound,  among 
many,  that  was  mortal,  is  so  accurately  known,  and  it  is  so  vital  to 
their  peace,  that  all  this  should  be  settled  by  precedent,  that  in  the 


68 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


division  of  the  spoil,  disputes  seldom  occur.  Every  part,  of  the  animal 
is  prepared  in  some  way  for  use.  A  part  is  preserved  fresh,  for  imme- 
diate use.  The  fat  from  the  intestines  is  melted,  skimmed,  and  put  into 
bladders  for  future  use,  and  proves  an  agreeable  substitute  for  butter.  A 
protuberance  on  the  shoulders,  called  the  'hump,'  is  the  choice  part  of 
the  animal.  The  return  of  such  a  party  from  a  successful  hunt  is  a  season 
of  the  highest  savage  holiday.  The  skins,  inwrought  into  all  the  furni- 
ture of  their  domestic  establishment,  so  vital  to  their  comfort,  and  the 
surplus  furnishing  their  principal  article  of  traffic,  are  entrusted  for  pre- 
paration, as  are  all  their  more  laborious  kinds  of  drudgery,  to  the  squaws. 
This  is  a  very  material  part  of  Indian  labor.  The  method  of  preparing 
them  is  primitive  and  simple,  but  slow  and  laborious,  and  consists,  prin- 
cipally, in  smoking,  drying,  and  rubbing  them.  When  dressed,  they  are 
soft,  pliant  and  durable.  By  the  juice  of  some  vegetable,  supposed  to  be 
sangtrinaria  Canadensis,  fixed  by  a  process,  known  only  to  themselves, 
they  paint  lines,  figures  and  devices  on  the  buffalo  skins,  of  a  beautiful 
red  color,  that  retains  a  durable  brilliance,  unchanged  by  the  sun  and 
air.  Among  these  animals,  as  among  domestic  ones,  there  are  the  differ- 
ences of  size,  age,  and  beauty  and  deformity,  lean  and  fat.  The  males 
are  eatable  only  a  part  of  the  year,  and  the  cows  are  most  sought  for 
hunting,  as  an  article  of  food.  No  wild  animal  has  a  more  noble  appear- 
ance, than  a  full  grown  male  buffalo.  It  has  been  said,  that  they  are  of 
the  same  species  with  domestic  cattle.  From  the  habits,  as  well  as  the 
appearance  of  the  animal,  we  should  think  not.  The  color  is  generally 
of  a  brownish  gray,  and  much  of  the  wool,  or  hair,  has  the  fineness  of  fur, 
and  by  the  English,  is  wrought  into  articles  of  a  beautiful  fabric,  which  is 
becoming  an  article,pf  manufacture.  They  have  burly  heads,  covered 
with  shaggy  wool;  and  the  long  and  erect  hair  prevails  to  the  termina- 
tion of  the  hump  beyond  the  fore  shoulders.  They  have  small  and  short 
horns,  not  more  than  four  or  five  inches  in  length,  and,  compared  with 
domestic  cattle,  small  and  fierce  eyes;  and,  viewed  all  together,  have 
ralher  a  savage  and  outlandish  appearance.  But,  in  fact,  they  are  the 
same  mild  animal  with  the  domestic  cattle;  are  easily  tamed  and  domes- 
ticated; and  the  animals,  that  spring  from  the  mixture  of  the  breeds,  are 
said  to  unite  the  valuable  properties  of  both.  Their  beef  is  generally 
preferred  to  that  of  the  domestic  ox.  The  range  of  this  animal  used  to 
extend  over  all  the  valley.  The  eyes  of  the  patriarchal  'residenters,'  who 
first  fixed  themselves  in  the  unbroken  wilderness,  as  they  relate,  how 
they  used  to  see  countless  numbers  of  these  animals  scouring  the  thickets, 
brighten  in  the  relation,  and  view  the  present  order  of  things,  which  have 
driven  these  animals  far  to  the  west,  with  the  regrets  of  hunters. 
The  whites,  wherever  they  have  fixed  themselves,  have  waged  upon  them 


ANIMALS.  ,;<) 

a  gratuitous  war  of  extermination ;  and  tliese  innocent,  useful  and  noble 
animals  instinctively  fly  their  footsteps.  They  remain  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  savages,  who  kill  no  more  of  them,  than  subsistence  or  profit  requin  s. 
The  white  hunters  have  destroyed  them  for  their  tongues  only.  They 
still  range  from  Red  River  of  the  north  to  the  populous  regions  of  Mexi- 
co;— but  let  the  smallest  settlement  of  whites  be  fixed  in  their  vicinity 
and  the  animals  soon  interpose  a  line  of  an  hundred  leagues  of  demarca. 
tion  between  them  and  their  enemies. 

On  the  northern  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  hetween  that  river  and 
the  lakes,  the  muskrat  and  otter  are  taken  in  great  numbers  for  their 
furs.  The  flesh  of  the  muskrat  is  prized  in  these  regions  by  the  Indians, 
as  a  delicacy.  We  have  been  present  at  these  highly  flavored  repasts, 
when  the  peculiar  smell  of  the  animal  perfumed  the  cabin. 

At  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Yellowstone,  Platte,  White 
Arkansas  and  Red  rivers,  and  on  all  their  tributaries,  that  have  courses 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  great  object  of  pursuit,  both  by  the  hunters 
and  trappers,  white  and  savage,  is  the  beaver.  It  is  the  chief  source  of 
gain  to  the  savages;  their  dependence  for  their  supply  from  the  whites  of 
arms,  ammunition,  blankets,  strouding,  traps,  whiskey,  and  all  objects  of 
necessity  and  desire.  To  these  lonely  and  sequestered  regions,  repair 
hundreds  of  white  hunters,  who  hunt  for  subsistence,  and  trap  for  gain. 
They  make  their  way  in  companies  of  armed  partnerships,  fitted  out,  as 
a  kind  of  guerillas.  Sometimes  a  pair  of  sworn  friends  hunt  together. 
There  are  not  a  few,  who  repair  alone  to  these  solitary  streams  and 
mountains.  Outlawry,  avarice,  necessity,  and  appetite  for  lawless  and 
unrestrained  and  unwitnessed  roving,  constant  exposure  and  danger,  the 
absolute  need  of  relying  alone  upon  their  own  personal  strength  and 
resources,  create  a  very  singular  compound  of  astonishing  quickness  of 
perception,  and  a  reckless  confidence  in  their  own  prowess.  We  have 
seen  more  than  one  hunter  of  this  cast  incurably  attached  to  a  solitude 
of  labor  and  danger,  compared  with  which  Robinson  Crusoe's  sojourn  on 
his  island  was  but  a  mere  pastoral  experiment.  They  furnish  an  impres- 
sive proof  that  there  is  no  mode  of  life  intrinsically  so  repulsive  and 
painful,  but  man  may  become  reconciled  to  it  by  habit.  A  lonely  hunter, 
cast  upon  the  elements,  with  nothing  but  prairies  and  mountains  in  view, 
without  bread  or  salt,  and  every  hour  in  jeopardy  from  beasts  and  savages, 
amidst  scenery  and  dangers,  that  would  naturally  tend  to  raise  the  heart 
to  God,  trusting  to  no  divinity,  but  his  knife  and  his  gun,  building  all 
his  plans  for  the  future  on  his  traps,  regarding  the  footstep  of  man 
imprinted  in  the  sand  an  object  of  calculating  apprehension,  and  almost 
equally  dreading  the  face  of  the  white  man  and  the  savage,  in  situations 
thus  lonely  and  exposed,  braves  the  heat  of  summer  and  the  ices  of 


70 


MISSISSIPPI     V  A  I-  L  E  Y  . 


winter,  the  grizzly  bear,  anc!  robbers  of  his  own  race,  and  the  savages, 
for  years.  When  he  has  collected  a  sufficient  number  of  packs  of  beaver, 
he  falls  a  hollow  tree,  slides  it  into  some  full  mountain  stream,  and 
paddles  down  the  thousand  leagues  of  the  Missouri,  and  is  seen  bustling 
about  the  streets  of  St.  Louis,  to  make  bargains  for  his  furs.  There  are 
very  simple  and  obvious  marks,  by  which  to  class  these  packs,  according 
to  their  quality  and  value.  The  more  northern  the  range  of  the  animal, 
the  more  valuable  is  the  fur;  and  in  the  same  parallel,  those  that  live  in 
mountain  streams  are  more  valuable,  than  those  that  live  on  plains. 
The  habits  of  this  valuable  and  social  animal  are  well  known,  and  are 
the  same  in  this  region,  as  elsewhere.  The  packs  are  rated  by  the 
pound,  and  pass  in  many  places,  as  a  substitute  for  money.  They  are, 
in  fact,  the  circulating  medium  of  Canadian  and  Missouri  hunters, 
cowreurs  du  bois,  and  many  tribes  of  savages.  St.  Louis  is  the  centre 
of  the  fur  trade  in  this  valley. 

Gray,  grizzly,  or  white  bear,  vrsits  arcticus.  His  range  is  on  the  upper 
courses  of  the  Missouri,  and  its  tributaries,  and  along  the  bases  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  brown  bear,  except  under  particular  circum- 
stances, does  not  face  man.  But  this  terrible  animal,  so  far  from  fearing 
or  flying,  pursues  him,  having  less  fear  of  him,  than  any  other  beast  of 
prey.  Indian  warriors,  in  their  vaunling  war  songs,  when  they  perform 
what  is  called  'striking  the  post,'  or  rating  the  bravery  of  their  exploits, 
recount  having  slain  one  of  these  animals,  as  no  mean  exploit,  and,  in 
fact,  as  not  inferior  to  having  slain  a  human  enemy.  It  is  one  of  the 
largest,  and  strongest  animals  of  prey,  being  out  of  comparison  larger, 
than  the  brown  bear.  Lewis  and  Clark  give  the  dimensions  of  one, 
slain  by  their  party  towards  the  sources  of  the  Missouri.  It  measured 
round  the  head  three  feet  five  inches;  round  the  neck  three  feet  eleven 
inches;  length  eight  feet  seven  inches  and  a  half;  round  the  fore  leg  one 
foot  eleven  inches;  length  of  talons  four  inches  and  a  half!  The 
weight  is  sometimes  nearly  thirteen  hundred  pounds.  Like  the  lion  and 
the  tiger  on  the  African  deserts,  he  reigns,  the  ferocious  tyrant  of  these 
solitudes.  The  Crow  Indians  and  the  Gros  ventres,  who  live  in  the 
range  of  this  animal,  have  lost  many  of  their  bravest  warriors  by  him. 
The  white  hunters  are  shy  of  attacking  him,  except  in  companies;  and 
many  have  been  destroyed  in  the  attempt.  The  skin  of  those  in  the 
more  northern  regions  is  very  valuable.  It  is  rated  in  value  from  thirty 
to  fifty  dollars.  Fortunately  he  is  not  very  swift;  and  as  he  usually  ran- 
ges in  the  timbered  regions,  and,  unlike  the  brown  bear,  does  not  climb, 
hunters  fly  him  by  mounting  a  tree. 

Panther,  by  the  French  called  Hgre,  is  a  ferocious  animal  of  the  cat 
family.     They  range  the  forests,  over  all  this  valley.     They  are  of  the 


ANIMALS. 


71 


size  of  the  largest  dogs,  of  a  darkish  gray  color,  marked  with  black  spots. 
They  are  in  shape  much  like  the  domestic  cat,  with  short  legs,  large 
paws,  and  long  talons.  Their  head,  too,  resembles  that  of  a  cat,  with 
wiiiskers  not  quite  so  long  in  proportion.  They  purr  in  the  same  way} 
when  they  are  in  good  humor,  and  seem  to  have  all  the  habits  of  the  cat. 
We  have  often  heard  their  wild,  nocturnal  cry  at  the  commencement  of 
twilight  in  the  forests.  They  are  dangerous  when  wounded,  and  under 
particular  circumstances  have  been  known  to  attack  a  man.  They  conceal 
themselves  among  the  branches  of  trees,  and  thence  dart  upon  their  prey. 
They  seldom  fail  to  attack  a  child,  should  they  meet  him  alone.  In  the 
country  west  of  the  Lower  Mississippi,  there  is  sometimes  seen  an  animal 
of  this  kind,  but  much  larger,  than  the  panther.  We  saw  a  skin  of  this 
animal,  killed,  we  believe,  not  far  from  Natchez,  and  it  was  the  size  of 
a  leopard's  skin,  and  of  a  color,  intermediate  between  the  spots  of  the 
leopard  and  the  stripes  of  the  African  tiger. — There  has,  probably, 
been  exaggeration,  as  to  the  size  and  numbers  of  these  animals,  in  the 
accounts  that  have  been  published  of  them.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
that  an  animal  of  the  panther  species,  of  great,  size  and  fierceness,  ranges 
these  forests,  probably  an  occasional  visitor  from  the  Mexican  regions. 

Wolf.  There  are  two  species  that  are  common — the  gray,  large, 
forest  wolf,  and  the  prairie  wolf.  We  should  judge  the  former  to  be  lar- 
ger than  the  Atlantic  wolf.  We  encountered  an  uncommonly  large  one, 
in  the  forests  between  Natchitoches  and  the  Sabine.  A  very  large  dog 
could  not  be  brought  to  advance  towards  him,  and  he  sat  and  eyed  us,  at 
a  few  rods  distance. 

The  prairie  wolf  is  of  a  lighter  gray,  and  not  more  than  half  the  size 
of  the  former.  They  have  sharper  noses,  and  a  form  more  resembling 
that  of  a  fox.  They  are  bold,  fierce,  cunning  and  mischievous  animals, 
and,  in  their  bark  and  howl,  not  easily  distinguished  from  the  domestic 
dog.  They  sometimes  travel  in  packs  on  the  prairies.  We  have  often 
heard  their  "shrill  and  sharp  bark  by  night,  from  a  cabin  on  the  prairies. 
[t  was  evidently  a  note  of  defiance  to  the  dogs  of  the  house.  The  latter 
retreat  towards  the  cabin,  evidencing  fear,  and  diminishing  their  bark  to 
a  whine,  and  finally  pawing  at  the  door  for  admission  within.  They  are 
a  most  annoying  scourge  to  the  farmer,  and,  in  fact,  the  greatest  impedi- 
ment to  the  raising  of  sheep  on  the  prairies. 

All  the  American  varieties  of  foxes,  porcupines  and  rabbits  are  com- 
mon; the  latter  so  much  so,  as  to  be  exceedingly  annoying  to  gardens 
and  young  nurseries.  They  breed  in  vast  numbers  in  the  patches  of 
hazles  and  vines,  and  skirt  the  prairies  and  barrens.  Raccoons  are  very 
troublesome  to  corn  fields,  and  it  is  a  sport,  preparatory  to  more  serious 
hunting,  for  boys  to  sally  out,  and  take  them  by  night. 


72  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Woodchucks  and  oppossums  abound,  and  are  generally  so  fat,  as  not 
to  be  able  to  reach  their  burrows,  if  overtaken  at  a  little  distance  from 
tbem.  These  animals  are  called  by  the  French,  'cochons  du  bois? 
They  scald  off  the  hair,  and  dress  them,  as  roasting  pigs,  and  consider 
them  a  great  delicacy.  The  singular  formation  of  the  oppossum  is  too 
well  known,  to  need  description;  but  they  have  one  habit,  that  we  have 
not  seen  described.  They  seem  to  be  lazy,  reckless  and  stupid  animals; 
and  prove,  that  the  profoundest  dissimulation  may  consist  with  the 
greatest  apparent  stupidity.  It  is  familiar  to  every  one,  who  has  often 
seen  this  animal,  that  when  you  come  upon  it,  at  any  distance  from  its 
shelter,  which  is  a  hollow  tree  or  log,  instead  of  retreating  for  that  shelter, 
it  turns  on  its  side,  throws  out  its  legs  and  settles  its  body,  its  eyes,  and 
its  features  into  the  supineness  of  death.  Observers  have  remarked, 
that  the  imitation  is  perfect  in  every  part  of  the  body,  but  the  tail,  and 
that  this  retains  a  living  and  elastic  coil,  that  only  appertains  to  life. 
Even  the  instinctive  shrewdness  of  the  dog  is  at  fault:  for  he  applies  his 
nose  to  the  animal,  and  turns  it  over,  and  passes  it  by  as  dead.  This 
astonishing  trait  of  the  instinct,  or  reasoning  of  this  sluggish  animal,  is 
transferred  by  a  figure  to  men.  In  the  common  parlance  of  the  country, 
any  one,  who  counterfeits  sickness,  or  dissembles  strongly  for  a  particu- 
lar purpose,  is  said  to  be  'possuming.' 

Squirrels.  Gray,  black,  chesnut,  and  all  the  smaller  varieties  of  this 
animal  abound.  There  is  no  part  of  the  valley,  where  they  do  not  prey 
upon  corn  fields,  adjacent  to  woods,  in  such  a  manner,  as  that  in  autumn, 
farmers  will  not  consider  it  an  object  to  furnish  a  boy  with  gun,  powder 
and  lead,  on  condition,  that  he  will  shoot  only  about  their  corn  fields.  It 
is  a  cheering  spectacle  in  autumn,  to  walk  in  the  beech  and  hickory 
bottoms,  where  you  may  often  see,  at  one  view,  half  a  dozen  of  these 
active  and  proud  little  animals,  flourishing  their  erect  and  spread  tails, 
barking  defiance  at  you,  or  each  other,  and  skipping,  as  if  by  the  aid  of 
wings,  from  branch  to  branch.  It  is  a  fact,  to  which  we  can  bear  ocular 
testimony,  that  they  cross  rivers;  at  some  times  swimming;  at  other  times 
on  a  chip,  or  piece  of  bark,  raising  and  spreading  their  tails,  by  way  of 
sail.  It  often  happens  to  these,  as  to  other  inexperienced  navigators, 
that  they  spread  too  much  canvass,  and  are  overset,  and  drowned.  It  is 
related,  as  having  happened  in  the  year  1811,  that  they  emigrated  from 
the  north  towards  the  south  by  thousands,  and  with  a  front  of  some  regu- 
larity, along  the  lower  part  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  the  whole  front  of 
Indiana.     Thousands  were  drowned,  in  attempting  to  cross  the  Ohio. 

The  skunk  is  common,  and  is  oftcner  met,  than  east  of  the  mountains; 
but  in  other  respects  is  the  same  bold  animal,  and  possessing  the  same 
reliance  upon  his  peculiar  kind  of  defence. 


ANIMALS.  -3 

Goplier,  a  species  of  mole,  more  than  twice  the  size  of  the  common  iield 
mole.  It  burrows  in  the  prairies;  and  there  are  immense  tracts  covered 
with  the  little  hillocks  made  by  the  earth  which  they  have  dug  from  their 
burrows.  They  have  an  exquisitely  soft,  fine  fur,  of  cerulean  color;  and 
they  have  on  each  side  of  their  jaws  a  pouch,  or  skinny  bag,  of  consider- 
able size,  which  is  usually  seen  distended  with  the  dirt  which  they  are 
transporting  from  their  holes.  They  prey  on  the  bulbous  roots  of  flowers, 
on  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables,  and  are  particularly  destructive  to 
young  orchards,  killing  the  trees  by  gnawing  off"  a  complete  circle  of 
bark  round  the  body,  near  the  roots.  The  mounds  which  they  raise,  are 
serious  impediments  in  the  way  of  driving  carts  and  carriages  over  the 
theatre  of  their  operations. 

An  animal  confounded  with  this,  but  not  the  same,  inhabits  the  shores 
along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  is  called  the  salamander.  It  is  of  the 
size,  and  in  some  respects,  the  appearance  of  a  common  rat.  It  is  never 
seen  abroad  by  day.  It  is  a  fierce  and  fighting  little  animal,  when  over- 
taken in  its  burrows,  and  the  wounds  inflicted  with  its  teeth  severe. 

Elk.  Large  flocks  of  these  animals  are  found  in  the  northern  limits 
of  the  range  of  the  buffalo.  To  our  view,  an  elk  is  no  more  than  a  very 
large  deer,  something  exceeding  the  height  of  a  common  horse.  Their 
flesh  has  the  same  flavor  as  common  venison.  Their  habits  are  similar 
to  those  of  the  deer.  In  the  country  where  they  range,  hunting  them  is 
an  object  with  the  Indians,  only  secondary  to  that  of  hunting  the  buffalo. 
We  have  never  seen  the  moose  in  this  country;  but  it  is  found  in  the 
northern  and  northwestern  regions. 

Antelope,  a  kind  of  mountain  deer,  seen  bounding  on  the  summits  of 
the  highest  and  most  precipitous  hills  at  the  sources  of  the  Missouri. — 
They  are  described  as  being  very  fleet  and  beautiful  animals,  and  their 
flesh  is  preferred  to  that  of  the  common  deer.  Timid  as  they  are,  their 
excessive  curiosity  lures  them  to  their  destruction.  They  gaze  upon 
man,  until,  as  if  charmed ,  they  seem  arrested  to  the  spot,  and  in  this  way 
are  sometimes  killed. 

Mountain  sheep,  an  animal,  that,  like  the  former,  inhabits  mountains, 
choosing  for  its  range  the  most  remote  and  inaccessible  at  the  sources  of 
the  Missouri.  They  have  horns  of  prodigious  size;  and  are  rather  larger 
than  the  deer.  They  are  covered  with  a  wool,  like  fur,  in  some  parts 
white,  and  in  others  brownish.  Their  range  is  so  solitary,  and  difficult 
of  access,  that  they  are  not  often  killed. 

Prairie  dog,  arctomys  Ivdoviciana.  This  animal  has  received  its  absurd 
name  from  the  supposed  similarity  of  its  peculiar  cry,  or  note,  to  the 
barking  of  a  dog.  In  other  respects  there  is  little  resemblance  to  that 
animal.     It  is  of  reddish  brown  color,  interspersed  with  some  gray  and 

10 


74  MISSISSIPPI     VAIiT.EY. 

black.  The  color  of  the  underside  of  the  body  is  not  unlike  that  of  the 
skunk.  It  has  rather  a  wide  and  large  head,  short  ears,  black  whiskers, 
and  a  sharp  and  compressed  nose.  It  something  exceeds  twice  the  size 
of  a  common  gray  squirrel.  One  of  them  measured  from  the  tip  of  the 
nose  to  the  extremity  of  the  tail  nineteen  inches.  Like  the  beaver  they 
are  social  and  gregarious,  living  on  the  dry  prairies  in  large  communities, 
some  of  which  occupy  a  circuit,  of  miles.  They  live  in  burrows;  and 
at  the  entrance  there  is  a  mound,  formed  by  the  earth  which  they  bring 
up  in  the  excavation.  In  whatever  direction  they  move,  they  have  well 
beaten  highways,  from  which  every  impediment  is  carefully  removed. 
There  are  several  occupants,  probably  all  of  the  same  family,  of  one  bur- 
row. In  mild  weather  they  are  seen  sporting  about  the  mouths  of  their 
habitations,  and  seem  to  have  much  of  the  sprightliness,  activity,  and 
spirit  of  defiance  of  the  squirrel.  At  the  apprehended  approach  of  danger 
they  raise  that  peculiar  bark,  from  which  they  have  derived  their  name. 
On  the  nearer  approach  of  danger  they  relinquish  their  vaporing,  and 
retreat  to  their  dens.  They  are  said  seldom  to  require  drink,  and  to  re- 
main torpid  in  their  burrows  through  the  winter.  When  overtaken  away 
from  its  home,  this  little  animal  shows  all  the  impotent  fierceness  of  a 
small  cur.  But.  when  taken,  it  easily  domesticates  and  becomes  gentle 
and  affectionate.* 

Birds.  This  valley,  embracing  all  the  varieties  of  the  climate  of  the 
country  east  of  the  mountains,  might  be  supposed  to  have  the  same  birds, 
and  those  birds  the  same  habits.  The  former  is  true,  and  the  latter  is 
not.  We  have  noted  no  birds  in  the  Atlantic  country  that  we  have  not 
seen  here.  We  have  many  that  are  not  seen  there;  and  those  that  are 
common  to  both  regions  have  not  the  same  habits  here  as  there.  We 
have  no  doubt,  that  cultivation  and  the  habitancy  of  civilized  men  affect 
the  habits,  and  even  the  residence  of  birds.  There  are  many  in  the  more 
populous  and  cultivated  regions  beyond  the  mountains,  that  seem  to  be- 
long to  orchards  and  gardens,  and  that  appear  to  exult  and  be  at  home 
only  in  the  midst  of  fruit,  arbors,  and  groves  reared  by  art  and  luxury. 
It  is  remarked  in  the  more  populous  and  cultivated  districts  of  the  West 
that  in  proportion  as  Ihe  wilderness  disappears,  and  is  replaced  by  apple, 
pear,  peach,  and  plum  trees,  and  fruit  gardens,  the  birds,  which  cheered 
the  infancy  of  the  immigrants,  and  whpse  notes  are  associated  in  recol. 
lection  with  the  charms  of  youthful  existence,  and  the  tender  remem- 
brances of  the  natal  spot,  and  a  distant  and  forsaken  country,  are  found 
among  the  recent  orchards.  Every  immigrant,  especially  who  was  reared 
in  New  England,  remembers  the  magpie,  or  boblink,  the  bird  of  half- 

l  l"i  catalogue  of  beasts,  hcc  Appendix,  l;il>lc  No.  IV. 


BIRDS.  75 

formed  leaves,  of  planting,  and  the  freshness  of  spring.  He  remembers 
to  have  heard  them  chattering  in  the  woods,  almost  to  tiresomeness. — 
They  are  occasionally  seen  in  the  middle  and  northern  regions  of  this 
valley.  They  are  seldom  heard  to  sing,  and  are  only  known  by  the  lover 
of  nature,  whoJaears  in  the  air,  as  they  pass  over  his  head,  the  single 
note  which  they  utter  at  the  East,  when  they  are  leaving  that  country. 
Some  years  since,  in  Missouri,  we  saw  a  number  of  the  males  gathered 
on  a  spray,  in  the  midst  of  a  low  prairie,  of  a  sunny  morning,  after  a 
white  frost.  They  were  chattering  away  in  their  accustomed  style. — 
But  they  did  but  half  carry  out  the  song  that  we  used  to  hear  in  the 
meadows  of  New  England,  leaving  a  painful  break  in  the  middle,  and 
reminding  us  of  the  beautiful  passage  in  the  Psalms,  touching  the  exiles 
on  the  streams  of  Babylon. 

Robin,  tiirdus  migratorius.  The  robin  red-breast,  in  the  northern 
Atlantic  country,  is,  more  than  any  other,  the  bird  of  orchards  and  gar- 
dens, and  is  there  almost  identified  with  the  domestic  affections  of  man. 
This  delightful  bird,  in  many  places  protected  from  the  gun  by  public 
feeling,  sings  there  such  an  unpretending  and  yet  sweet  song,  that  the 
inhabitants  need  not  regret  wanting  the  nightingale.  In  the  West  this 
bird  makes  annual  visits;  and  is  seen  in  the  autumn,  the  winter  and  spring, 
but  never,  at  least  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  valley,  in  the  summer. 
Thousands  winter  in  Louisiana,  and  perch  by  night  in  the  thick  cane 
brakes,  and  are  killed  with  a  stick.  In  the  middle  regions,  they  visit  the 
country  in  the  autumn,  to  feed  on  the  berries  of  the  spice  wood,  laurus 
bengoin.     They  are  recenlly  heard  beginning  to  sing  in  the  orchards. 

The  thrasher,  turdus  rufus;  the  perwink,  turdus  fuscus;  and  the  blue 
bird,  are,  in  numbers,  habits,  and  song,  as  at  the  North,  except  that  the 
blue  bird  is  heard  every  pleasant  day  through  the  winter.  The  splendid 
plumage,  the  bold  habits,  and  the  shrill  scream  of  the  blue  jay,  are  alike 
familiar  to  the  woods  of  Canada  and  the  Sabine. 

Mocking  bird,  turdus  orpheus,  vel  polyglottus,  is  seen  in  the  middle 
and  southern  Atlantic  States;  but  is  far  more  frequent  in  this  valley. — 
Its  gay,  voluble,  and  jerky  note,  imitating  that  of  all  other  birds,  and 
heard  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  renders  it  a  delightful  tenant  of  the 
southern  woods.  It  breeds  in  thorn  bushes,  and  among  the  arbors  of  the 
briar  vines ;  and  delights  to  sit  on  the  tops  of  chimnies,  darting  perpen" 
dicularly,  as  if  in  a  frolic,  high  into  the  air  above,  and  descending  by  the 
same  movement,  singing  its  gayest  strain  all  the  while.  It  is  a  bird  of  sober 
plumage,  and  from  its  delicate  structure,  rather  difficult  to  rear  in  a  cage. 

Itedbird,  cardinalis  Virginidna.  The  range,  frequency,  and  habits 
of  this  most  beautiful  bird  are  the  same  with  the  former.  Its  note  has 
but  little  range.     We  have  not  heard  it  sing  more  than  five  notes;  but 


76  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

its  whistle  is  clear,  mellow  and  delightful.  It  appears  not  to  regard 
orchards,  or  human  hahitancy,  but  pours  its  song  in  the  deep  forests. — 
The  traveller  is  cheered,  as  he  rides  along  the  bottoms,  especially  in  sunny 
mornings,  after  frosts  in  the  winter,  by  hearing  this  song  softening  the 
harsh  screaming  of  the  jay.  The  male,  after  moulting,  is  of  a  most 
brilliant  scarlet,  with  a  fine  crest,  and  a  bill  of  the  appearance  of  ivory. 

Nightingale  sparrow,  fringilla  melodia,  a  very  diminutive  sparrow, 
with  plain  plumage,  but  pours  from  its  little  throat  a  powerful  song,  like 
that  of  the  nightingale.  In  the  southern  regions  of  the  valley,  like  the 
mocking  bird,  this  bird  sings  through  the  warm  nights  of  summer,  except 
during  the  darkness  and  the  dawn  of  morning. 

Goldfinch,  turdus  aurocapillus.  We  have  doubted,  if  this  were  the 
same  bird  with  that,  so  called,  in  the  Atlantic  country.  It  is  not  so 
brilliant  in  plumage,  and  has  not  exactly  the  same  whistle;  but  is  here  a 
gay  and  cheering  bird  in  appearance  and  note.  It  builds  the  same  hang- 
ing nest,  with  the  bird,  so  called,  at  the  north. 

Parroquet,  psittacus  Caroliniensis.  These  are  birds  of  the  parrot 
class,  seen  from  latitude  40°  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Their  food  is  the 
fruit  of  the  sycamore,  and  their  retreat  in  the  hollow  of  that  tree.  They 
are  a  very  voracious  bird,  preying  on  apples,  grapes,  and  figs,  and  all 
kinds  of  fruit.  They  fly  in  large  flocks,  and  are  seen  in  greatest  numbers 
before  a  storm,  or  a  great  change  in  the  weather.  They  have  hooked,  ivory 
bills,  a  splendid  mixture  of  burnished  gilding  and  green  on  the  heads,  and 
their  bodies  are  soft  and  yet  brilliant  green.  Their  cry.  as  they  are  flying, 
is  shrill  and  discordant.  They  are  said  to  perch,  by  hanging  by  their 
bill  to  a  branch.  When  they  are  taken,  they  make  battle,  and  their 
hooked  bill  pounces  into  the  flesh  of  their  enemy.  They  are  very  annoy- 
ing to  fruit  orchards,  and  in  this  respect  a  great  scourge  to  the  farmer. 
We  have  seen  no  bird  of  the  size,  with  plumage  so  brilliant.  They 
impart  a  singular  magnificence  to  the  forest  prospect,  as  they  are  seen 
darting  through  the  foliage,  and  among  the  white  branches  of  the 
sycamore. 

Owls.  A  great  many  varieties  of  this  bird  are  found  here.  Their 
hooting  and  screaming,  in  every  variety  of  tone  and  sound,  often  imita- 
ting the  cry  of  human  distress  and  laughter,  and  sometimes  the  shrieks 
of  a  babe,  are  heard  over  all  this  valley  in  the  deep  forests  and  bottoms. 
We  have  heard  forty  at  a  time  on  the  lower  courses  of  the  Mississippi. 

Among  the  varieties  of  the  hawk  and  eagle  class,  the  bald  eagle  is 
often  seen  soaring  above  the  cliffs,  or  the  deep  forests. 

Swans,  geese,  ducks  of  a  great  many  kinds,  herons,  cormorants, 
pelicans  and  sand-hill  cranes,  are  the  common  and  well  known  migra- 
ting water  fowls  of  this  country. — The  noise  of  their  countless  flocks, 


BIRDS. 


as  they  journey  through  the  air  in  the  spring,  to  the  sources  of  the  great 
rivers  and  lakes,  and  in  autumn,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  is  one  of  the 
most  familiar  sounds  to  the  ear  of  an  inhabitant  of  the  West,  and  is  one 
of  his  strongest  and  pleasantest  associations  with  spring  and  autumn. 
The  noise  of  migrating  geese  and  ducks,  at  those  periods,  is  also  familiar 
to  the  ear  of  an  Atlantic  inhabitant-  Thai  of  the  swans,  pelicans  and 
cranes  is  peculiar  to  this  valley.  The  swan  is  well  known  for  its  stateli- 
ness  and  brilliant  white.  Its  migrating  phalanxes  are  in  perfectly  regular 
forms,  as  are  those  of  the  geese.  They  sometimes  join  forces,  and  fly 
intermixed  with  each  other.  Their  noise,  on  the  wing,  is  like  the  distant 
sound  of  a  trumpet.  They  are  killed  on  the  rice  lakes  at  the  north,  in  the 
summer,  and  in  the  Gulf  and  its  neighboring  waters  in  the  winter.  The 
younger  ones  are  as  fine  for  the  table,  as  geese.  The  older  ones  are 
coarse  and  tough.  They  are  of  use  for  their  fine  quills,  feathers  and  down. 
Sand-hill  crane,  grus  Canadensis,  is  a  fine,  stately  bird,  as  majestic 
in  the  water,  as  a  swan,  and  considerably  taller;  of  a  perfectly  sleek, 
compact  and  oily  plumage,  of  a  fine  grayish  white  color.  They  are  seen 
in  countless  numbers,  and  not  being  of  sufficient  use  to  be  the  pursuit 
of  the  gunner,  they  probably  increase.  We  have  seen  in  the  prairie 
between  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  at  the  point  of  junction,  acres 
covered  with  them,  in  the  spring  and  autumn.  They  seem,  at  a  distance 
like  immense  droves  of  sheep.  They  migrate  in  company  with  the 
pelicans;  and  it  is  an  interesting  spectacle,  that  during  their  migrations 
they  are  seen  for  days  together,  sailing  back  and  forward  in  the  upper 
regions  of  the  air,  apparently  taking  the  amusement  of  flying  evolutions, 
and  uttering  at  the  same  time  a  deep  cry,  which  is  heard  distinctly, 
when  the  flocks  are  so  high  in  the  air,  as  not  to  be  seen,  or  only  seen 
when  their  white  wings  are  discerned,  as  specks  of  snow,  from  their 
being  in  a  particular  position  to  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

The  pelican  is  a  singular  water  fowl,  with  an  ivory  bill,  extremely 
white  -plumage,  larger  in  appearance,  but  not  so  heavy,  as  a  full  grown 
Canadian  goose.  They  frequent  the  lakes  and  sand  bars  of  the  rivers, 
during  their  migrations,  in  inconceivable  numbers.  Flocks  of  them, 
reaching  a  mile  in  length,  passing  over  the  villages,  are  no  unusual  spec- 
tacle. Below  their  beak,  or  bill,  they  have  a  pouch,  or  bag,  which  will 
contain,  it  is  said,  two  quarts.  In  the  autumn,  when  associated  with 
the  swans,  geese,  brants,  ducks,  cranes  and  loons,  on  the  sand  bars  of  the 
rivers,  from  their  incessant  vociferousness,  they  are  very  annoying  com- 
panions to  the  inmates  of  boats,  who  lie  to,  and  wish  to  find  sleep. 

This  being  a  country  of  long  rivers,  of  frequent  lakes  and  bayous,  and 
sluggish  waters,  and  marshy  inlets  of  the  sea,  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  it 
would  be  expected,  as  is  the  fact,  that  it  would  be  the  home  of  vast  num.- 


78  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

bers  and  varieties  of  water  fowls.  No  waters  on  the  globe  show  greater 
numbers  and  varieties,  than  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  the  winter,  when 
these  fowls  take  shelter  in  the  bayous,  swamps  and  prairies  of  Louisiana, 
they  are  killed  in  great  numbers  by  the  French  and  Indians.  Water 
fowls  are  abundant  and  cheap  in  all  the  markets.  Their  feathers  and 
quills  are  an  object  of  some  importance  in  commerce.  From  the  double 
annual  migrations  of  the  water  fowls,  the  inhabitants  of  thejniddle  regions 
of  the  valley  have  biennial  harvests  of  them. 

Pigeons  sometimes  are  seen  in  great  flocks.  Their  social  and  grega- 
rious habits  incline  them  to  roost  together,  and  their  places  of  resort  are 
called  'pigeon  roosts.'  In  these  places  they  settle  on  all  the  trees  for  a 
considerable  distance  round,  in  such  numbers,  as  to  break  off  the  branches. 

Turkey,  mcleagris  gallipavo.  The  wild  turkey  is  a  fine,  large  bird 
of  brilliant,  blackish  plumage.  It  breeds  with  the  domestic  one;  and 
when  the  latter  is  reared  near  the  range  of  the  former,  it  is  sure  to  be 
enticed  into  the  woods  by  it.  In  some  places  they  are  so  numerous,  as  to 
be  easily  killed,  beyond  the  wants  of  the  people.  We  have  seen  more  than 
an  hundred  driven  from  one  corn  field.  The  Indians,  and  the  western 
sportsmen,  learn  a  way  to  hunt  them,  by  imitating  the  cry  of  their  young. 

Partridge,  tctrao  perdix,  the  same  bird,  which  is  called  quail  in  New 
England.  They  breed  in  great  numbers  in  the  settled  regions,  and, 
much  as  they  are  hunted,  increase  with  the  population.  They  are  brought 
in  great  numbers  to  the  markets;  and  are  not  unfrequently  taken,  as  they 
are  crossing  the  rivers,  on  the  steam  boats.  One  of  the  standing  amuse- 
ments of  the  country  is  to  take  them,  by  driving  them  into  a  net. 

Pheasant  is  the  same  bird,  which  is  called  partridge  in  New  England. 
It  is  not  so  common  in  this  country,  as  in  that.  It  is  something  more 
brilliant  in  its  plumage. — Though  not  often  seen,  it  is  frequently  heard 
drumming  on  the  logs  in  the  deep  forests. 

Prairie  hen,  tctrao  pratensis,  is  seen  in  great  flocks  in  the  prairies  of 
Missouri  and  Illinois,  in  the  autumn.  It  is  rather  larger  than  the  domes- 
tic hen.  In  flight,  it  appears  like  the  pheasant  and  partridge,  and  is  a 
beautiful  bird.  It  lights  on  barns,  and  hovers  about  corn  fields.  When 
the  corn  is  not  gathered,  until  in  the  winter,  as  often  happens  in  the 
West,  flocks  of  these  birds  are  apt  to  prey  upon  it.  It  is  easily  tamed 
and  domesticated.     The  flesh  has  the  flavor  and  color  of  the  wild  pigeon. 

Hunters  assert,  that  there  is  another  bird  of  the  pheasant  class,  at  the 
sources  of  the  Missouri,  of  the  size  of  a  turkey. 

Humming-bird,  troc/iih/.s.     They  are  of  two  colors — olive  and  green. 

Reptiles.  Animals  of  the  serpent,  turtle  and  frog  class  do  not 
materially  differ  from  those,  of  the  same  parallels  in  the  Atlantic  country. 


REPTILES.  79 

All  the  varieties  of  the  rattle  snake,  crotalus  horridus,  are  seen,  in 
some  places  in  pernicious  abundance.  The  yellow  rattle  snake  is  the 
largest  of  the  species.  It  is  sometimes  seen,  as  large  as  a  man's  leg, 
and  from  six  to  nine  feet  in  length.  A  species  of  small  rattle  snake  is 
sometimes  seen  in  great  numbers  on  the  prairies.  It  is  said,  in  the  regions 
far  to  the  west,  to  consort  with  prairie  dogs,  and  to  inhabit  the  same 
burrows.  There  is  a  very  troublesome  species,  called  snappers,  or  ground 
rattle  snakes.  They  travel  in  the  night,  and  frequent  roads  and  house 
paths. 

The  copper  head  is  a  terrible  serpent,  deemed  to  inflict  a  more  dan- 
gerous bite,  than  the  rattle  snake;  it  inhabits  the  same  region,  but  is  not 
so  common  as  the  former/  It  has  a  dirty  brown  color;  and  when  it  has 
recently  shed  its  skin,  some  parts  of  its  body  resemble  burnished  copper, 
whence  it  derives  its  name.  It  is  of  a  smaller  size  than  the  rattle  snake 
Moccasin  snake.  There  are  three  or  four  varieties  of  this  serpent, 
inhabiting  the  southern  country.  The  upland  moccasin  has  many  aspects 
in  common  with  the  rattle  snake,  but  is  a  serpent  still  more  repulsive  in 
appearance.  They  are  sometimes  of  great  size ;  and  their  fang  teeth  are  the 
largest  and  longest  that  we  have  seen.  They  are  most  often  seen  basking 
among  the  bastard  cane.  The  water  moccasins,  as  their  name  imports, 
are  water  snakes.  The  largest  variety  resembles  the  water  snake  of  the 
Atlantic  country.  It  has  a  very  large  flat  head,  and  is  thence  called  by 
the  French,  Hete  plat.''  It  opens  its  upper  jaw  at  right  angles  to  the 
under  one.  It  has  a  ground  colored,  scaly  back ;  and  in  point  of  venom, 
it  is  classed  with  the  rattle  snake.  There  is  another  species  of  the 
moccasin,  rarely  seen  out  of  the  water,  of  a  brilliant  copper  color,  with 
annular,  gray  stripes,  marking  off  compartments  at  equal  distances. 

Brown  viper,  or  hissing  snake.  It  is  of  a  dirty  brown  color,  from  six 
to  eight  inches  long;  with  a  body  large  in  proportion,  and  terminating 
abruptly  in  a  sharp  tail.  When  angry,  their  backs  change  color,  and 
their  heads  flatten,  and  dilate  to  twice  the  common  extent,  and  their 
hiss  is  like  that  of  a  goose.  They  are  extremely  ugly  animals;  and 
though  very  diminutive,  are  supposed  to  be  of  the  most  venomous  class. 
We  confined  one  by  a  stick  across  its  back,  and  it  instantly  bit  itself  in 
two  or  three  places.  We  gave  it  liberty,  and  observed  its  movements. 
It  soon  became  very  much  swollen,  and  died. 

Horn  snake.  Judge  Bullit,  of  Arkansas,  informed  us  that  he  killed 
one  of  these  serpents  in  his  smoke  house.  He  described  the  serpent  as 
of  a  moderate  size,  blackish  color,  and  with  a  thorn  in  the  tail,  resem- 
bling that  of  a  dunghill  cock.  From  its  movements,  he  judged  it  to  be 
its  weapon  of  defence.  WTe  have  heard  others,  who  have  killed  or  seen 
this  serpent,  describe  it.     We  have  heard  many  of  the  common  reports  of 


QQ  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

its  deadly  venom,  but  never  have  known  a  single  attested  proof;  and  we 
consider  them  all  entirely  fabulous. 

We  have  neither  the  information,  nor  space,  to  enable  us  to  be  minute 
in  our  catalogue  and  description  of  these  loathsome  and  dreaded  reptiles. 
We  have  seen  six  or  eight  species,  that  we  never  saw  in  the  Atlantic 
country;  and  we  consider  the  southern  parts  of  this  region  more  infested 
with  serpents  than  that.  Perhaps  we  might  except  from  this  remark  the 
southern  Atlantic  country.  Wherever  the  population  becomes  dense, 
the  swine  prey  upon  them  and  they  quickly  disappear.  The  most  per- 
manent and  dangerous  resorts  of  these  reptiles  are  near  the  basis  of  rocky 
and  percipitous  hills,  about  ledges  and  flint  knobs,  and,  in  the  lower  and 
southern  country,  along  the  bayous,  and  near"  those  vast  swamps,  that 
cannot  be  inhabited  for  ages.  People  are  often  bitten  by  these 
terrible  animals.  The  pain  is  excruciating;  and  the  person  that  is  badly 
bitten,  swells,  and  soon  becomes  blind.  The  more  venomous  of  the 
serpents  themselves  become  blind,  during  the  latter  part  of  summer. 
They  are  then,  of  course,  less  apt  to  strike  their  aim;  but  their  bite,  at 
this  period,  is  more  dangerous.  The  people  suppose  this  blindness 
occasioned  by  the  absorption  of  their  own  poison  into  their  system. 

Whether  it  be,  that  the  numerous  remedies,  that  are  prescribed  here, 
are  really  efficacious,  or  whether,  as  to  us  appears  more  probable,  the 
bite  of  these  venomous  reptiles  is  not  fatal,  unless  the  poison  is  conveyed 
into  some  leading  vein,  from  whatever  cause  it  be,  it  so  happen,  that  few 
fatalities  occur  from  this  cause.  We  have  seen  great  numbers,  that  have 
been  bitten  by  rattle  snakes,  o.r  copper  heads,  or  moccasins;  and  we  have 
never  seen  a  fatal  case.  We  read,  indeed,  of  a  most  tragical  occurence, 
more  horrible  in  the  relation,  than  the  ancient  fiction  of  Laocoon.  An 
immigrant  family  inadvertently  fixed  their  cabin  on  the  shelving  declivity 
of  a  ledge,  that  proved  a  den  of  rattle  snakes.  Warmed  by  the  first  fire 
on  the  hearth  of  the  cabin,  the  terrible  reptiles  issued  in  numbers,  and 
of  course  in  rage,  by  night  into  the  room,  where  the  whole  family  slept. 
As  happens  in  those  cases,  some  slept  on  the  floor,  and  some  in  beds. 
The  reptiles  spread  in  every  part  of  the  room,  and  mounted  on  every 
bed.  Children  were  stung  in  the  arms  of  their  parents,  and  in  each 
other's  arms.  Imagination  dares  not  dwell  on  the  horrors  of  such  a  scene. 
Most  of  the  family  were  bitten  to  death;  and  those,  who  escaped,  finding 
the  whole  cabin  occupied  by  those  horrid  tenants,  hissing,  and  shaking 
their  rattles,  fled  from  the  bouse  by  beating  off  the  covering  of  the  roof, 
and  escaping  in  that  direction. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  all  the  remedies  that  are  prescrib- 
ed here,  for  the  bite  of  these  reptiles.     It  is  a  received  maxim,  that  the 


REPTILES. 


81 


application  of  volatile  alkali,  internally,  and  to  the  wound,  neutralizes 
the  poison,  and  is  a  certain  cure. 

Of  harmless  serpents,  this  country  has  the  usual  varieties, — as  the 
green,  garter,  chicken,  and  coach-whip  snakes. 

We  have  often  seen  the  glass  snake,  with  a  hody  of  the  most  lustrous 
brilliance.  A  stroke  across  the  back  sepirates  the  body  into  a  number 
of  pieces.  Each  of  these  pieces  preserves  for  some  time  the  power  of 
locomotion,  and  continues  to  move.  The  people  believe,  that  these 
pieces  soon  meet,  and  unite,  and  become  as  before  the  separation. 

Bull,  or  prairie  snake,  is  one  of  great  size,  and  horrid  appearance.  It 
is  common  on  the  prairies,  lives  in  holes  in  the  ground,  and  runs  at  the 
passing  traveller  with  a  loud  hiss;  but  if  he  stands,  it  instantly  retreats 
to  its  hole.  It  is  perfectly  harmless;  though  such  is  its  size,  boldness 
and  formidable  appearance,  that  it  is  long,  before  the  resident  in  these 
regions  gets  over  his  horror  of  it. 

Lizards,  lacertce.  Ugly  animals  of  this  kind  are  seen,  in  greater  or 
less  numbers,  in  all  the  climates.  They  are  found  under  cotton  logs,  and 
are  dug  from  the  rich  and  muddy  alluvions.  These  last  are  lazy  and 
loathsome  animals,  and  are  called  'ground  puppies'.  We  never  saw  any 
disposition  in  them  to  bite.  Common  small  lizards  are  frequent  in  the 
southern  districts,  running  along  the  logs  and  making  just  such  a  sound 
as  the  rattle  snake,  when  he  gives  his  warning. 

There  are  varieties  of  small  chameleons.  They  are  apparently  harmless 
animals;  though  when  we  have  caught  them,  they  showed  every  disposi- 
tion to  bite.  They  will  change  in  half  an  hour  to  all  the  colors  of  the 
prism.  Green  seems  to  be  their  favorite  color,  and  when  on  a  green  tree, 
that  is  their  general  hue.  While  in  this  color,  the  under  part  of  their 
neck  becomes  a  beautiful  scarlet.  Their  throat  swells,  and  they  emit  a 
sharp  note,  like  that  of  one  of  the  larger  kinds  of  grasshoppers,  when 
singing.  We  have  placed  them  on  a  handkerchief,  and  they  have  gradu- 
ally assumed  all  its  colors.  Placed  on  a  black  surface,  they  become 
brown;  and  they  evidently  suffer  while  under  this  color,  as  is  manifested 
by  uneasy  movements,  and  by  strong  and  quick  palpitations,  visible  to 
the  eye.  They  are  very  active  and  nimble  animals,  three  or  four  inches 
in  length. 

Scorpions  are  lizards  of  a  larger  class,  and  flatter  heads.  They  are 
animals  of  an  ugly  appearance,  and  are  deemed  very  poisonous.  We 
could  not  learn,  however,  that  any  person  had  been  known  to  be  bitten 
by  them.  When  attacked,  they  show,  indeed,  the  anger  and  the  habits  of 
serpents,  vibrating  a  fiery  and  forked  tongue,  and  biting  with  great  fury 
at  the  stick,  which  arresls  them. 

11 


go  MISSISSIPPI     VALL  E  V  . 

What  is  here  called  tarantula,  is  a  huge  kind  of  spider,  estimated  to 
inflict  a  dangerous  bite. 

The  copper  colored  centipede  is  of  cylindrical  form,  and  oftentimes 
of  the  size  and  length  of  a  man's  finger.  A  family  is  said  to  have  been 
poisoned,  by  taking  tea,  in  which  one  of  them  had  been  inadvertently 
boiled. 

Alligator  is  the  most  terrible  animal  of  this  class.     This  large  and 
powerful  lizard  is  first  seen  in  numbers,  in  passing  to  the  south,  on  the 
Arkansas, — that  is  to  say,  a  little  north  of  33°;  and  this  is  its  general 
northern  limit  across  the  valley.     Vast  numbers  are  seen  in  the  slow 
streams  and  shallow  lakes  of  Florida  and  Alabama;  but  they  abound 
most  on  Red  River,  the  Mississippi  lakes,  and  the  bayous  west  of  that 
river.     Forty  have  been  seen  at  one  time  on  a  muddy  bar  of  Red  River. 
On  these  sleeping  waters,  the  cry  of  a  sucking  pig  on  the  banks  will  draw 
a  shoal  of  them  from  their  muddy  retreats  at  the  bottom.     The  largest 
measures  something  more  than  sixteen  feet  from  the  snout  to  the  ex- 
tremity  of  the  tail.      They    have   at   times,   especially   before   stormy 
weather,  a  singular  roar,  or  bellow,  not  exactly,  as  Bartram  has  describ- 
ed it,  like  distant  thunder, — but  more  like  the  half  suppressed  roarings  of 
a  bull.       When    moving  about   on   their   customary   vocations   in    the 
water,  they  seem  like  old  logs  in  motion.     In  fine  weather  they  doze  in 
listlessness  on  the  sandbars.     Such  is  their  recklessness,  that  they  allow 
the  people  on  the  passing  steam  boats  to  come  within  a  few  paces  of 
them.     The  ascent  of  a  steam  boat  on  an  alligator  stream,  at  the  proper 
season,  is  a  continual  discharge  of  rifles  at  them.     A  rifle  ball  will  glance 
from  their  bodies,  unless  they  are  hit  in  a  particular  direction  and  place. 
We  witnessed   the  shots  of  a  man,  who  killed  them  nine  times  in  ten. 
They  are  not,  like  tortoises,  and  other  amphibious  animals,  tenacious  of 
life,  but  bleed  profusely,  and  immediately  expire,  when  mortally  wounded. 
They  strike  with  their  tails,  coiled  into  the  section  of  a  circle;  and  this 
blow  has  great  power.     The  animal  striken,  is  by  the  same  blow  pro- 
pelled towards  their  mouth,  to  be  devoured.     Their  strength  of  jaws  is 
prodigious,  and  they  are  exceedingly  voracious.     They  have  large,  ivory 
teeth,  which  contain  a  cavity,  sufficiently  large  to  hold  a  musket  charge 
of  powder,  for  which  purpose  they  are  commonly  used  by  sportsmen. 
The  animal,  when  slain,  emits  an  intolerable  smell  of  musk;  and  it  is 
asserted,  that  its  head   contains  a  quantity  of  that  drug.     They  will 
sometimes  chase  children,  and  would  overtake  them,  were  it  not  for  their 
inability  to  make  lateral   movements.     Having  few  joints  in  their  bodyr 
and  very  short  legs,  they  cannot  readily   turn  from  a  straight  forward 
direction.     Consequently,  they  who  understand  their  movements,  avoid 
them  without  difficulty,  by  turning  off  at  right  angles,  and  leaving  the 


U  E  P  T  I  L  li  3  S| 

animal  to  move  forward,  under  its  impulse  in  that  direction.  Indeed, 
they  are  by  no  means  so  dangerous,  as  they  are  commonly  reputed  to  be. 
It  is  said,  they  will  attack  a  negro  in  the  water,  in  preference  to  a  white. 
But  they  are  chiefly  formidable  to  pigs,  calves  and  domestic  animals  of 
that  size.  They  are  rather  objects  of  terror  from  their  size,  strength,  and 
ugly  appearance,  and  from  their  large  teeth  and  strong  jaws,  than  from 
the  actual  injuries,  which  they  have  been  known  to  inflict.  The  female 
deposits  a  great  number  of  eggs,  like  a  tortoise,  in  a  hole  on  the  sandbars, 
and  leaves  them  to  be  hatched  by  the  ardors  of  the  sun  upon  the  sand. 
When  they  are  hatched,  the  turkey  buzzards  and  the  parents  are  said 
alike  to  prey  upon  them.  Instinct  prompts  them  for  self  preservation 
to  plunge  into  the  water.  The  skin  of  the  alligator  is  valuable  for  the 
tanner. 

Tortoises.  There  are  the  usual  varieties  of  the  Atlantic  country. 
The  soft  shelled  mud-tortoise  of  the  lakes  about  New  Orleans,  and  west 
of  the  Mississippi  is  said  to  he  not  much  inferior  to  ihe  West  India  sea 
turtle  for  the  table.  Epicures,  who  are  dainty  in  their  food,  consider  the 
flesh  a  great  delicacy. 

The  lower  part  of  this  valley  is  a  land  of  lakes,  marshes  and  swamps; 
and  is  of  course,  prolific  in  toads,  frogs,  and  animals  of  that  class. 

The  bull  frog,  rona  boons  vcl  pipens.  The  deep  notes  of  this  animal 
are  heard  in  great  perfection  in  the  swamps  back  of  New  Orleans. 

Murena  siren  is  a  very  singular  animal,  as  far  as  we  know,  undescribed 
by  naturalists.  It  somewhat  resembles  the  lamphrey,  and  is  nearly  two 
feet  in  length.  It  seems  intermediate  between  the  fish  and  the  lizard 
class.  It  has  two  short  legs,  placed  near  the  head.  It  is  amphibious, 
and  penetrates  the  mud  with  the  facility  of  crawfish. 

Crawfish.  There  are  vast  numbers  of  these  small,  fresh  water  lobsters 
every  where  in  the  shallow  waters  and  low  grounds  of  this  country.  By 
penetrating  the  levee  of  the  Mississippi,  they  have  more  than  once  made 
those  little  perforations  that  have  imperceptibly  enlarged  to  crevasses,  by 
which  the  inundation  of  the  river  has  been  let  in  upon  the  country. 

In  the  pine  barrens  of  Florida,  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  is  found  an 
animal,  apparently  of  the  tortoise  class,  commonly  called  a  govjfre.  It 
has  a  large  and  thick  shell,  and  burrows  to  a  great  depth  in  the  ground. 
It  is  of  prodigious  power  and  strength,  and  resembles  in  many  respects 
the  loggerhead  turtle. 

The  ichthyology  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  its  waters,  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  the  waters  west  of  it,  and  of  the  northern  lakes  and  their 
waters,  has  not  been  scientifically  explored.  We  are  able  only  to  give 
that  of  the  Ohio  and  its  water?,  as  explored  and  described  by  Mr.  Rafin- 


84  MISS  ISSTPP I    VALLEY 

esque.  We  remark,  however,  that  the  fishes  of  all  the  western  waters 
are  very  similar,  and  that  the  classes  of  this  table  include  most  of  the 
fishes  that  are  found  in  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

Thoraic  Fishes.  Salmon  perch,  perca  salmonea.  A  fine,  spotted 
fish,  from  one  to  three  feet  long;  flesh  white,  tender  and  well  flavored. 
Vulgar  name,  Ohio  Salmon. 

Golden  eyed  perch,  pcrca  chrysops.  Rock  bass.  An  excellent  table 
fish  not  often  taken. 

Black  dotted  perch,  perca  nigro  punctata.  Black  bass.  Found  on 
the  lower  waters  of  the  Ohio. 

Bubbler,  amblodon.  Buffalo  perch.  Found  in  all  the  waters  of  the 
Ohio.  Its  name  is  derived  from  the  singular  grunting  noise  which  it 
makes,  a  noise,  which  is  familiar  to  every  one,  who  has  been  much  on  the 
Ohio.     It  is  a  fine  fish  for  the  table,  weighing  from  ten  to  thirty  pounds. 

Dotted  painted  tail,  calliurus  punctatus.  Bride  perch,  or  painted  tail. 
A  small  fish,  from  four  to  twelve  inches  long;  not  very  common  in  the 
Ohio.     More  common  in  the  small  tributaries. 

Gilded  sun  fish,  ichthelis  macrocMra.  A  beautiful  fish,  three  or  four 
inches  long,  common  in  the  Ohio  and  its  waters. 

Blue  sun  fish,  ichthelis  cyanella.     Hardly  so  large,  as  the  former. 

Red  eye  sun  fish,  ichthelis  erythrops.  Red  eyes. — Length  three  to 
eight  inches. 

Eared  sun  fish,  ichthelis  avrita.  Sun  fish.  Length  from  three  to 
twelve  inches. 

Big  eared  sun  fish,  ichthelis  mcgaloiis.  A  fine  small  fish.  Length 
from  three  to  eight  inches.  Common  in  the  waters  of  Kentucky.  Vul- 
gar name,  red  belly. 

River  bass,  lepomis.  Common  in  the  Ohio  and  its  waters,  and  easily 
taken  with  the  hook. 

Pale  bass,  lepomis  pallida.     Yellow  bass.     From  four  to  ten  inches. 

Streaked  cheeks,  lepomis  trifasciata.  Yellow  perch;  one  of  the  best 
kinds  of  table  fish.  Length  from  one  to  two  feet.  Common  in  the  Ohio 
and  its  waters. 

Brown  bass,  lepomis  fiexuolaris.  Black  perch.  Length  from  one  to 
two  feet.     Like  the  former,  a  fine  fish. 

Trout  bass,  lepomis  salmonea.  Brown  trout.  Length  from  six  to 
twenty-four  inches.     Delicate  and  white  flesh. 

Spotted  river  bass,  lepomis  notata.  Same  vulgar  name  with  the 
former,  and  commonly  considered  the  same  fish.  Differs  from  it  in  many 
respects. 

Sun  fish  river  bass,  lepomis  ichth^oides.  White  bass.  Length  from 
four  to  eight  inches. 


FISHES.  85 

Gold  ring  promoxis,  promoxis  annularis.  Silver  perch.  Length  from 
three  to  six  inches. 

Red  eye,  agloccntrus.  Green  bass.  A  very  beautiful  fish,  from  three 
to  twelve  inches  long. 

White  eyed  barbot,  pogostoma  Jeucops.  Bearded  sun  fish.  A  very 
beautiful  fish,  twelve  inches  long,  and  sometimes  weighs  a  pound. 

Hog  fish,  etheostoma.     Hog  bass.     Length  from  three  to  nine  inches. 

Bass  hog  fish,  etheostoma  calliura.     Minny  bass. 

Fox  tail  hog  fish,  etheostoma  fabcllelta.     Fox  tail. 

Black  hog  fish,  etheostoma  nigra.     Black  minny.     A  very  small  fish. 

Blunt  nose  hog  fish,  etheostoma  blennoides.  A  very  singular  looking, 
small  fish. 

Common  hog  fish,  etheostoma  eaprodcs-  Length  from  two  to  six 
inches. 

Abdominal  Fishes.  Ohio  gold  fish,  dromolotus  chrysocolor.  Ohio 
shad.  Length  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches.  Is  seen  in  the  spring 
from  Cincinnati  to  the  falls  of  the  Ohio. 

Spotted  gizzard,  dorostoma  rotata.  Hickory  shad.  Length  nine  to 
ten  inches. 

Ohio  gold  herrino-,  notemigonus  avratus.  Gold  herring.  Length  from 
four  to  eight  inches.     Flesh  tolerably  good. 

False  herring,  hyodon.  Herring.  Five  species.  Not  at  all  like  the 
herring  of  the  Atlantic  waters.     Tolerable  fish  for  the  table. 

Salmo,  trout.  This  species  is  found  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  the  Ohio.  The  white  fish  of  the  lakes  has  been  sometimes 
classed  in  this  class,  and  has  been  said  to  be  found  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  Wabash  and  the  Miami. 

Alleghany  trout,  salmo  Alleghaniensis.  Found  on  the  mountain 
brooks  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela.  Length  eight  inches.  Fine 
for  the  table.     Take  the  bait  like  all  this  species,  with  a  spring. 

Black  trout,  salmo  nigresccns.  Rare  species.  Found  on  the  waters 
of  Laurel  Hill.     Length  six  inches. 

Minny,  minnulus.  Bait  fish.  Of  these  diminutive  fish,  there  are  a 
vast  number  in  the  different  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Sixteen  species 
have  been  noted  on  the  Ohio.  The  larger  kinds  of  them  bear  the  name 
of  shiner. 

Gold  head  shiner,  luxilus  chrysocephalus.  Gold  chub.  Length  six 
inches. 

Kentucky  shiner,  luxilus  Kentuckiensis.     Red  tail.     Fine  fish  bait. 

Yellow  shiner,  luxius  intrrruptus.  Yellow  chub.    Three  inches  in  length. 

Big  black  chub,  scmotilus  dorsalis.  Big  back  minny.  Length  three 
to  six  inches. 


£  6  MISSIflSIPl'J      VALLEY. 

Big  head  chub,  semotilus  sephalus.  Big  mouth.  Length  from  six  to 
eight  inches. 

Silver  side  fall  fish,  rutilus  plagyrus.  Silver  side.  Length  from  four 
to  six  inches. 

Baiting  fall  fish,  rutilus  compressus.     Length  from  two  to  four  inches. 

Anomal  fall  fish,  rutilus  anomalus.     Length  three  inches. 

Red  minny,  rutilus  ruber.  A  beautiful,  small,  red  fish,  two  inches  in 
length. 

Black  headed  flat  head.     Length  three  inches. 

Ohio  carp  sucker.  Length  from  one  to  three  feet.  Good  for  the  table. 
Taken  with  the  hook,  seine  or  spear. 

Buffalo  carp  sucker.  Found  on  the  lower  waters  of  the  Ohio.  Vulgar 
name,  buffalo  perch.  One  foot  in  length.  One  of  the  best  fish  for  the 
table. 

Brown  buffalo  fish,  catostomus  babalus.  One  of  the  best  fishes  in  the 
western  waters,  and  found  in  all  of  them.  Length  from  two  to  three  feet, 
and  weighing  from  ten  to  thirty  pounds. 

Black  buffalo  fish,  catostomus  niger-  Found  in  the  lower  waters  of 
the  Ohio  and  in  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Sometimes  weighs  fifty 
pounds. 

Olive  carp  sucker.  A  variety  of  the  former.  Not  so  good  for  the 
table.     Commonly  called  carp. 

Sailing  sucker,  catostomus  velifer.  Skim  back.  Length  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  inches. 

Mud  sucker,  catostomus  xanthopus.  Length  from  six  to  ten  inches. 
Flesh  very  soft. 

Black  faced  sucker,  catostomos  melanops.  Black  sucker.  Length 
from  four  to  six  inches. 

Black  back  sucker,  catostomus  melanotus.  Blue  sucker.  Length 
eight  inches. 

Red  tail  sucker,  catostomus  erythrus.     Red  horse.     Length  one  foot. 

Kentucky  sucker,  catostomus  JJcxuosus.  Common  sucker.  Ten  to 
twelve  inches  long.     Bites  at  the  hook,  and  is  fine  for  the  table. 

Big  mouthed  sucker,  megastomus.  Brown  sucker.  Taken  with  the 
seine. 

Pittsburgh  sucker,  catostomus  Duquesni.  White  sucker.  Length 
fifteen  to  twenty  inches.  Found  in  the  Ohio,  near  Pittsburgh.  Good 
for  the  table. 

Long  sucker,  catostomus  clongatus.  Brown  sucker.  Length  fifteen 
to  twenty  inches.  Of  the  same  quality,  and  found  in  the  same  waters 
with  the  Conner. 


FISHES.  S7 

Black  suckrel,  cycleptus  nigrescens.  Rarely  seen  in  the  Ohio  and 
Missouri.     Fine  for  the  tahle.     Length  two  feet. 

Cat  fish,  pimelodus.  This  is  the  most  common  fish  in  all  the  western 
waters.  Twelve  species  have  already  been  noted  in  the  Ohio.  The  vari- 
eties are  very  numerous  in  the  waters  west  of  that  river. 

They  are  without  scales,  and  of  all  colors  and  sizes.  Their  mouths, 
when  open,  are  circular.  They  are  easily  taken  with  a  hook.  They  re- 
ceive their  English  name  from  the  noise  which  they  make,  when  at  rest, 
a  noise  very  similar  to  the  purring  of  a  cat,  and  one  of  the  most  familiar 
to  those  who  are  used  to  the  western  waters. 

Spotted  cat  fish,  silurus  maculosus.  White  cat  fish.  Length  from 
one  to  three  feet.     Flesh  good. 

Blue  cat  fish,  pimelodus  cerulescens.     They  have  been  taken,  weighing 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 
Silver  cat  fish,  pimelodus  argyrus. 
Clammy  cat  fish,  pimelodus  viscosus. 
Clouded  cat  fish,  pimelodus  neculosus. 
Yellow  cat  fish,  pimelodus  caprius. 
Black  cat  fish,  pimelodus  melas. 
Yellow  headed  cat  fish,  pimelodus  xanthocephalus. 
Mud  cat  fish,  pimelodus  limosus. 

Mud  cat,  pilodictis.  Mud  fish.  Buries  itself  in  the  mud.  Some- 
times weighs  twenty  pounds  Bites  at  the  hook,  and  is  good  for  the 
table. 

Yellow  back,  noturus  jlava.  Commonly  confounded  with  the  yellow 
cat  fish;  but  is  a  different  fish. 

Ohio  toter,  hypertelium  macropterum.  Length  two  or  three  inches. 
Makes  itself  a  cell  by  surrounding  its  place  with  pebbles;  hence,  from 
the  Virginia  word  'tote,'  to  carry,  called  a  toter. 

Ohio  ribband  fish,  sarchisus  tittatus-  Length  from  six  to  twelve  inches. 
Gar  fish. 

Pike,  esox.  We  have  noted  a  great  many  species  of  pikes  in  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  their  waters.  They  are  called  pike,  pickerel 
and  jack  fish ;  and  perfectly  resemble  the  fish  of  the  same  names  in  the 
Atlantic  waters.  The  Indians  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Illinois  call  them 
piccannau.  They  are  of  all  sizes,  from  half  a  pound  to  twenty  pounds. 
Esox  mttaius,  jack  fish.  White  pickerel.  Length  sometimes  five  feet. 
Gar  fish,  lepiosteus.  There  are  a  great  many  varieties  in  the  western 
country.  The  alligator  gar  is  sometimes  eight  feet  in  length;  and  is 
strong,  fierce,  voracious,  and  formidable  not  only  to  the  fish,  which  he 
devours  by  tribes,  but  even  to  men,  who  go  into  the  water  near  him. 
Their  scales  will  give  fire  with  the  steel.     They  are  not  used  for  the  table ; 


gg  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

but  whether  this  be  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  skinning  them,  or  to  the 
badness  of  the  flesh,  we  know  not. 

Duck  bill  gar  fish,  lepiosteus  platostomus.  Length  sometimes  four 
feet.     Taken  with  the  hook  or  the  spear;  and  is  good  for  the  table. 

White  gar  fish,  lepiosteus  albus.  Length  four  to  six  feet.  Resembles 
the  pike  in  shape. 

Ohio  gar  fish,  lepiosteus  oxyeus.  Length  six  feet.  Rarely  seen ;  and 
not  good  for  the  table. 

Long  bill  gar  fish,  lepiosteus  longirostris.     Length  forty  inches. 

Devil-jack-diamond  fish,  litholepis  adamantinus.  This  is  the  monster 
of  the  Ohio.  It  is  rarely  seen  as  high  as  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  proba- 
bly lives  in  the  Mississippi.  Length  from  four  to  ten  feet.  One  was 
caught,  which  weighed  four  hundred  pounds.  It  is  extremely  voracious; 
and  like  the  alligator  gar  fish,  or  lepiosteus  ferox,  its  scales  will  give  fire 
with  the  steel. 

Apodial  Fishes.  Broad  tail  eel,  anguilla  laticauda.  Length  from 
two  to  four  feet. 

Black  eel,  anguilla  atterima.  Same  length  as  the  former;  and  fine  for 
the  table. 

Yellow  bellied  eel,  anguilla  xanthomelas.  Length  from  two  to  three 
feet. 

Yellow  eel,  anguilla  lutia.  Length  two  feet.  This  is  the  best  of  the 
species  for  the  table. 

Atelosian  Fishes.  Sturgeon,  accipenser.  There  are  six  species 
found  in  the  Ohio. 

Spotted  sturgeon,  accipenser  maculosus.     Length  two  feet. 

Shovel  fish  sturgeon,  accipenser  platorynchnus.  Shovel  fish.  Length 
two  to  three  feet.     Weight  twenty  pounds.     Tolerable  for  the  table. 

Fall  sturgeon,  accipenser  serotimus.  Length  five  to  six  feet.  Indif- 
ferent for  the  table. 

Ohio  sturgeon,  accipenser  Ohioensis.     Length  three  to  four  feet. 

Big  mouth  sturgeon,  accipenser  macrostoma.  Length  four  feet.  Good 
for  the  table.     Very  large  mouth. 

Flat  nose  double  fin,  dincctus  truncatus.  Length  two  feet.  Skin 
thick,  and  leathery. 

Western  spade  fish,  polyodon  folium,  is  not  eaten.  Length  from  one 
to  three  feet. 

Toothless  paddle  fish,  platinostra  edentula.  Length  three  to  five  feet, 
and  sometimes  weighs  fifty  pounds.  Indifferent  for  the  table.  The  spa- 
tula is  cunei-form,  eight  to  twelve  inches  long,  and  used  for  digging  in 
the  mud- 


FISHES 


89 


Gourd  fish  sturgeon,  accipenscr  laginarius.  Gourd  fish.  Length 
two  to  three  feet. 

Mississippi  saw  fish,  pristis  Mississippiensis .  Length  three  to  six 
feet.  Twenty-six  long  sharp  teeth  on  either  side,  in  the  form  of  a  saw; 
and  is  commonly  shown  in  museums. 

Spotted  horn  fish,  proceros  maculatus.  Length  two  to  three  feet* 
Horn  one  fourth  the  length  of  the  body. 

The  fish  of  the  western  rivers  are  generally  decried  in  comparison 
with  those  of  the  Atlantic  waters.  The  comparison  has  not  been  fairly 
instituted.  The  former  are  all,  except  those  hereafter  described — as  be- 
longing to  the  market  of  New  Orleans,  fish  of  fresh  waters;  the  latter 
chiefly  of  the  sea.  Fresh  water  fish,  in  general,  will  not  vie  with  those 
of  the  sea.  The  comparison  being  between  the  fresh  water  fish  of  the 
one  country  and  the  other,  the  latter  are  as  good  as  the  former.  The 
shad  and  salmon  of  the  Atlantic  waters,  it  is  true,  are  no  where  found, 
though  we  have  fish  that  bear  the  same  name.  Those  fine  fish  have 
their  general  habitancy  in  the  sea.  The  trout  of  Louisiana  and  Florida 
is  not  the  same  with  the  fine  fish  of  that  name,  that  is  taken  in  the  cold 
mountain  streams  of  the  northern  country  of  the  Atlantic.  It  is  a  fish  of 
the  perch  class,  beautifully  marked  with  golden  stripes,  and  taking  bait 
with  a  spring,  like  (he  trout.  It  weighs  from  one  to  four  pounds.  It  is 
a  fine  flavored,  solid  fish  for  the  table.  No  angling  can  compare  with 
that  of  this  fish  in  the  clear  pine  wood  streams  of  the  southern  divisions 
of  this  country.     With  fish  bait  a  barrel  may  be  taken  in  a  few  hours. 

Cat  fish  of  the  Mississippi,  silurus  Mississippiensis,  differs  considera- 
bly from  that  of  the  Ohio.  It  is  ofien  taken,  weighing  over  an  hundred 
pounds. 

Buffalo  of  the  Mississippi,  bubalus  Mississippiensis,  is  larger,  and  has 
a  different  appearance  from  that  of  the  Ohio.  They  are  taken  in  immense 
quantities  in  the  meadows  and  lakes  of  the  Mississippi,  and  greatly  re- 
semble the  Atlantic  shad. 

Perch,  perca  maculata,  is  a  fine  fish,  weighing  from  three  to  five 
pounds. 

Bar  fish,  perca  argcntea,  are  taken  with  a  hook.  They  go  in  shoals 
in  the  southern  running  waters.  They  weigh  from  one  to  three  pounds, 
and  are  beautifully  striped  with  brown  and  silver. 

Drum,  rock  fish,  sheep's  head,  &c,  are  large  and  fine  fish,  taken  in  the 
lakes  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  that  are  partially  mixed  with  salt  water, 
and  so  saline,  as  not  to  be  potable.  They  correspond  in  size  to  the  cod 
and  haddock  of  the  Atlantic  country;  and  are  among  the  most  common 
fish  in  the  market  of  New  Orleans. 

12 


90 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY 


Spade,  or  shovel  fish,  platirostra  edentula,  a  mud  fish  of  the  middle 
regions  of  the  valley,  found  in  muddy  lakes.  They  weigh  from  ten  to 
fifty  pounds,  are  without  scales,  and  have  in  advance  of  their  mouths,  a 
smooth,  bony  substance,  much  resembling  an  apothecary's  spatula,  from 
six  inches  to  a  foot  in  length,  and  two  or  three  inches  in  width.  Its  use, 
apparently,  is  to  turn  up  the  mud  in  order  to  find  subsistence.  They  are 
extremely  fat,  and  are  taken  for  their  oil.  We  have  never  remarked  this 
fish  in  any  museum,  although  to  us  the  most  strange  and  whimsical  look- 
ing fish  we  have  seen. 

The  pike  of  these  waters  is  precisely  the  same  fish,  as  is  taken  with 
that  name  in  the  Atlantic  streams.  A  fine  fish  of  this  species,  called 
piccannau,  is  taken  in  the  Illinois  and  the  upper  waters  of  the  Wabash. 

We  have  seen  one  instance  of  a  horribly  deformed  animal,  apparently 
intermediate  between  the  class  testudo,  and  fishes.  It  was  in  a  water  of 
the  Washita,  and  we  had  not  a  fair  opportunity  to  examine  it.  It  is  called 
toad  fish;  has  a  shell,  like  a  tortoise;  but  has  the  other  aspects  of  a  fish. 
It  is  said  to  be  sufficiently  strong,  to  bear  a  man  on  its  back;  and  from 
the  account  of  those,  who  have  examined  it,  this  animal  must  be  a  singu- 
lar lusus  naturcc. 

Alligator  gar,  a  fish,  shaped  like  a  pike;  but  still  longer,  rounder  and 
swifter.  Its  dart  equals  the  flight  of  birds  in  rapidity.  It  has  a  long, 
round  and  pointed  mouth,  thickset  with  sharp  teeth.  Its  body  is  covered 
with  scales  of  such  a  texture,  as  to  be  impenetrable  by  a  rifle  bullet, 
and,  when  dry,  to  make  fire  with  steel.  It  is  a  fish  of  most  outlandish 
appearance,  weighing  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  pounds.  It  is  a  terrible 
and  voracious  animal,  biting  asunder  whatever  it  can  embrace  in  its  long 
mouth;  and  is  to  us,  who  have  seen  it  in  waters,  where  we  bathed,  a  far 
more  formidable  animal,  than  the  alligator.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  shark 
of  rivers. 

The  fish  of  the  gulf  shore  arc  of  a  very  peculiar  character,-  "being  taken 
in  shallow  lakes,  principally  composed  of  fresh  water,  but  having  outlets 
into  the  gulf,  through  which,  when  the  wind  blows  strongly  from  the 
south,  the  sea  water  is  forced  to  such  a  degree,  as  that  they  become  salt. 
The  fish  possess  an  intermediate  character,  between  those  of  fresh  and 
salt  water. 

Some  of  the  kinds  and  sizes  of  the  cat  fish  are  fine  for  the  table.  The 
fishes  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  generally,  are  tough,  course, 
large  and  unsavoiy.  The  trout,  so  called,  and  the  bar  fish,  are  fine.  The 
piccannau,  perch,  and  other  fish  of  the  Illinois,  are  represented,  as  excel- 
lent; and  in  that  river,  they  arc  taken  in  great  abundance.  A  line,  here 
called  a  'trot  line,'  drawn  across  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  where  it  enters 
the  Mississippi,  with  hooks  appended  at  regular  distances,  took  five  hun. 


RIVERS. 


91 


dred  pounds  in  a  night.  We  have  taken  in  Big  Creek,  a  water  of  the 
Washita,  seventy-five  trout  in  two  hours  with  the  hook.  Except  the  trout. 
the  small,  yellow  cat  fish,  the  pike,  the  bar  fish  and  the  perch,  the  fish  of 
the  western  waters  are  not  much  admired. 

Rivers.     Under  this  head,  we  propose  to  describe  the  Mississippi  only, 
reserving  our  description  of  the  other  western  rivers,  until  we  treat  of 
the  states  and  regions,  in  which  they  principally  run.      The  Mississippi 
imparts  a  name  and  a  character  to  the  valley.     It  has  been  described  with 
a  frequency  and  minuteness,  to  give  any  new  attempt  at  delineating  it 
an  air  of  triteness  and  repetition.     But  the  very  idea  of  this  noble  stream 
is  invested  with  an  interest  and  grandeur,  which  will  cause,  that  a  faithful 
account  of  it  can  never  become  trite  or  tedious.     It  is,  in  some  respects^ 
the  noblest  river  in  the  world,— draining  a  larger  valley,  and  irrigating  a 
more  fertile  region,  and  having,  probably,  a  longer  course,  than  any  other 
stream.     Contrary  to  the  general  analogy  of  very  large  rivers,  it  bends 
from  north  to  south,  and  traverses  no  inconsiderable  section  of  the  globe. 
It  commences  in  many  branches,  that  rise,  for  the  most  part,  in  wild  rice 
lakes;  but  it  traverses  no  great  distance,  before  it  has  become  a  broad 
stream.     From  its  commencement,  it  carries  a  wide  expanse  of  waters, 
with  a  current  scarcely  perceptible,  along  a  marshy  bed.       At  other  times 
its  fishes  are  seen  darting  over  a  white  sand,  in  waters  almost  as  transpa- 
rent as  air.     At  other  times,  it  is  compressed  to  a  narrow  and  rapid 
current  between  high  and  hoary  lime  stone  bluffs.     Having  acquired  in 
a  course,  following  its  meanders,  of  three  hundred  miles;  a  width  of  half 
a  mile,  and  having  formed  its  distinctive  character,  it  precipitates  its 
waters  down  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. — Thence   it  glides,  alternately 
through  beautiful  meadows  and  deep  forests,  swelling  in  its  advancing 
march  with  the  tribute  of  an  hundred  streams.     In  its  progress  it  receives 
a  tributary,  which  of  itself  has  a  course  of  more  than  a  thousand  leagues. 
Thence  it  rolls  its  accumulated,  turbid  and  sweeping  mass  of  waters 
through  continued  forests,  only  broken  here  and   there  by  the  axe,  in 
lonely    grandeur   to  the  sea.     No  thinking  mind  can  contemplate  this 
mighty  and  resistless  wave,  sweeping  its  proud  course  from  point  to  point, 
curving  round  its  bends  through  the  dark  forests,  without  a  feeling  of 
sublimity.     The  hundred  shores,  laved  by  its  waters;  the  long  course  of 
its  tributaries,  some  of  which  are  already  the  abodes  of  cultivation,  and 
others  pursuing  an  immense  course  without  a  solitary  dwelling  of  civil- 
ized man  on  their  banks;  the  numerous  tribes  of  savages,  that  now  roam 
on  its  borders;   the    aflecting  and  imperishable  traces  of  generations, 
that  are  gone,  leaving  no  other  memorials  of  their  existence,  or  materials 
for  their  history,  than  their  tombs,  that  rise  at  frequent  intervals  along  ita 


92  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

banks;  the  dim,  but  glorious  anticipations  of  the  future; — these  are 
subjects  of  contemplation,  that  cannot  but  associate  themselves  with  the 
view  of  this  river. 

It  rises  in  high  table  land,  though  the  country,  at  its  source,  has  the 
aspect  of  a  vast  marshy  valley.  A  medium  of  the  different  authorities, 
touching  the  point  of  its  origin,  gives  it  to  be  in  latitude,  47°  47'.  Tra- 
vellers and  authorities  differ,  too,  in  the  name  of  the  lake,  or  reservoir, 
where  it  is  supposed  to  commence.  Some  name  Turtle  lake,  and  some 
Leech  lake,  as  its  source.  The  truth  is,  that  in  speaking  of  the  source 
of  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  the  Nile,  and  other  great  rivers,  readers 
are  only  amused  with  fictions  and  names.  Of  a  nameless  number  of 
tributaries,  it  would  be  impossible  to  say,  which  carried  the  most  water, 
or  had  the  greatest  length  of  course,  or  best  merited  the  honor  of  being 
considered  the  parent  stream.  A  great  number  of  streams,  rising  in  the 
same  plateau,  and  interlocking  with  the  waters  of  Red  River,  and  the 
other  streams  of  lake  Winnipeck,  unite  to  form  the  St.  Peter's  and  the 
Mississippi.  Different  authorities  assign  to  these  rivers  such  different 
names,  that  we  should  rather  perplex,  than  instruct  our  readers,  by 
putting  down  names  as  having  more  authority  than  others.  The  St. 
Peter's,  the  principal  upper  branch  of  the  Mississippi,  has  been  scientU 
fically  and  faithfully  explored  by  the  gentlemen  of  Long's  expedition. 
The  St.  Peter's  receives  ten  or  twelve  tributaries,  some  of  them  consid- 
erable streams,  before  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi.  The  principal  of 
these  are  called  Spirit,  Beaver,  Yellow,  Medicine,  Red  Wood,  Aux  Liards 
and  Blue  Earth  rivers  on  the  west  side,  and  Miawakakong  and  Epervier 
from  the  east.  The  principal  river  of  the  west  fork  of  the  Mississippi  is 
the  river  de  Corbeau.  The  other  fork,  before  its  junction  with  the  main 
river,  receives  Deer,  Meadow,  Swan  and  Savannah  rivers.  Below  Cedar 
and  Muddy  rivers,  between  45°  and  46°,  there  are  strong  rapids.  Between 
them  and  the  falls,  are  Crow  and  Rum  rivers. 

With  the  common  propensity  of  travellers  to  exaggerate,  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony,  until  very  recently,  have  been  much  overrated.  Instead  of 
the  extravagant  estimates  of  the  French  writers,  or  the  fall  of  fifty 
feet  assigned  to  them  by  more  modern  authorities;  the  real  fall  of  the 
Mississippi  here  is  between  sixteen  and  seventeen  feet  of  perpendicular 
descent.  Though  it  has  not  the  slightest  claim  to  compare  with  that  of 
Niagara  in- grandeur,  it  furnishes  an  impressive  and  beautiful  spectacle 
in  the  loneliness  of  the  desert.  The  adjoining  scenery  is  of  the  most 
striking  and  romantic  character;  and  as  the  traveller  listens  to  the  solemn 
roar  of  the  falls,  as  it  sinks  into  feeble  echoes  in  the  forests,  a  thrilling 
story  is  told  him  of  the  love  and  despair  of  a  young  Dacota  Indian 
woman,  who,  goaded  by   jealousy  towards  her  husband,  who  had  taken 


RIVERS. 


93 


another  wife,  placed  her  young  children  in  a  canoe,  and  chanting  the 
remembrances  of  love  and  broken  vows,  precipitated  herself  and  her 
infants  down  the  falls.  Indians  are  always  romancers,  if  not  poets. 
Their  traditions  say,  that  these  ill-fated  beings,  together  with  their  canoe, 
so  perished,  that  no  trace  of  them  was  seen.  But  they  suppose,  that  her 
spirit  wanders  still  near  this  spot,  and  that  she  is  seen  on  sunny  mornings, 
carrying  her  babes  in  the  accustomed  manner,  bound  to  her  bosom,  and 
still  mourning  the  inconstancy  of  her  husband. 

Above  the  falls,  the  river  has  a  width  of  five  or  six  hundred  yards. 
Immediately  below,  it  contracts  to  a  width  of  two  hundred  yards;  and 
there  is  a  strong  rapid  for  a  considerable  distance  below.  Ninety  miles 
below  the  falls,  and  between  44°  and  45°,  it  receives  Rapid  and  St.  Croix 
rivers;  the  former  from  the  west,  and  the  latter  from  the  east.  The  St. 
Croix  is  reputed  to  have  a  boatable  course  of  two  hundred  miles,  and 
rises  in  lakes  not  far  from  the  waters  of  Lake  Superior. 

Near  44°,  from  the  west,  comes  in  Cannon  River,  a  tributary,  which 
enters  not  far  above  the  northern  extremity  ef  Lake  Pepin.  This  is  no 
more  than  an  enlargement  of  the  river.  It  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water, 
of  some  miles  in  length,  and  broadening  in  some  places,  from  one  to 
three  miles  in  width.  Nearly  at  its  lower  extremity,  it  receives  the 
Chippeway  from  the  east,  with  a  boatable  course  of  about  an  hundred 
miles.  Between  Lake  Pepin  and  the  parallel  of  43°,  come  in  three  or 
four  inconsiderable  rivers,  of  which,  Buffalo,  Bluff  and  Black  rivers,  from 
the  east,  are  the  principal.  Between  43°  and  42°  are  Root,  Upper  Iaway 
and  Yellow  rivers  from  the  west,  and  La  Croix  and  Bad  Axe  rivers  from 

the  east. 

Ouisconsin  River  comes  in  from  the  east,  about  the  parallel  of  42°, 
and  near  that  very  noted  point  on  the  river,  Prairie  du  Chien.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  considerable  tributaries  above  the  Missouri.  It  has  a  boata- 
ble course  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles,  and  interlocks  by  a  very 
short  portage  with  Fox  River,  that  empties  into  Green  Bay  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan. In  its  progress  towards  the  Mississippi,  this  river  receives  nine  or 
ten  considerable  streams.  It  is  the  liquid  highway  of  passage  for  the 
Canadian  traders,  trappers  and  savages,  from  Mackinaw  and  the  lakes  to 
the  immense  regions  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri.  A  little  below 
this,  comes  in  Turkey  River  from  the  west,  and  La  Mine  from  the  east. 
It  is  so  named,  from  its  traversing  the  country  of  the  Illinois  lead  mines. 
Lead  ore  is  dug  here,  at  Dubuque's,  and  other  lead  mines,  particularly 
on  River  du  Feve,  or  Fever  River,  probably,  with  greater  ease,  and  in 
more  abundance,  than  in  any  other  country.  These  mines  are  found  on 
a  range  of  hills,  of  which  the  Smoky  Mountains  are  the  highest  points. 
On  the  opposite  side,  comes  in  Tete  de  Mort.     A  range  of  hills,  that 


04 


M  I  S  S  I  S  S  I  P  P  I     VALLEV, 


stretches  across  the  river  towards  the  Missouri,  is  probably,  all  a  country 
of  lead  mines;  for  we  have  seen  beautiful  specimens  of  lead  ore,  dug  near 
the  Missouri,  where  this  range  of  hills  strikes  that  river. 

A  little  below  the  parallel  of  41°,  comes  in  from  the  west,  the  Wapi- 
sipinacon,  a  river  of  some  magnitude  and  a  considerable  length  of  course. 
On  the  same  side,  a  little  lower  down,  comes  in  the  Little  Soutoux;  and 
still  lower  from  the  east,  comes  in  Rock  River,  a  very  considerable  lim- 
pid and  beautiful  river,  celebrated  for  the  purity  of  its  waters,  and  the 
fineness  of  its  fish.  The  lands  in  its  vicinity  are  fertile.  Among  its 
principal  tributaries  are  the  Kishwake  and  Pektanons.  Near  the  entrance 
of  this  river  into  the  Mississippi,  is  the  United  States1  garrison,  Fort 
Armstrong.  This  river,  like  the  Ouisconsin,  has  an  easy  communication 
by  a  portage  with  Lake  Michigan,  and  is  considered  boatable  for  a  dis- 
tance of  two  hundred  and  forty  miles.  Below  this  river  are  long  rapids, 
and  at  low  water,  difficult  for  large  boats  to  ascend.  A  little  lower  on 
this  river,  on  the  west  side,  comes  in  the  laway,  a  stream  of  some  magni- 
tude. Below  the  parallel  of  41°,  come  in  from  the  eastern  side,  two  or 
three  inconsiderable  streams.  Near  40°,  on  the  west  side,  and  in  the 
state  of  Missouri,  comes  in  the  Des  Moines,  the  largest  tributary  from 
the  west  above  the  Missouri.  It  receives  itself  a  number  of  considerable 
streams,  and  enters  the  Mississippi  by  a  mouth  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  wide.  It  is  supposed  to  have  a  boatable  course  of  nearly  three 
hundred  miles;  and  it  waters  a  delightful  country.  On  the  opposite  side, 
the  waters,  for  a  long  distance,  which  rise  near  the  Mississippi,  flow 
into  the  Illinois.  Between  the  Des  Moines  and  the  Illinois,  come  in  from 
the  west  the  Wacondah,  Fabian,  Jaustioni,  Oahahah,  or  Salt  River,  Boeuf, 
or  Cuivre  and  Dardenne  rivers.  These  rivers  are  from  fifty  to  an  hundred 
yards  wide  at  their  mouth,  and  have  boatable  courses  for  some  length. 

In  latitude  3Q°  comes  in  the  Illinois  from  the  east, —  a  noble,  broad 
and  deep  stream,  nearly  four  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  having  a 
course  of  about  four  hundred  miles,  and  boatable  almost  its  whole 
distance.  It  is  the  most  considerable  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  above 
the  Missouri,  interlocking,  at  some  seasons  of  the  year ,  by  one  of  its 
principal  branches,  the  Des  Plaines,  with  the  Chicago  of  Lake  Michigan, 
without  any  portage.  On  this  river,  and  some  of  the  streams  above,  the 
peccan  tree  is  found  in  its  utmost  perfection. 

A  little  below  39°,  from  the  west  comes  in  the  mighty  Missouri,  which, 
being  both  longer,  and  carrying  more  water,  than  the  Mississippi,  and 
imparting  its  own  character  to  the  united  stream  below,  some  have 
thought,  ought  to  have  given  its  name  to  the  river  from  the  junction. 

Below  the  Missouri,  omitting  the  numberless  and  nameless  small 
streams,  that  come  in  on  either  side;  as  we  have  omitted  them  above,  we 


It  I  V  E  R  S  .  £5 

shall  only  notice  those  rivers,  that  from  their  magnitude,  or  other  circum- 
stances, deserve  to  he  named.  The  first  river  of  any  importance,  that 
enters  the  Mississippi  on  the  west  side  below  the  Missouri,  is  the  Mar- 
amec,  that  comes  in  twenty  miles  below  St.  Louis,  a  little  above  the 
parallel  of  38°.  It  is  nearly  two  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and 
has  a  course,  by  its  meanders,  of  two  hundred  miles. 

Nearly  in  38°,  comes  in  from  the  other  side  the  Kaskaskia,  that  runs 
through  a  most  fertile  and  beautiful  country  in  Illinois.  It  is  eighty 
yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  has  a  course  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles, 
great  part  of  which,  at  some  seasons  of  the  year,  is  boatable.  On  the 
opposite  side,  enter  two  or  three  inconsiderable  streams  below  St.  Gene- 
vieve; on  one  of  which  is  a  saline,  where  considerable  salt  is  made. 
Forty  miles  below  Kaskaskia,  comes  in  from  the  east  Big  Muddy.  It  is 
a  considerable  stream,  remarkable  for  having  on  its  shores  fine  coal 
banks. — Three  miles  below,  on  the  west  side  enters  Apple  Creek,  on 
which  used  to  be  a  number  of  villages  of  Shawnees  and  Delawares. 

Between  3G°  and  37°,  on  the  east  side,  comes  in  the  magnificent  Ohio, 
called  by  the  French,  '■La  Belle  Riviere?  It  is  by  far  the  largest  eastern 
tributary  of  the  Mississippi.  At  the  junction,  and  for  an  hundred  miles 
above,  it  is  as  wide  as  the  parent  stream.  From  this  junction,  it  is  obvious, 
from  the  very  long  course  of  the  Tennessee,  that  river  running  into  the 
Ohio  in  a  direction  apparently  parallel  and  opposite  to  the  course  of  the 
Mississippi,  that  we  cannot  expect  to  find  any  very  important  tributaries 
to  the  latter  river,  for  a  considerable  distance  below  the  mouth  of  Ohio, 
on  that  side.  We  find,  in  fact,  that  the  Yazoo  is  the  only  river,  that 
enters  from  the  east,  which  deserves  mention  as  a  river  of  importance. 
Kaskinompee,  Reelfoot,  Orbian,  Forked,  Deer  and  Hatchy  are  incon- 
siderable streams,  that  enter  from  the  east,  between  the  Ohio  and  the 
Chickasaw  bluffs.  Wolf  River  is  of  more  importance,  has  a  considerable 
length  of  course,  and  is  fifty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth. 

On  the  west  side,  between  35°  and  34°  enters  the  St.  Francis.  It  is 
two  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  has  a  comparative  course  of 
four  hundred  miles;  three  hundred  of  which,  on  one  of  its  forks,  are 
considered  boatable. 

A  little  above  34°  enters  White  River,  rising  in  the  Black  Mountains, 
separating  its  walers  from  those  of  the  Arkansas.  It  has  a  comparative 
course  of  twelve  hundred  miles,  and  enters  by  a  mouth  between  three 
and  four  hundred  yards  wide. 

Thirty  miles  below,  and  between  34°  and  33°,  comes  in  the  Arkansas, 
— next  to  the  Missouri,  the  largest  tributary  from  the  west.  It  enters  by 
a  mouth  five  hundred  yards  wide.     Its  waters,  when  the  river  is  full,  are 


Q5  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

of  a  dark  flame  color ;  and  its  course,  including  its  meanders,  is  commonly 
computed  at  two  thousand  five  hundred  miles. 

Between  33°  and  32°,  a  little  above  the  Walnut  Hills,  in  the  state  of 
Mississippi,  enters  from  the  east  the  Yazoo,  a  river,  which  rises  in  the 
country  of  the  Indians,  and  passes  through  the  state  of  Mississippi,  enter- 
ing by  a  mouth,  between  two  and  three  hundred  yards  wide.  Below  the 
Yazoo,  on  the  same  side,  Bayou  Pierre,  Big  Black,  Cole's  Creek  and 
Homochitto,  enter  the  river. 

Eighty  miles  below  Natchez,  and  a  little  above  31°,  on  the  west  side 
enters  Red  River,  which,  although  not  generally  so  wide,  as  the  Arkansas, 
probably,  has  as  long  a  course,  and  carries  as  much  water.  Immediately 
below  the  river,  the  Mississippi  carries  its  greatest  volume  of  water. 
Even  above  Red  River,  in  high  floods,  water  escapes  from  the  Mississippi 
on  the  west  side,  in  a  great  many  places,  which  never  returns;  but  not 
in  quantity  to  carry  off*  as  much,  as  Red  River  brings  in.  A  league  and 
a  half  below  Red  River,  on  the  same  side,  is  seen  the  first  important  bayou, 
or  efflux,  that  begins  to  diminish,  and  convey  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by 
its  own  separate  channel,  the  surplus  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  the 
Alchafalaya,  which,  beyond  question,  was  the  ancient  bed,  by  which  Red 
River  made  its  way  to  to  the  gulf,  without  mingling  its  waters  with  the 
Mississippi.  In  high  waters,  it  is  now  supposed  to  take  off  as  much  as 
Red  River  brings  in. 

Twenty  leagues  below,  on  the  east  side,  comes  in  Bayou  Sarah,  the 
only  stream  of  any  importance,  that  enters  below  the  outlet  of  Atchafa- 
laya.  Thence  the  effluxes  receive  all  the  waters,  that  rise  near  the 
Mississippi,  and  are  continually  diminishing  its  volume  of  waters.  The 
next  efflux,  below  Atchafalaya,  is  Bayou  Manshac,  or  Ibberville, — an 
outlet  from  the  east  bank,  a  little  below  Baton  Rouge,  through  which,  in 
high  waters,  passes  off  a  considerable  mass,  through  lakes  Maurepas, 
Ponchartrain  and  Borgne,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

At  no  great  distance  below,  on  the  west  side,  is  another  considerable 
efflux,  Bayou  Plaquemine ;  and  at  some  distance  below  Bayou  La  Fourche, 
a  still  more  considerable  outlet.  Thence  to  New  Orleans,  the  banks  of 
the  river  are  unbroken,  except  by  crevasses.  Below  that  city,  there  is 
no  outlet  of  any  importance,  between  it  and  the  four  mouths,  by  which 
the  Mississippi  enters  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

It  runs  but  a  little  distance  from  its  source,  as  we  have  remarked, 
before  it  becomes  a  considerable'stream.  Below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
it  broadens  to  half  a  mile  in  width;  and  is  a  clear,  placid  and  noble 
stream,  with  wide  and  fertile  bottoms,  for  a  long  distance.  A  few  miles 
below  the  river  Des  Moines,  is  a  long  rapid  of  nine  miles,  which,  for  a 
considerable  part  of  the  summer,  is  a  great  impediment  to  the  navigation- 


RIVERS.  97 

Below  these  rapids,  the  river  assumes  its  medial  width  and  character 
from  that  point  to  the  entrance  of  the  Missouri.  It  is  a  still  more 
beautiful  river  than  the  Ohio,  somewhat  gentler  in  its  current,  a  third 
wider,  with  hroad  and  clean  sandbars,  except  in  the  time  of  high  waters, 
when  they  are  all  covered.  At  every  little  distance,  there  are  islands, 
sometimes  a  number  of  them  parallel,  and  broadening  the  stream  to  a 
great  width.  These  islands  are  many  of  them  large,  and  have  in  the 
summer  season  an  aspect  of  beauty,  as  they  swell  gently  from,the  clear 
stream, — -a  vigor  and  grandeur  of  vegetation,  which  contribute  much 
to  the  magnificence  of  the  river.  The  sandbars,  in  the  proper  season, 
are  the  resort  of  innumerable  swans,  geese  and  water  fowls.  It  is  in 
general,  a  full  mile  in  width  from  bank  to  bank.  For  a  considerable 
distance  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  it  has  more  than  that  width. 
Altogether,  it  has,  from  its  alternate  bluffs  and  prairies,  the  calmness  and 
transparency  of  its  waters,  the  size  and  beauty  of  its  trees,  an  aspect  of 
amenity  and  magnificence,  which  perhaps,  does  not  belong  in  the  same 
extent  to  any  other  stream. 

Where  it  receives  the  Missouri,  it  is  a  mile  and  a  half  wide.  The 
Missouri  itself  enters  with  a  mouth  not  more  than  half  a  mile  wide. 
The  united  stream  below  has  thence,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  a  medial 
width  of  little  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  mile.  This  mighty  tributary 
seems  rather  to  diminish,  than  increase  its  width;  but  it  perceptibly 
alters  its  depth,  its  mass  of  waters,  and  what  is  to  be  regretted,  wholly 
changes  its  character.  It  is  no  longer  the  gentle,  placid  stream,  with 
smooth  shores  and  clean  sandbars;  but  has  a  furious  and  boiling  current, 
a  turbid  and  dangerous  mass  of  sweeping  waters,  jagged  and  dilapidated 
shores,  and,  wherever  its  waters  have  receded,  deposiles  of  mud.  It 
remains  a  sublime  object  of  contemplation.  The  noble  forest  still  rises 
along  its  banks.  But  its  character  of  calm  magnificence,  that  so  delight- 
ed the  eye  above,  is  seen  no  more. 

From  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  its  medial  current  is  probably  less  than 
two  miles  an  hour,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri;  and  from  one  point  to 
the  other,  except  at  the  rapids  of  the  Des  Moines,  there  is  four  feet  water 
in  the  channel  at  the  lowest  stages.  Below  the  Missouri  its  rapidity 
should  be  rated  considerably  higher,  than  has  been  commonly  done.  Its 
medial  rate  of  advance  is  perhaps  four  miles  an  hour.  The  bosom  of  the 
river  is  covered  with  prodigious  boils,  or  swells,  that  rise  with  a  whirling 
motion,  and  a  convex  surface,  two  or  three  rods  in  diameter,  and  no  incon- 
siderable noise,  whirling  a  boat  perceptibly  from  its  track.  In  its  course, 
accidental  circumstances  shift  the  impetus  of  its  current,  and  propel  it 
upon  the  point  of  an  island,  bend  or  sand-bar.  In  these  instances,  it 
tears  up  the  islands,  removes  the  sand-bars,  and  sweeps  away  the  tender, 

13 


q«  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

alluvial  soil  of  the  bends,  with  all  their  trees,  and  deposits  the  spoils  in 
another  place.  At  the  season  of  high  waters,  nothing  is  more  familiar  to 
the  ear  of  the  people  on  that  river,  than  the  deep  crash  of  a  land-slip,  in 
which  larger  or  smaller  masses  of  the  soil  on  the  banks,  with  all  the 
trees,  are  plunged  into  the  stream.  The  circumstances,  that  change 
the  aspect  and  current  of  the  river,  are  denominated,  in  the  vocabulary  of 
the  watermen,  chutes,  races,  chains,  sawyers,  planters,  points  of  islands, 
wreck  heaps  and  cypress  bends.  The  divinity,  most  frequently  invoked 
by  boatmen,  seems  to  have  imparted  his  name  oftener  than  any  other  to 
the  dangerous  places  along  the  river.  The  Devil's  race  paths,  Tea  table, 
Oven,  &c.  are  places  of  difficult  or  hazardous  navigation,  that  frequently 
occur.  They  are  serious  impediments  to  the  navigation  of  this  noble 
stream  which  is  never  navigated  safely,  except  with  great  caution.  On 
the  immense  wreck  heaps,  where  masses  of  logs,  like  considerable  hills, 
are  piled  together,  the  numerous  wrecks  of  boats,  lying  on  their  sides 
and  summits,  sufficiently  attest  the  character  of  the  river,  and  remain 
standing  mementos  to  caution.  Boats,  propelled  by  steam  power,  which 
can  be  changed  in  a  moment,  to  reverse  the  impulse  and  direction  of  the 
boat,  are  exactly  calculated  to  obviate  the  dangers  of  this  river. 

No  person,  who  descends  this  river  for  the  first  time,  receives  clear 
and  adequate  ideas  of  its  grandeur,  and  the  amount  of  water  which  it 
carries.  If  it  be  in  the  spring,  when  the  river  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio  is  generally  over  its  banks,  although  the  sheet  of  water,  that  is 
making  its  way  to  the  Gulf,  is,  perhaps,  thirty  miles  wide,  yet  finding  its 
way  through  deep  forests  and  swamps,  that  conceal  all  from  the  eye,  no 
expanse  of  water  is  seen,  but  the  width,  that  is  curved  out  between  the 
outline  of  woods  on  either  bank;  which  seldom  exceeds,  and  oftener  falls 
short  of  a  mile.  But  when  he  sees,  in  descending  the  falls  of  St.  An- 
thony, that  it  swallows  up  one  river  after  another,  with  mouths  as  wide 
as  itself,  without  affecting  its  width  at  all;  when  he  sees  it  receiving  in 
succession  the  mighty  Missouri,  the  broad  Ohio,  St.  Francis,  White, 
Arkansas,  and  Red  rivers,  all  of  them  of  great  depth,  length  and  vo- 
lume of  water;  swallowing  up  all,  and  retaining  a  volume,  apparently 
unchanged,  he  begins  to  estimate  rightly  the  increasing  depths  of  cur- 
rent, that  must  roll  on  in  its  deep  channel  to  the  sea.  Carried  out  of 
the  Balize,  and  sailing  with  a  good  breeze  for  hours,  he  sees  nothing  on 
any  side,  but  the  white  and  turbid  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  long  after 
he  is  out  of  sight  of  land. 

Touching  the  features  of  the  country  through  which  it  passes,  from  its 
source  to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  it  moves  alternately  through  wild  rice 
lakes  and  swamps,  by  lime  slone  bluffs  and  craggy  hills;  occasionally 
through  deep  pine  forests,  and  beautiful  prairies;  and  the  tenants  on  its 


RIVERS  ,jy 

borders  are  elk,  buffaloes,  bears  and  deer,  and  the  savages  that  pursue 
them.  In  this  distance,  there  is  not  a  civilized  inhabitant  on  its  shores, 
if  we  except  the  establishments  of  Indian  traders,  and  a  garrison  of  the 
United  States.  Buffaloes  are  seldom  seen  below  these  falls.  Its  alluvi- 
ons become  wide,  fertile,  and  for  the  most  part,  heavily  timbered.  Like 
the  Ohio,  its  bottoms  and  bluffs  generally  alternate.  Its  broad  and  pla- 
cid current  is  often  embarrased  with  islands,  which  are  generally  rich 
alluvial  lands,  often  containing  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  acres, 
and  abounding  with  wild  turkies  and  other  small  game.  For  one  hun- 
dred miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  it  would  be  difficult  for  us 
to  convey  an  idea  of  the  beauty  of  the  prairies,  skirting  this  noble  river. 
They  impress  the  eye  as  a  perfect  level;  and  are  in  summer,  covered 
with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  grass  and  flowers,  without  a  tree  or  a  bush. 
We  have  made  our  way  through  them  with  difficulty  on  horseback,  through 
grass  and  flowers  as  high  as  our  head.  At  other  times,  we  traversed 
hundreds  of  acres  of  a  clean,  short  grass,  of  the  character  and  appear- 
ance of  the  handsomest  meadows,  intended  for  the  scythe.  When  this 
deep  prairie  skirts  the  river  on  one  side,  a  heavy  timbered  bottom  bounds 
it  on  the  other.  Generally  from  the  slightest  elevation  on  either  side, 
the  sweep  of  the  bluffs,  corresponding  to  the  curves  of  the  river,  are  seen 
in  the  distance,  mixing  with  the  blue  of  the  sky. 

Above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  to  the  rapids  of  Des  Moines,  the 
medial  width  of  the  bottom  valley,  in  which  the  river  rolls,  measured  from 
bluff  to  bluff,  is  not  far  from  six  miles.  Below  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
souri, to  that  of  the  Ohio,  it  is  not  far  from  eight  miles.  The  last  stone 
bluffs  of  the  Mississippi  are  seen,  in  descending  about  thirty  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Below  these,  commences  on  the  Mississippi, 
as  is  seen  on  the  Ohio  for  some  distance  above  its  mouth,  the  aspect  of  a 
timbered  bottom  on  either  side,  boundless  to  the  vision.  Below  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  the  alluvion  broadens  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  in 
width;  still  expanding  to  the  Balize,  where  it  is,  probably,  three  times 
that  width.  We  express  these  widths  in  terms  of  doubt,  because  three 
fifths  of  the  alluvion,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  is  either  dead  swamp 
of  cypress  forest,  or  stagnant  lakes,  or  creeping  bayous,  or  impenetrable 
cane  brakes,  great  part  of  it  inundated ;  perhaps,  traversed  in  a  straight 
direction  from  bluff  to  bluff,  scarcely  once  in  a  year,  and  never  explored 
except  in  cases  of  urgent  necessity.  The  bluffs,  too,  are  winding,  swel- 
ling in  oneMirection,  and  indented  in  another,  and  at  least  as  serpentine 
as  the  course  of  the  river. 

Between  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  St.  Louis,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  the  bluffs  are  generally  near  it,  seldom  diverging  from  it  more  than 
two  miles.     They  are,  for  the  most  part,  perpendicular  masses  of  lime 


100  MISSISSH'PI     VALLEY. 

stone;  sometimes  shooting  up  inlo  towers  and  pinnacles,  presenting,  as 
Mr.  Jefferson  well  observed,  at  a  distance,  the  aspect  of  the  battlements 
and  towers  of  an  ancient  city.  Sometimes  the  river  sweeps  the  bases 
of  these  perpendicular  bluffs,  as  happens  at  the  Cornice  Rocks  and  at  the 
cliffs  above  St.  Genevieve.  They  rise  here,  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  level  of  the  river.  There  are  many  imposing  spec- 
tacles of  this  sort,  near  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  this 
distance. 

We  may  mention  among  them,  that  gigantic  mass  of  rocks  forming  a 
singular  island  in  the  river,  called  the  Grand  Tower;  and  the  Shot  Tower 
at  Herculaneum. 

On  the  eastern  side  in  this  distance,  the  bluffs  diverge  to  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  river,  and  bound  the  American  bottom,  leaving  an  al- 
luvial belt,  divided  into  nearly  equal  divisions  of  timbered  lands,  and 
smooth  prairies.  This  belt  has  a  medial  width  of  six  miles,  and  is  noted 
for  the  uncommon  fertility  of  the  soil.  The  bluffs  mark  the  boundary 
between  this  belt  and  the  hills.  They  are  as  high  and  as  perpendicular 
as  the  bluffs  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river;  and,  although  generally  at 
a  distance  of  five  or  six  miles  from  its  present  channel,  they  bear  the 
Same  traces  of  attrition  by  the  waters,  the  same  stripes,  marking  the  ris- 
ing and  falling  of  the  river,  which  are  seen  on  the  opposite  side.  These 
seem  to  be  impressive  indications,  that  the  Mississippi  once  swept  their 
bases. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  the  American  bottom  terminates, 
and  the  bluffs  come  in  to  the  river.  The  bluffs  bound  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  river,  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois.  From  these  bluffs  we 
contemplate  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  beautiful  landscapes  in  the 
world.  On  the  opposite  side,  the  mighty  Missouri  is  seen,  bringing  its 
turbid  and  sweeping  mass  of  waters  at  right  angles  to  the  Mississippi. 
The  eye  traces  a  long  distance  of  the  outline  of  the  Missouri  valley, 
bounded  on  either  side  with  an  indistinct  and  blue  line  of  hills.  Above, 
it  is  the  vast  and  most  beautiful  Mamelle  prairie,  dotted  with  green 
islands  of  wood,  and  skirted  at  the  farthest  ken  of  the  eye  with  hills  and 
forests.  Above  you,  on  the  same  shore,  is  the  valley  of  the  Illinois,  itself 
bounded  by  hoary  and  magnificent  bluffs  of  a  peculiar  character.  The 
river  brings  in  its  creeping  waters  by  a  deep  bed,  that  seems  almost  as 
straight  as  a  canal.  You  have  in  view  the  valleys  and  bluffs  of  two  noble 
streams,  that  join  their  waters  to  the  Mississippi.  You  see  the  Missis- 
sippi changed  to  a  turbid  and  sweeping  stream,  with  jagged  and  indented 
banks,  below  you.  You  see  its  calm  and  placid  waters  above  the  Mis- 
souri. On  the  opposite  prairie,  there  are  level  meadows,  wheat  fields, 
corn  fields,  smokes  ascending  from  houses  and  cabins,  vast  flocks  of  do- 


RIVF.  R0  101 

mestic  cattle — distinct  indications  of  agriculture  and  improvement  blend- 
ed with  the  grand  features  of  nature.  There  are  clumps  of  trees,  lakes, 
ponds,  and  flocks  of  sea  fowl,  wheeling  their  flight  over  them;  in  short, 
whatever  of  grandeur,  or  beauty,  nature  can  furnish  to  sooth,  and  to  en- 
rapture the  beholder. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  the  scene  shifts,  and  the  bluffs  are  gene- 
rally nearest  the  eastern  shore;  ihough  on  that  shore  there  are  often 
twenty  miles  between  them  and  the  river.  They  come  quite  in  to  the 
river,  which  washes  their  bases,  at  the  Iron  Banks,  the  Chalk  Banks,  the 
First,  Second  and  Third  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  Memphis,  the  Walnut  Hills, 
Grand  and  Petit  Gulf,  Natchez,  Loftus'  Heights,  St.  Francisville  and 
Baton  Rouge.  In  all  this  distance,  bluffs  are  only  seen  in  one  place  on 
the  west  bank — the  St.  Francis  Hills. 

From  the  sources  of  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  the  annual 
flood  ordinarily  commences  in  March,  and  does  not  subside  until  th2 
last  of  May;  and  its  medial  height  is  fifteen  feet.  At  the  lowest  stages, 
four  feet  of  water  may  be  found  from  the  rapids  of  Des  Moines  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri.  Between  that  point  and  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
there  are  six  feet  in  the  channel  of  the  shallowest  places  at  low  water; 
and  the  annual  inundation  may  be  estimated  at  twenty-five  feet.  Between 
the  mr  uth  of  the  Ohio  and  the  St.  Francis,  there  are  various  shoal  places, 
where  pilots  are  often  perplexed  to  find  a  sufficient  depth  of  water, 
when  the  river  is  low.  Below  that  point,  there  is  no  difficulty  for  vessels 
of  any  draught,  except  to  find  the  right  channel.  Below  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,  the  medial  flood  is  fifty  feet;  the  highest,  sixty.  Above  Nat- 
chez, the  flood  begins  to  decline.  At  Baton  Rouge,  it  seldom  exceeds 
thirty  feet;  and  at  New  Orleans,  twelve.  Some  have  supposed  this  gra- 
dual diminution  of  the  flood  to  result  from  the  draining  of  the  numerous 
effluxes  of  the  river,  that  convey  away  such  considerable  portions  of  its 
waters,  by  separate  channels  to  the  sea.  To  this  should  be  added,  no 
doubt,  the  check,  which  the  river  at  this  distance  begins  to  feel  from  the 
re-action  of  the  sea,  where  this  mighty  mass  of  descending  waters  finds 
its  level. 

Below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  in  the  season  of  inundation,  to  an  ob- 
serving spectator,  a  very  striking  spectacle  is  presented.  The  river,  as 
will  elsewhere  be  observed,  sweeps  along  in  curves,  or  sections  of  cir- 
cles, of  an  extent  from  six  to  twelve  miles,  measured  from  point  to  point. 
The  sheet  of  water  that  is  visible  between  the  foresls  on  either  side,  is, 
as  we  have  remarked,  not  far  from  the  medial  width  of  a  mile.  On  a 
calm  spring  morning,  and  under  a  bright  sun,  this  sheet  of  water,  to  an 
eye,  that  takes  in  its  gentle  descending  declivity,  shines,  like  a  mass  of 
burnished  silver.     Its  edges  are  distinctly  marked  by  a  magnificent  out- 


102  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

line  of  cotton  wood  irees,  generally  of  great  size,  and  at  this  time  of  the 
year,  of  the  brightest  verdure.  On  the  convex,  or  bar  side  of  the  bend, 
there  is  generally  a  vigorous  growth  of  willows,  or  young  cotton  wood 
trees  of  such  astonishing  regularity  of  appearance,  that  it  always  seems 
to  the  unpractised  spectator,  a  work  of  art.  The  water  stands  among 
these  trees,  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  in  height.  Those  brilliant  birds,  the 
black  and  red  bird  of  this  country,  seem  to  delight  to  flit  among  these 
young  groves,  that  are  inundated  to  half  their  height.  Nature  is  carry- 
ing on  her  most  vigorous  efforts  of  vegetation  below.  If  there  be  wind 
or  storm,  the  descending  flat  and  keel  boats  immediately  make  for  these 
groves,  and  plunge  fearlessly,  with  all  the  headway  they  can  command, 
among  the  trees.  Should  they  be  of  half  the  size  of  the  human  body, 
struck  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground,  they  readily  bend  before  even  a  frail 
boat.  You  descend  the  whole  distance  of  a  thousand  miles  to  New  Or- 
leans, landing  at  night  in  fifteen  feet  water  among  the  trees;  but,  proba- 
bly, in  no  instance  within  twenty  miles  of  the  real  shore,  which  is  a  bluff. 
The  whole  spectacle  is  that  of  a  vast  and  magnificent  forest,  emerging 
from  a  lake,  with  its  waters,  indeed  in  a  thousand  places  in  descending 
motion.  The  expeiienced  savage,  or  solitary  voyager,  paddles  his  canoe 
through  the  deep  forests,  from  one  bluff  to  the  other.  He  finds  bayous, 
by  which  one  river  communicates  with  the  other.  He  moves,  perhaps, 
along  the  Mississippi  forest  into  the  mouth  of  White  River.  He  ascends 
that  river  a  few  miles,  and  by  the  Grand  cut  off,  moves  down  the  forest 
into  the  Arkansas.  From  that  river,  he  finds  many  bayous,  which  com- 
municate readily  with  Washita  and  Red  River;  and  from  that  river,  by 
some  one  of  its  hundred  bayous,  he  finds  his  way  into  the  Atchafalaya 
and  the  Teche;  and  by  that  stream  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  reaching  it 
more  than  twenty  leagues  west  of  the  Mississippi.  At  that  time,  this 
is  a  river  from  thirty  to  a  hundred  miles  wide,  all  overshadowed  with 
forests,  except  an  interior  strip  of  little  more  than  a  mile  in  width,  where 
the  eye  reposes  on  the  open  expanse  of  waters,  visible  between  the  trees. 
Each  of  Ihe  hundred  rivers,  that  swell  the  Mississippi,  at  the  time  of 
high  waters,  is  more  or  less  turbid.  The  Upper  Mississippi  is  the  most 
transparent  of  all  of  them  in  low  water.  But,  during  its  floods,  it  brings 
down  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  dark,  slimy  mud,  suspended  in  its 
waters.  The  mud  of  the  Missouri  is  as  copious,  as  the  water  can  hold 
in  suspension,  and  is  whitish  in  color,  much  resembling  water,  in  which 
fresh  ashes  have  been  mixed!  The  river  below  the  Missouri  assumes  the 
color  of  that  river.  The  Ohio  brings  in  a  flood,  compared  with  the  other, 
of  a  greenish  color.  The  mixing  of  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi with  the  Missouri,  and  afterwards  of  the  united  stream  with  the  Ohio, 
affords  an  amusing  spectacle.  The  water  of  the  Ohio  is  not  much  charged 


RIVERS  103 

with  earth,  even  at  its  inundation;  but  is  still  perceptibly  turbid. — 
The  St.  Francis  and  White  rivers  at  their  floods,  are  not  .much  stained. 
The  Arkansas,  when  high,  is  as  turbid,  and  holds  nearly  as  much  mud  in 
suspension,  as  the  Missouri;  and  its  waters  have  a  bright  reddish  color, 
almost  that  of  flame.  Its  Indian  name,  Ozark,  implies  Yellow  River. 
Red  River  brings  in  a  turbid  mixture  of  the  same  thickness,  but  of  a 
darker  red.  After  it  has  received  these  two  rivers,  the  Mississippi  loses 
something  of  its  whiteness.  The  hills  far  up  the  Missouri,  Arkansas 
and  Red  rivers  are  washing  down.  Pillars  on  their  sides,  of  gigantic 
dimensions,  bright  colors,  and  regular  forms,  where  they  have  been 
composed  of  an  indurated  earth,  or  clay,  that  more  strongly  resisted 
the  action  of  rains  and  descending  waters,  are  left  standing.  We  have 
seen  and  admired  these  mementos  of  the  lapse  of  time,  the  changes, 
that  our  earth  is  undergoing,  the  washing  of  waters,  and  the  influence 
of  the  elements.  Lewis  and  Clark  speak  of  these  remains  of  dilapida- 
ted hills  far  up  the  Missouri,  where  they  appeared  in  their  grandest  di- 
mensions. 

The  Mississippi,  then,  may  be  considered,  as  constantly  bearing  be- 
neath its  waters  a  tribute  of  the  finest  and  most  fertile  vegetable  soil, 
collected  from  an  hundred  shores,  hills  and  mountains,  and  transported 
from  distances  of  a  thousand  leagues.  The  marl  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, the  clay  of  the  Black  Mountains,  the  earth  of  the  Alleghanies,  the 
red  loam,  washed  from  the  hills  at  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas  and  Red 
rivers,  are  every  year  deposited  in  layers  along  the  alluvion  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi; or  are  washed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  We  can  have  little 
doubt,  that  this  river  once  found  its  estuary  not  far  below  the  present 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  It  was,  probably,  then  thirty  miles  wide,  and  grew 
broader  quite  to  the  Gulf.  The  alluvial  country  below,  must  then  have 
been  an  arm  of  the  sea.  The  different  bluffs  on  its  eastern  shore,  the 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  Natchez,  and  the  other  hills,  whose  bases  the  river  now 
washes,  were  capes,  that  projected  into  this  eastuary.  The  banks  of  the 
river  are  evidently  gaining  in  height  above  the  inundation.  The  deposites 
of  earth,  sand  and  slime,  are  not  as  equal  in  their  layers,  as  we  might 
suppose;  but  might,  perhaps,  be  assumed,  as  depositing  a  twelfth  of  an 
inch  in  the  annual  inundation. 

As  soon  as  the  descending  mass  of  waters  has  swept  over  the  banks, 
being  comparatively  destitute  of  current,  and  impeded,  moreover,  by 
trees  and  bushes,  it  begins  to  deposit  a  sediment  of  that  mud  and  sand, 
which  were  only  held  in  suspension  by  the  rapidity  and  agitation  of  the 
descending  current.  It  must  be  obvious,  that  the  sand  and  the  coarser 
portion  of  the  mixture  of  earth  will  subside  first;  and  that  near  the  banks 
of  the  river  will  be  the  most  copious  deposition.     We  find,  in  fact,  the 


104  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

soil  contiguous  to  the  rivers  most  sandy.  It  becomes  finer  and  more 
clayey,  as  we  recede  farther  from  the  bank,  until  near  the  bluffs;  and  at 
the  farthest  distances  from  the  river,  the  impalpable  mixture  gradually 
subsides,  forming  a  very  stiff*,  black  soil,  called  Herre  graisse,"1  and  hav- 
ing a  feeling,  when  wet,  like  lard  or  grease.  Circumstances,  such  as 
eddies,  and  other  impediments,  resulting  from  the  constant  changes  of 
the  banks,  may  cause  this  earth  in  particular  positions,  to  be  deposited 
near  the  river.  Where  the  banks  have  fallen  in,  and  discovered  the  under 
strata  of  the  soil,  we  often  see  layers  of  this  earth  directly  on  the  shore. 
But  the  natural  order  of  deposition  is,  first,  the  sand;  next,  the  marl; 
and  last  of  all,  this  impalpable  clay,  which  would  of  course  be  longest 
held  suspended. 

This  order  of  deposition  accounts,  too,  for  another  circumstance  ap- 
pertaining to  the  banks  of  this  river,  and  all  its  lower  tributaries^  that  do 
now,  or  did  formerly,  overflow  their  banks.  It  always  creates  surprise  at 
first  view  to  remark,  that  all  these  rivers  have  alluvions,  that  are  highest 
directly  on  the  banks,  and  slope  back  like  a  natural  glacis,  towards  the 
bluffs.  There  are  a  thousand  points,  between  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
and  New  Orleans,  where,  at  the  highest  inundation,  there  is  a  narrow 
strip  of  land  above  the  overflow;  and  it  is  directly  on  the  bank.  But  the 
land  slopes  back,  and  subsides  under  the  overflow;  and  is,  perhaps, 
twenty  feet  under  water  at  the  bluffs.  This  deceptive  appearance  has 
induced  a  common  opinion,  that  this  river,  its  tributaries  and  bayous,  in 
their  lower  courses,  run  through  their  valleys  on  an  elevated  ridge,  and 
occupy  the  highest  part  of  their  bottoms.  The  greater  comparative  ele- 
vation on  the  banks  notwithstanding,  we  have  not  yet  the  slightest  doubt, 
that  the  path  of  the  river  is,  in  fact,  the  deepest  part  of  their  basin,  and 
that  the  bed  of  the  rivers  is  uniformly  lower,  than  the  lowest  point  of  the 
alluvion  at  the  base  of  the  bluffs. 

One  of  the  most  striking  peculiarities  of  this  river,  and  of  all  its  lower 
tributaries,  has  not  often  been  a  theme  of  observation,  in  describing  it. 
It  is  the  uniformity  of  its  meanders,  called  in  the  phrase  of  the  country, 
'points  and  bends.1  In  many  instances,  these  curves  are  described  with 
a  precision,  with  which  they  would  have  been  marked  off' by  the  sweep  of 
a  compass.  The  river  sweeps  round,  perhaps,  the  half  of  a  circle,  and 
is  precipitated  from  the  point,  in  a  current  diagonally  across  its  own  chan- 
nel, to  another  curve  of  the  same  regularity  upon  the  opposite  shore.  In 
the  bend  is  the  deepest  channel,  the  heaviest  movement  of  waters,  and 
what  is  called  the  thread  of  the  current.  Between  this  thread  and  the 
shore,  there  are  generally  counter  currents,  or  eddies;  and  in  the  crumb- 
ling and  tender  alluvial  soil,  the  river  is  generally  making  inroads  upon 
its  bunks  on  the  bend  side.     Opposite  the  bend  there  is  always  a  sandbar, 


RIVERS.  105 

matched  in  the  convexity  of  its  conformation  to  the  concavity  of  the  bend. 
Here  it  is  that  the  appearance  of  the  young-  cotton  wood  groves  has 
its  most  striking  aspect.  The  trees  rise  from  the  shore,  showing  first 
the  vigorous  saplings  of  the  present  year;  and  then  those  of  a  date  of 
two  and  three  years;  and  trees  rising  in  regular  gradation  to  the  most 
ancientand  lofty  point  of  the  forest.  These  curves  are  so  regular  on  this 
and  all  the  rivers  of  the  lower  country,  that  the  boatmen  and  Indians 
calculate  distances  by  them;  and  instead  of  the  number  of  miles  or 
leagues,  they  estimate  their  progress  by  the  number  of  bends  they  have 
passed. 

We  have  had  occasion  to  remark  this  conformation,  even  on  the  upper 
courses  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri;  and  that,  too,  where  the  curve 
seemed  to  have  been  scooped  out  of  solid  bluffs  of  lime  stone.  These 
sinuosities  are  distinguished  on  the  lower  course  of  the  Ohio,  on  the 
St.  Francis  and  White  rivers,  and  they  are  remarkable  for  their  regularity 
on  the  Arkansas.  The  curves  on  Red  River  are  regular,  but  they  are 
sections  of  circles  comparatively  small ;  and  the  river  is  so  extremely 
crooked  from  them,  that  its  course  is  generally  obstructed  from  view  in 
a  length  of  two  or  three  miles.  All  the  bayous  and  effluxes  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  of  these  rivers,  show  the  same  conformation  in  their  courses. 
A  Creole  of  the  lower  country  would  scarcely  imagine,  that  a  river  could 
move  on  in  any  other  line  than  in  curves,  described  first  upon  one  bank, 
and  then  upon  the  other. 

There  must  be,  beyond  doubt,  a  general  law  for  this  uniformity  of  con- 
formation;  and  we  have  heard  various  demonstrations,  that  were  intend- 
ed to  explain  it,  and  to  show,  that  a  moving  mass  of  waters,  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  such  a  moving  force,  ought  to  sweep  a  curve  in  one  direction,  be 
propelled  from  the  point  of  that  curve,  and  then  sweep  a  similar  one  on 
the  opposite  shore.  These  demonstrations  have  appeared  unsatisfactory 
to  us.  It  has  always  seemed  to  us,  that  in  a  tender  and  alluvial  soil,  and 
under  similar  circumstances,  a  moving  mass  of  water,  cutting  a  course 
for  itself,  would  take  the  direction  of  a  right  line.  The  common  solution 
certainly  is  not  the  just  one,  that  is  to  say,  that  the  river  finds  an  ob- 
stacle, which  gives  it  a  diagonal  direction  in  the  first  instance;  and  that 
this  law,  once  established,  continues  to  act  with  uniformity,  in  producing 
this  alternation  of  curves.  The  courses  of  all  the  western  rivers,  in  cre- 
ating points  and  bends,  are  far  too  uniform  to  be  produced  by  an  acciden- 
tal cause.  It  appears  clear  to  us,  that  the  deviations  from  this  rule  are 
owing  to  accidental  causes;  but  they  are  so  unfrequent,  that  for  the  first 
three  hundred  miles  on  the  Arkansas,  we  do  not  remember  one;  and  there 
are  not  more  than  three  or  four- 'reaches,'  as  they  are  called,  or  deviations 

14 


106  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

from  this  rule,  in  the  Mississippi,  where  the  river  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance preserves  a  straight  course  between  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  the 
Balize. 

It  follows  from  this  disposition  of  the  river,  to  take  its  direction  in  deep 
curves,  and  continually  to  wear  them  deeper,  that,  returning,  as  it  were, 
on  its  track,  it  will  often  bring  its  points  near  to  each  other,  ft  occurs 
more  than  once,  that,  in  moving  round  a  curve  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles,  you  will  return  so  near  the  point  whence  you  started,  that  you  can 
return  to  the  point  in  less  than  a  mile.  There  are  at  present  bends  of 
this  sort  on  the  Missouri  and  the  Mississippi,  particularly  at  Tunica  Bend 
where  you  move  round  a  curve  of  thirty  miles,  and  come  back  to  the  point, 
where  you  see  through  the  trees,  at  the  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a 
mile,  the  point  whence  you  departed.  It  might  be  inferred,  that  it  would 
so  happen,  when  the  waters  on  the  upper  point  of  the  bend  approach  so 
near  those  on  the  lower  point,  that  in  high  waters  a  crevasse  would  be 
made  across  the  point,  or  the  simple  weight  of  the  descending  current 
would  burst  itself  a  passage  through.  In  this  case  the  river  soon  finds 
its  main  channel  from  point  to  point;  an  island  is  formed;  and  the  river 
rushes  through  what  is  called  the 'cut  off,'  with  great  velocity  and  power. 
Such  is  the  'Grand  cut  off,'  that  has  been  formed  since  we  first  descended 
the  river.  We  now  pass  from  one  point  to  another,  in  half  a  mile,  to  a 
distance  which  it  formerly  required  twenty  miles  to  reach.  The  'cut  off' 
at  Fausse  Riviere,  Yazoo,  Homochitto,  and  Point  Coupee,  bends  are  of 
this  sort.  Tunica,  no  doubt,  will  soon  be  of  the  number;  and  many  other 
bends.  Wherever  the  trees  are  cleared  away  from  the  banks  by  cultiva- 
tion, the  soil  becomes,  of  course,  more  tender  and  yielding,  and  is  easier 
perforated  by  the  mass  of  moving  waters.  Nature  is  thus  shortening  the 
course  of  this  long  river.  In  process  of  time  the  efforts  of  industry  will 
yield  their  aid  to  the  same  result. 

When  these  changes  take  place,  the  mouth  of  the  ancient  course  of 
the  river  becomes  choked;  and  long  lakes  are  formed,  called  fausses 
rivieres,''  which,  at  the  season  of  high  water,  might  easily  be  mistaken 
for  the  river  itself,  were  they  not  without  current,  and  did  they  not  soon 
cover  themselves  with  those  aquatic  plants  that,  in  these  climates,  are 
always  found  on  still  waters.  There  are  an  infinite  number  of  such 
bayous  found  on  the  lower  courses  of  the  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and, 
more  than  all,  Red  River,  where  they  form  such  an  inextricable  net  work, 
that  in  high  waters  it  requires  an  experienced  pilot  to  determine  which  is 
the  river  and  which  is  the  bayou. 

The  thread  of  the  main  current  is,  as  we  have  remarked,  always  near 
the  bank  of  the  bend ;  and  the  chief  undermining  of  the  banks  is  ordi- 


ABORIGINES.  ]Q7 

harilv  tliere.  As  soon  as  the  floods  of  the  river  begin  to  subside,  and 
the  waters  to  sink  within  the  banks,  the  main  thread  of  the  current, 
Which  had  been  diminished  in  its  action  on  the  bank,  by  the  diffusion  of 
its  waters  over  the  bank,  as  soon  as  they  return  within  the  channel,  acts 
with  augmented  force,  and  by  a  more  uniform  action  from  the  surface  to 
the  bottom  upon  the  banks,  softened  and  diluted  by  the  recent  overflow. 
Hence,  immediately  upon  the  subsiding  of  the  river  within  its  banks,  is 
the  time  when  they  are  most  apt  to  fall  in.  Then  is  the  time  that  we 
hear  by  night  the  deep  crash  of  the  trees  falling  and  sinking  in  the  flood. 
Then  it  is  that  the  land-slips  carry  in  acres  at  a  time;  and  it  is  then  that 
the  narrow  passages  between  islands  become  choked  with  trees,  carried 
along  by  the  current. 

With  one  remark  more  we  shall  close  this  outline  of  the  Mississippi; 
which,  minute  as  it  may  have  seemed,  is  but  a  brief  sketch  of  the  char- 
acter and  circumstances  of  a  river,  which,  described  in  detail,  would  oc- 
cupy a  volume.  It  is  the  most  turbid  river,  and  has  the  widest  alluvial 
bottoms  of  any  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  We  may  add,  that  it  is 
beyond  all  comparison  the  narrowest  river,  that  we  know,  which  carries 
so  much  water.  In  width  and  show  of  surface,  it  will  hardly  compare 
with  the  St.  Lawrence.  We  have  no  doubt  that  it  carries  the  greatest 
mass  of  water,  according  to  its  width,  of  any  river  on  the  globe.  From 
the  quantity  of  earth  which  it  holds  in  suspension  in  its  descending  wa- 
ters, and  which  it  is  continually  depositing  along  its  banks,  it  will  always 
be  confined  within  a  narrow  and  deep  channel.  Were  it  a  clear  stream 
it  would  soon  scoop  itself  out  a  channel  from  bluff  to  bluff.  In  common 
with  most  of  its  great  tributaries,  it  broadens  as  it  ascends,  being,  as  we 
have  remarked,  wider  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  with  scarce  a 
tenth  of  its  water,  than  it  is  at  New  Orleans.  In  the  same  manner,  Ar- 
kansas and  Red  River  are  wider  a  thousand  miles  from  their  mouth  than 
they  are  at  that  point.  As  the  western  rivers  approach  their  debouchc, 
and  increase  their  volume  of  water,  they  narrow  and  deepen  their  channel. 

Indians,  or  Aboriginal  Inhabitants.  Details  of  the  Indians, 
that  belong  to  the  states  and  territories  of  this  valley,  will  naturally  he 
given  under  the  accounts  of  them.  We  mean  here  to  bring,  if  it  may  be, 
into  one  group,  general  views  and  outlines  of  the  race,  as  we  see  it  in  all 
the  climates  from  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Numerous  and  voluminous  treatises  have  been  written  upon  the  subject. 
We  have  read  these  treatises.  We  have  long  and  attentively  studied  the 
Indian  character.  We  have  seen  enough  of  that  character,  to  be  aware, 
that  very  few  writers  have  done  more  than  theorize  and  declaim  upon 
the  subject.      They  have  seldom  brought  to  it  the  only   true  lights — 


108 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY, 


those  of  observation  and  experience.  We  ought  to  except  from  this  re- 
mark, Charlevoix,  among  the  early,  and  the  gentlemen  of  Long's  expe- 
dition among  the  recent  writers  upon  the  Indians.  The  views  of  the 
latter,  in  particular,  are  calm,  philosophical  and  just,  as  far  as  they  gp. 
They  do  not  give  us  the  fruit  of  preconceived  prejudices,  or  theorizing 
harangues;  and  we  refer  those  who  would  take  minute,  interesting,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  j  ust  views  of  the  character  and  condition  of  the 
Western  Indians,  to  their  narratives. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Indians  of  the  United  States  dwell  in  the 
limilsof  this'Valley.     Within  the  bounds  of  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida* 
Mississippi,  and  Tennessee,  the  southern  Indians  of  this  valley  inhabit. 
These  nations,  without  mentioning  their  subdivisions,  are  the  Seminoles, 
the  Baton  Rouges,  the  Creeks,  or  Muskogee,  the  Cherokees,  Chactaws, 
and  Chickasaws.     The  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  before  the  late  war,  were 
powerful  tribes.     Their  population   and   power  received,  in  that  war,  a 
withering   check.     Many  of  the  Chactaws  are  incorporated   with  the 
Quawpaws  of  Arkansas.     About  a  third  of  the  Cherokee  nation  has 
emigrated  to  the  country  on  the  Arkansas,  between  the  Quawpaws  and 
the  Osages.     Many  of  the  Creeks,  or  Muskogee,  have  emigrated  west 
of  the  Mississippi.     All  these  Indians  that  remain  east  of  this  river,  have 
adopted  more  or  less  of  cultivation ,  and  the  arts  of  civilized  life.     The 
Cherokees  and  Chactaws,  particularly  the  former,  have  been  most  success- 
ful in  imitating  the  habits  and  institutions  of  the  whites.     They  have 
looms,  ploughs,  blacksmith's  shops,  slaves,  enclosures,  barns,  taverns* 
brick  dwellings  in  some  instances,  public  roads,  a  census,  a  code  of  laws, 
civil  divisions,  and  magistrates.       Their  laws  have  very  little  of  that  de- 
lay, of  which  the  whites  complain ;  but  are  severe,  energetic,  and  promptly 
administered.     They  have  many  municipal  regulations  and  singular  cus- 
toms; an  amusing  mixture  of  savage  and  civilized  views,  which  afford  a 
study  of  no  common  interest  to  the  numerous  travellers  that  are  obliged 
to  pass  through  their  nations,  on  their  way,  by  land,  from  New  Orleans 
and  the  lower  states  of  the  Atlantic  country.     They  have  numerous 
taverns,  at  regular  distances,  not  much  inferior  to  those  in  the  adjacent 
cou  ntry,  inhabited  by  the  Americans.     Some  of  their  planters  have  large 
enclosures,  and  fine  stocks  of  cattle  and  horses;  and  may  be  considered 
rich.     We  saw  a  Cherokee  chief  who  had  a  dozen  slaves,  fine  teams, 
ploughs  and  looms,  two  or  three  wives,  and  twenty-seven  living  children, 
as  he  stated.     His  people  were  dressed,  as  are  most  of  these  people,  in 
plain  cotton  cloths  of  respectable  fabric.     The  cotton,  the  dyeing  articles, 
the  manufacturing,  and   the  whole  fabric,   from  beginning  to  end,  were 
within  themselves.     There  are  a  number  of  respectable  missionary  estab- 
lishments in  their  limits;  and  they  begin  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  the 


m 


ABORIGINES 


uw 


importance  of  education.     They  have  heen  making  great  efforts  to  estab- 
lish a  printing  press  in  their  country,  and  it  is  now  in  operation. 

In  the  northern  parts  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  near  lakes  Erie  and 
Michgian,  is  an  establishment  of  the  Shawnese — a  tribe  formerly  so  pow- 
erful, and  now  hastening  to  decay.  There  was  an  important  missionary 
station  among  them,  which  is  removed  to  Michigan  Territory.  Ohio, 
that  once  contained  such  a  numerous  Indian  population,  is  computed  at 
present,  to  contain  about  two  thousand,  principally  Shawnese.  The 
Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos,  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  are  numbered,  the 
former  at  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  the  latter  at  six  hundred.  The 
Peorias,  Kaskaskias  and  Cahokias,  that  figured  so  much  in  the  early 
French  history  of  this  country,  are  nearly  extinct.  Most  of  these  have 
removed,  or  are  removing,  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Wyandots, 
Chippeways  and  Winnebagoes  hunt  farther  to  the  northwest,  and  extend 
their  range  to  Lake  Superior.  The  Chippeways  may  be  considered  a 
patriarchal  nation,  of  which  many  of  the  northern  tribes  are  branches, 
and  of  whose  language  they  speak  dialects.  There  are  other  tribes  so 
nearly  extinct,  that  there  are  not  now  perhaps  six  individuals  to  maintain 
the  name. 

In  ascending  the  Mississippi,  from  St.  Louis,  we  meet  first  with  the 
Sacks,  or  as  they  call  themselves,  Saukies,  and  Foxes,  or  Reynards. — 
They  inhabit  the  country  above  and  below  Rock  River,  and  claim  the 
territory  of  the  lead  mines.  They  have  recently  made  war,  and  been 
subjugated,  and  are  also  to  remove  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Ioways 
reside  farther  up  the  river,  and  near  ihe  Des  Moines.  The  Winnebagoes, 
orPuants  inhabit  from  the  Ouisconsin  to  Green  Bay,  on  Lake  Michigan. 
They  have  the  reputation  of  being  particularly  false  and  treacherous. 
The  Menomene,  or  Folles  Avoins,  inhabit  the  Menomene  to  Lake 
Michigan. 

Still  higher  on  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  to  the  lakes,  and  thence  to 
the  country  on  the  Missouri,  and  far  up  and  down  that  river,  wander 
the  Sioux,  or  Dacotas.  They  are  divided  into  six  or  seven  tribes,  with 
distinct  names,  given,  as  the  French  often  fix  appelations,  from  some 
poetical  associations  with  natural  objects.  For  instance,  one  of  the 
most  numerous  tribes,  inhabiting  a  region  of  forests,  is  called  VVas-pa- 
tong,  Gens  des  feuilles,  or  the  people  of  leaves.  Each  of  these  tribes 
has  its  distinct  badge,  coat  of  arms,  or  what  is  called  Hoterri1  among  them. 
They  occupy  a  vast  range,  are  a  numerous  people,  and,  like  the  Chippe- 
ways, the  parent  of  various  tribes,  whose  language,  though  radically  the 
same  with  theirs,  has,  in  process  of  time,  receded  so  far  from  it,  that  the 
different  tribes  require  an  interpreter  to  converse  together.  The  Dacotas- 
are  the  Arabs  of  the  West. 


120  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Surveying  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  commencing  the 
survey  below  St.  Louis,  between  that  town  and  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
there  used  to  be  a  number  of  villages  of  Delawares  and  Shawnees;  and 
with  them  were  mixed  a  considerable  number  of  renegadoes  from  the 
Creeks,  and  the  Indians  of  the  Lower  Mississippi.  There  were  in  all 
three  or  four  hundred  souls.  They  left  the  country  by  an  arrangement 
with  the  government.  They  have  allied  themselves  with  the  Cherokees 
of  the  Arkansas. 

In  ascending  the  Missouri  we  first  meet  with  the  Osages,  a  powerful 
tribe  who  inhabit  principally  on  the  Osage  River,  and  who  spread  them- 
selves across  the  country  to  the  Arkansas,  and  even  to  Red  River. — 
Ascending  the  Missouri,  we  find,  as  we  advance,  Ottoes,  Missouries,  Io- 
ways,  Kanzas,  and  Pawnees,  divided  into  three  bands — Grand  Pawnees, 
Pawnee  Republicans,  and  Pawnee  Loups.  After  the  Dacotas,  or  Sioux, 
they  are,  probably,  the  next  most  numerous  people  in  this  region.  Still 
farther  up,  there  are  the  Mandans.  Puncahs,  Omawhaws,  Padoucas,  La 
Plais,  or  Bald  Heads,  and  the  Tetons.  Still  farther  up,  there  are  the 
Minnitarees,  or  Gros  Ventres,  the  Arrapahoe,  the  Crow,  the  Arricaree} 
the  Snake,  and  the  Black  Foot  Indians.  Some  of  these  tribes  inhabit 
and  hunt  occasionally  on  both  sides  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

On  the  Arkansas  the  first  tribe  on  its  lower  course  is  that  of  the  Quaw- 
paws,  with  whom  are  incorporated  many  Chactaws.  Still  higher,  we 
meet  with  the  Osages.  The  Cherokees,  who  have  migrated  to  this  river, 
seem  to  be  a  point  of  union  for  the  ancient  Shawnese  and  Delawares. — 
The  Indians  on  the  Ohio,  of  these  tribes,  are  immigrating  to  this  region 
Above  them  are  the  Pawnees  and  Arrapahoes.  At  the  sources  of  this 
river  are  often  seen  bands  of  the  Mexican  Indians,  as  the  Commanches 
and  Appaches,  who  come  down  from  their  mountains,  to  hunt  the  buffalo 
and  elk  on  the  adjacent  plains. 

From  New  Orleans  to  Attakapas,  and  thence  along  Red  River,  are 
the  remains  of  many  of  the  ancient  tribes  of  Louisiana,  that  will  soon 
have  no  other  memorial,  than  their  names  in  the  French  histories  of  the 
country.  These  are  the  Natchez,  the  Appalachies,  the  Tensas,  Alabamas, 
Pascagoulas,  Chetimaches,  Biloxies,  Tunicas,  &c.  Near  the  Sabine  are 
a  small  number  of  Carancoahs,  clearly  cannibals.  They  are  viewed  with 
horror,  and  pursued  with  a  spirit  of  extermination,  by  the  other  Indians. 

Higher  on  Red  River,  inhabit,  and  occasionally  hunt,  many  of  the 
tribes,  which  we  have  mentioned  as  having  their  more  permanent  home 
on  the  Arkansas.  The  Cadoes  are  a  tribe  that  dwell  chiefly  on  Red 
River,  and  hunt  the  buffalo  on  the  prairies  between  it  and  Arkansas. — 
We  might  continue  to  swell  this  catalogue  with  the  names  of  tribes,  that 
once  existed,  but  are  now  extinct;  and  others  of  which  there  remain, 
perhaps. a  few  individuals. 


ABORIGINES.  ]  ] ] 

Population.  Any  exact  estimates  of  the  number  of  Indians,  within 
the  limits  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  must  necessarily  be 
wanting.  The  statistical  tables  rate  them  at  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand.  We  have  before  us  a  detailed  table  of  the  estimated  numbers 
of  Indians  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  These  tables  give  the  names  of 
sixty  tribes;  some  of  them  of  barbarous  orthography,  and  sufficiently 
wide  from  the  sounds  of  the  names,  by  which  these  tribes  choose  to  call 
themselves.  The  whole  number  is  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  three 
thousand.  This,  if  we  do  not  include  the  Indians  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  of  which  we  have  no  certain  knowledge,  is,  probably,  a  large 
estimate. 

The  gradual  decrease  and  extinction  of  these  tribes,  one  after  the 
other,  has  been  a  theme  of  copious  and  melancholy  reflection  with  bene- 
volent and  thinking  men.  By  an  easy  transition,  they  have  passed  to 
charging  the  cause,  as  a  crime  of  the  darkest  dye  to  the  whites,  and  to 
our  country.  A  prevalent  fashion  and  theme  of  declamation  have  their 
date,  and  their  period,  in  our  country;  and  for  the  time,  that  they  are  in 
fasihon  pass  unquestioned.  We  have  thought,  the  common,  loose  and 
bitter  charges,  which,  in  contemplating  this  subject,  have  been  brought 
against  our  fathers  and  our  country,  ought  at  least  to  admit  of  question. 
We  have  always  had  individuals  in  our  country,  who  would  constantly 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity,  to  distribute  among  them  the  poison 
of  ardent  spirits.  But  our  government,  it  must  be  admitted,  has  prac- 
tised towards  them  a  steady  and  dignified  moderation,  and  an  untiring 
forbearance.  Its  provisions,  to  prevent  the  sale  of  whiskey  among  them, 
have  been  severe,  and  in  general,  faithfully  carried  into  effect.  The 
strictness  of  our  laws  in  this  respect,  is  one  of  the  most  incessant  themes 
of  complaint  on  their  part:  and  the  manner,  in  which  we  withhold  whis- 
key from  them,  is  considered  by  them,  as  the  result  of  our  covetousness. 
Our  government  is  exerting  a  constant  effort,  to  hold  the  tribes  leashed 
in,  and  to  prevent  them  from  destroying  one  another.  Had  it  been  our 
policy  to  exterminate  the  race,  as  it  has  been  taxed,  nothing  more  would 
have  been  necessary,  than  to  unkennel  the  savages,  excite  their  jealous- 
ies, stir  up  their  revenge,  and  let  them  destroy  each  other. — But,  on  the 
contrary,  it  seems  to  have  been  the  guiding  maxim  of  the  government,  to 
do  all  practicable  good,  and  to  ward  off  all  possible  evil  from  this  devoted 
and  unhappy  race. 

In  the  ancient  states,  in  the  legislative  halls,  on  the  floor  of  Congress, 
from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  it  has  been  the  favorite  theme  of  eloquence, 
and  the  readiest  passport  to  estimation  for  philanthropy  and  benevolence, 
to  bring  up  the  guilt  of  having  destroyed  the  past  race  of  this  people, 
and  of  having  possessed  ourselves  of  their  lands.     One  would  think,  it 


112  M  I  S  S  1  S  S  l  P  P  I     V  A  L  L  E  Y  . 

had  been  discovered,  that  the  population,  the  improvements,  and  the 
social  happiness  of  our  great  political  edifice,  ought  never  to  have  been 
erected  in  place  of  these  habitations  of  cruelty.     Let  us  pity  them.     Let 
us  practice  forbearance  to  the  end.     Let  us  send  to  them  instruction, 
Christianity,  and -the  arts.     They  are  not  the  less  objects  of  our  pity, 
and  of  our  untiring  benevolence,  because  the  causes  of  their  decay    and 
extinction  are  found  in  their  own  nature  and  character,  and  the  unchange- 
able order  of  things.      It  is  as  unchangeable  as  the  laws  of  nature,  that 
savages  should  give  place  to  civilized  men,  possessed  of  the  strength,  spirit 
and  improvement  of  the  social  compact.     We  conceive,  that  it  is  not 
altogether  owing  either  to  the  proximity  of  the  whites,  to  ardent  spirits, 
or  small  pox,  that  the  Indian  tribes  are  constantly  diminishing.     The 
ten  thousand  mounds  in  this  valley,  the  rude  memorials  of  an  immensely 
numerous  former  population,  but  to  our  view  no  more  civilized,  than  the 
present  races,  are  proofs,  that  the  country  was  depopulated,  when  white 
men  first  became  acquainted  with  it.     If  we  can  infer  nothing  else  from 
the  mounds,  we  can  clearly  infer,  that  this  country  once  had  its  millions. 
We  di°-  up  their  pottery,  where  we  make  our  corn  fields.     We  dig  up 
their  bones,  when  we  level  these  mounds.     They  were,  beyond  doubt,  a 
v?ry  rude  people,  and  very  laborious.     Where  are  they  now?     Their 
places  are  occupied  by  a  race,  who  were  depopulating  in  their  turn,  when 
our  forefathers  first  saw  the  country.     We  have  no  other  grounds,  on 
which  Vo  charge  them  with  the  guilt  of  having  destroyed  the  generations 
that  are  buried  in  these  mounds,  than  the  circumstance,  that  when  we 
first  knew  them,  they  were  engaged,  as  they  are  now,  in  constant  and 
interminable  wars  with  each  other.     Who  of  them  owned  the  land,  that 
we  now  inhabit?     The  races  that  lie  buried  and  forgotten  on  these  plains; 
or  the  tribes  that  advanced  to-day,  to  dispossess  the  present  occupants, 
to  be  disposessed  in  their  turn  by  another  race?     We  firmly  believe  that 
all  ideas  of  property  in  the  lands,  over  which  they  roamed  after  game, 
or  skulked  in  ambush,  to  kill  one  another, — all  notions  of  a  local  pro- 
perty in  these  possessions,  have  been  derived  from  seeing  the  value,  which 
lands  acquire  from  the  occupancy  of  the  whites.     It  is  out  of  all  ques- 
tion   that  ages  before  they  had  seen  white  men,  they  were  divided,  as 
now,  into  an  hundred  petty  tribes,  engaged,  as  but  for  the  interference 
of  our  aovernment,  they  would  now  ,be  in  endless  and  exterminating 
wars    in  which  they  dashed    infants  into  the  flames,  drank  the  warm 
blood  of  their  victim,  or  danced  and  yelled  round  the  stake,  where  he 
was  consuming  in  the  fire.     If  they  found  the  country  that  pleased  them, 
full  of  «arne  and  unoccupied,  they  fixed  themselves  there  peacefully.     If 
occupied,  they  made  upon  the  occupants  a  war  of  extermination.     When 
their  desires  or  caprices  prompted  them  to  wander  to  another  region, 


ABORIGINES.  H3 

they  left  nothing,  but  bark  hovels,  and  a  country,  where  game  had  be- 
come scarce,  for  one,  where  they  could  make  new  hovels,  and  find  game 
plenty.    War  was  their  amusement,  prompted  by  their  instinctive  appetite. 

It  is  no  crime  of  the  present  civilized  races,  that  inhabit  these  regions, 
that  their  forefathers  came  over  the  sea,  and' enclosed  lands,  and  cut 
down  trees,  where  the  Indians  had  hunted  and  fought.  If  they  will  not, 
and  cannot  labor,  and  cultivate  the  land,  and  lead  a  municipal  life,  they 
are  in  the  same  predicament  with  a  much  greater  number  of  drunkards, 
idlers  and  disturbers  of  society,  who  are  a  charge  and  a  burden  upon  it, 
in  all  civilized  communities.  Like  them,  they  ought  to  be  treated  with 
tenderness;  to  be  enlightened  and  reclaimed,  if  possible;  and,  as  far  as 
may  be,  to  be  restrained  from  hurting  us,  and  each  other.  But  it  is  surely 
as  unjust,  as  it  is  preposterous,  to  speak  of  the  prevalence  of  our  race 
over  theirs,  as  an  evil;  and  from  a  misjudging  tenderness  to  them,  do 
injustice  to  our  own  country,  and  the  cause  of  human  nature. 

They  are  evidently  depopulating,  not  only  in  the  proximity  of  our 
people,  but  in  regions  too  remote,  to  be  effected  by  our  contiguity. 
Such  is  the  case,  as  Pike  and  Long's  exploring  party,  and  the  Spanish 
remark,  in  tribes  so  remote  from  our  borders,  as  scarcely  to  have  heard 
of  our  government.  There  are,  however,  exceptions  to  this  rule.  The 
Cherokees  and  the  Chactaws  increase  in  the  country  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, almost  in  a  ratio  as  great,  as  that  of  our  people.  It  is  earnestly 
to  be  wished,  that  this  standing  and  conclusive  proof  of  the  advantage 
of  our  habits  over  theirs,  will  not  be  without  its  impression  upon  the 
other  tribes.  But  it  is  much  to  be  feared,  that  do  what  we  may,  all  our 
schemes  of  benevolence  to  preserve  them,  as  a  distinct  race,  will  prove 
abortive;  and  that  they  will  soon  be  known  only  in  history. 

As  we  have  remarked,  some  writers  number  sixty  different  tribes  in 
this  valley.  They  are  scattered  over  an  immense  extent  of  country. 
They  inhabit  a  great  variety  of  climates.  They  speak  different  langua- 
ges. They  live  on  different  kinds  of  food.  There  are  differences  of 
stature;  and  tribes  of  savages  larger. and  smaller,  than  the  ordinary  stat- 
ure of  whites.  There  are  differences  of  character,  sensibility,  intellect, 
standards  of  opinion  and  morals,  and  very  different  usages;  and  yet,  take 
all  the  varieties  of  the  races  in  the  different  climates  into  one  view,  and 
there  is,  probably,  a  greater  physical  and  moral  resemblance  among  them 
than  is  seen  among  the  inhabitants  of  any  other  region  on  the  globe. 
Persons,  who  have  seen  the  Chippeways  of  the  north,  or  the  Cados  of 
the  south,  have  observed  fair  samples  of  the  Indians  ever  all  this  valley. 

In  stature,  some  tribes  exceed,  and  some  fall  short  of  the  medial  stat- 
ure of  our  people.  The  Dacotas,  the  Osages,  and  generally  the  savages 
of  the  middle  regions  of  the  Missouri,  are  something  taller  than  our 

15 


114 


MISSISSIPTI     VALLEY. 


people.  The  same  may  be  observed  of  the  Cherokees.  The  Shawnese 
and  Delawares,  and  the  Indians  of  the  lakes  and  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
appear  to  us  to  be  shorter  than  the  whites.  Their  complexion  is  gene- 
rally designated  by  the  term,  'copper  colored.'  It  does  not  convey  an 
exact  idea  of  the  complexion  of  the  'red  skins.1  It  is  something  darker 
than  untarnished  copper,  and  perhaps  nearer  the  color  of  well  smoked 
bacon.  We  have  seen  full  blooded  Indians,  both  of  the  north  and  of  the 
south,  but  more  frequently  in  the  latter  climate,  as  black  as  ordinary 
negroes.  But,  though  the  dark  tinge  was  as  intense,  there  is  a  shade  of 
difference  which  the  eye  catches,  and  language  cannot,  between  the  black 
visage  of  such  an  Indian,  and  a  negro.  Take  the  tribes  together,  there 
is  little  difference  between  the  complexion  of  the  northern  and  southern 
Indians.  The  same  unchangeable  tinge  is  visible  even  in  the  new  born 
children. 

There  is  no  part  of  their  external  appearance,  that  more  strongly  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  all  other  people,  than  their  hair.  It  is  always,  in 
all  their  tribes,  and  under  all  circumstances,  and  in  each  of  the  sexes, 
Mack,  until  changed  by  age.  But,  contrary  to  all  that  has  been  asserted 
on  this  subject,  we  have  seen  an  hundred  instances  where  they  were  gray. 
The  hair  is  generally  described  by  another  term,  which,  perhaps,  does 
not  raise  very  distinct  impressions.  It  is  said  to  be  lank.  There  is  a 
peculiar  aspect  in  an  Indian  tress,  which  only  speaks  to  the  eye.  It  hangs 
in  knots,  which  have  a  peculiar  feeling,  and  looks  as  though  greased, 
which  it  probably  is.  It  is  much  finer  than  the  hair  of  the  horse's  mane? 
but  in  other  respects  resembles  it.  In  mixtures  with  (he  whites,  this 
singular  and  characteristic  appearance  of  the  hair,  described  with  diffi- 
culty, but,  when  once  seen,  always  remembered,  remains  distinctly  visi- 
ble to  the  third  generation. 

They  are  generally  erect,  and  of  fine  forms,  with  few  instances  of 
anomalous  decrepitude  and  deformity.  This,  probably  results,  partly 
from  the  manner  in  which  the  children  are  reared,  unswathed,  unspoiled 
by  indulgence  and  mismanagement,  of  misguided  fondness;  but  more, 
perhaps,  to  the  circumstance,  that  feeble  children,  weak  from  deformity 
or  want  of  natural  vigor,  cannot  endure  the  first  hardships,  with  which 
nature  salutes  these  fra,il  beings  on  the  threshold  of  existence.  Nature 
cries  aloud  to  them,  as  Volney  has  said  it,  'be  strong,  or  die;'  and  only 
the  hardy  and  well  formed  survive.  They  have  cleaner  limbs,  not  so 
muscular,  and  bodies  with  less  tendency  to  corpulence,  than  the  whites. 
Corpulent  Indians  are  very  rare;  but  we  have  seen  two  or  three  full 
blooded  Indians  as  corpulent,  as  the  best  fed  burghers  of  our  cities. 
The  legs,  both  of  the  male  and  female,  have  a  remarkable  curve,  still 
more  distinguishable,  than  that  of  the  negro.     In  walking,  they  are  re- 


ABORIGINES 


11; 


markable  fur  placing  one  foot  in  a  right  line  before  the  other,  and  seldom 
turn  their  toes  from  that  right  line.  In  this  way  they  instantly  discover 
the  track  of  their  own  people,  as  distinct  from  ours.  They  walk,  too, 
the  one  directly  behind  the  other,  in  what  is  called  Indian  file.  We 
have  often  seen  the  husband  and  wife,  the  mother  and  daughter,  the 
father  and  son;  and  even  two  equal  aged  young  men,  walking  together, 
engaged  apparently  in  earnest  conversation;  but  never  advancing  abreast. 
The  one  is  directly  behind  the  other.  Their  senses  are  entire,  acute, 
and  their  are  few  anomalies  from  the  general  analogy  of  human  confor- 
mation. 

The  forehead  is  broad,  and  almost  invariably  retiring  in  a  small  degree. 
We  scarcely  remember  to  have  noticed  a  projecting  forehead.  The 
nose  is  prominent,  and  the  base  of  the  nostrils  has  a  remarkable  expan- 
sion; and  in  the  male,  it  is  more  commonly  aquiline,  than  otherwise. 
The  lips  are  intermediate,  between  the  common  thinness  of  the  whites, 
and  thickness  of  the  negroes.  The  cheek  bones  are  high,  and  marked; 
and  the  face,  in  the  line  below  the  eyes,  uncommonly  wide, — and  on  this 
part  of  the  face  is  strongly  impressed  the  contour,  that  marks  the  Indian 
variety  of  the  human  countenance.  The  eyes  are  almost  invariably 
black ;  but  of  a  shade  of  blackness,  very  distinct  from  what  we  call  such 
in  the  whites.  We  have  the  black  eye  of  Italians  and  Spaniards,  which 
has  a  color  and  expression,  unlike  the  black  eye  of  the  Indians. — There 
is  something  in  their  gait,  too,  apart  from  the  crookedness  of  their  legs; 
their  dress,  or  their  manner  of  placing  their  feet  the  one  before  the  other, 
which  enables  us,  at  a  great  distance,  to  distinguish  an  advancing  Indian 
from  a  white. 

The  squaw  has  a  distinctly  female  conformation,  and  a  delicacy  of 
rounding  in  the  limbs,  as  distinct  from  the  harsher  and  more  muscu- 
lar and  brawny  form  of  the  male,  still  more  strongly  marked,  than  in  our 
race.  It  seems  a  refutation,  directly  in  point,  of  the  system  of  those 
female  philosophers,  who  have  asserted,  that  the  frailer  form  of  the  female 
was  only  owing  to  their  want  of  exposure,  and  the  early  gymnastic  habits 
of  the  male.  It  is  notorious,  that  the  squaws  are  the  drudges,  the  ani- 
mals of  burden,  among  this  race,  from  their  infancy.  But  they  have  the 
female  delicacy  of  limb,  and  contour  of  joint,  and  slenderness  of  hand  and 
foot,  notwithstanding  as  distinctly  marked,  as  if  they  had  been  reared  in 
indolence  and  luxury.  The  legs  have  the  same  curve  with  those  of  the 
male.  We  have  scarcely  seen  an  instance  where  the  female  face  was 
not  broad  and  oval.  The  nose  is  flattened,  scarcely  ever  aquiline,  and 
for  the  most  part  resembles  that  of  the  negro.  They  have  a  much 
greater  uniformity  of  face,  in  this  respect,  than  the  male.  The  effluvia 
effused  from  their  bodies,  both  male  and  female,  when  in  high  perspira" 


UQ  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

tion,  has  been  often  remarked  by  observers  to  bs  less  disagreeable,  than 
that  of  other  races,  in  similar  circumstances.  Some  have  supposed  this 
to  arise  from  their  almost  universal  use  of  unguents  from  fragrant  herbs; 
others,  that  they  have  a  less  copious  and  disagreeable  perspiration.  Be 
the  cause  what  it  may,  all  people  who  have  been  much  among  the  Indians, 
agree  in  the  fact. 

In  their  moral  habits,  although  no  people  on  the  globe  will  endure 
severer  privations,  will  be  more  active,  or  travel  farther,  or  hunt  longer, 
or  perform  more  incredible  exploits  of  activity  and  daring,  in  their  wars 
and  in  the  chase,  they  must  still  be  pronounced,  on  the  whole,  a  lazy 
people.  They  often  pass  from  the  extremes  of  travail  and  toil  to  the 
most  perfect  indolence.  Like  their  dogs,  they  will  scour  their  thickets 
all  day  in  the  chase;  and  like  them,  as  soon  as  their  toils  are  suspended, 
they  sink  either  to  sleep,  or  a  dozing  and  half  unconscious  existence* 
The  history  of  the  life  of  a  warrior,  is  a  history  of  these  constant  alterna- 
tions. But  the  idea  of  the  steady  and  unremitting  industry  of  the 
whites  is  intolerable  to  them.  The  history  of  the  Indians,  from  the  be- 
ginning, is  full  of  this  fact.  The  Spaniards  could  never  bring  the  Indians 
of  the  islands  to  the  steady  labors  of  agriculture.  They  have  been  a 
thousand  times  enslaved  in  North  America;  but  the  instance  is  scarcely 
on  record,  where  an  Indian,  male  or  female,  became  a  diligent  slave. 
With  them  the  stimulant  effect  of  the  chase,  fostered  by  early  training, 
and  associated  with  the  idea,  that  success  in  it  confers  the  next  honors 
to  those  of  war,  and  is  one  of  their  means  of  existence;  or  the  still  higher 
excitements  of  ambition  and  revenge;  goading  them  to  war.  are  the  only 
adequate  motives  to  overcome  their  natural  indolence.  Their  excitements 
removed,  the  vagrant  propensities  of  a  life  without  object  or  pursuit,  are 
with  them  an  overwhelming  instinct,  in  opposition  to  daily  and  unremit- 
ting industry*  Extreme  avarice  in  those,  who  have  become  successful 
cultivators,  has  supplied  a  motive  of  sufficient  energy  to  induce  them 
to  mental  exertion,  in  order  to  procure  slaves.  But  wherever  we  have 
passed  fields  contiguous  to  Indian  villages,  the  mean  and  miserable  en- 
closures, the  maize  planted  out  of  rows,  and  crowded  together  at  unequal 
distances;  in  short,  the  whole  appearance  of  their  cultivation  was  suf- 
ficiently indicative  of  Indian  character,  that  labor  was  their  strange  work, 
and  that  even  their  more  industrious  women  and  children  were  but  poor 
and  careless  cultivators. 

In  regard  to  their  moral  character  and  dispositions,  their  modes  of 
existence,  their  domestic  habits,  their  atniableness  or  unamiableness, 
different  writers  have  taken  very  different  views.  Some  have  extolled 
their  condition,  as  comprising  the  highest  felicity  of  human  existence; 
and  their  manners  and  morals  as  the  utmost  perfection  of  human  nature. 


AD  ORIGIN  US. 


II" 


Such  were  the  dreams  of  Rosseau;  and,  under  the  pen  of  Chateaubriand, 
they  were  transformed  into  a  kind  of  amiable  and  happy  Arcadians. — 
Volney  described  them  from  observation;  and  the  little  that  he  has  said 
of  them  shows  great  exactness,  and  depth  of  research,  and  describes  more 
of  the  real  character  and  condition,  than  whole  volumes  written  by  others. 
Heckewelder  had  lived  with  a  particular  tribe,  had  identified  his  feelings, 
and  almost  his  affections  with  them  and  their  interests.  Having  a  very 
narrow  circle  of  observation,  every  thing  in  that  circle  became  magnified 
out  of  proportion.  Their  dim,  and,  probably,  fabulous  traditions,  were, 
to  him,  matter  of  sober  history-  His  views  of  them  do  more  credit  to 
the  benevolence  of  his  heart,  than  to  the  discriminating  powers  of  his 
mind;  and  are  not  exactly  the  data  on  which  a  philosopher  would  form 
his  opinions  of  the  Indian  character.  About  the  character  scarcely  any 
two  writers  have  been  agreed ;  and  we  have  accounts  of  them  almost 
diametrically  opposite.  Charlevoix  was  one  of  the  first  observers  of  the 
savages  of  Canada  and  the  West.  He  saw  them  too,  under  circumstances 
favorable  for  the  development  of  their  real  character;  before  their  man- 
ners were  sophisticated,  or  altered  by  communication  with  the  whites. — 
He  has  given  us,  perhaps,  the  most  faithful  account  of  the  savages  that 
has  been  given.  It  accords  with  the  views  that  they  have  presented  to 
us  at  the  present  day.  On  the  whole,  his  picture  is  that  of  a  race,  taken 
as  a  whole,  neither  amiable  nor  happy.  We  cannot  expect  to  settle  the 
collisions  of  opinion  upon  this  point.  The  brevity  of  our  limits  confines 
us  to  a  few  passing  remarks.  We  shall  give  some  of  their  general  traits, 
such  as  appear  to  us  to  be  common  to  the  race^  and  of  which  all  that 
have  been  extensively  acquainted  with  Indian  character  and  manners  will 
acknowledge  the  fidelity. 

As  a  race,  they  have  countenances  that  are  generally  unjoyous,  stern, 
and  ruminating.  It  is  with  them  either  gloomy  taciturnity,  or  bachana- 
lian  revel.  When  you  hear  Indians  laughing,  you  may  generally  infer, 
that  they  are  intoxicated.  An  Indian  seldom  jests;  generally  speaks  low, 
and  under  his  breath;  and  loquacity  is  with  him  an  indication  of  being 
a  trifling  personage,  and  of  deeds  inversely  less,  as  his  words  are  more. 
Even  the  young  men  and  the  boys  have  a  sullen,  moody  and  thoughtful 
countenance;  and  seem  to  have  little  of  that  elastic  gaiety,  with  which 
the  benevolence  of  Providence  has  endowed  the  first  days  of  the  exis- 
tence of  most  other  beings.  From  this  general  remark,  we  ought,  per- 
haps, to  except  the  squaw,  who  shows  some  analogy  of  nature  to  the  white 
female.  She  has  quicker  sensibilities,  is  more  easily  excited;  and  when 
out  of  sight  of  her  husband,  or  her  parents,  to  whom  these  things  are  mat- 
ters of  espionage  and  of  after  reprehension,  she  laughs  and  converses,  and 
seems  conscious  of  a  pleasurable  existence. 


I  |g  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

The  males  evidently  have  not  the  quick  sensibilities,  the  acute  percep- 
tions of  most  other  races.  They  do  not  easily  or  readily  sympathize 
with  external  nature.  None  but  an  overwhelming  excitement  can  arouse 
them.  They  seem  callous  to  all  the  passions,  but  rage.  The  instances, 
that  have  been  given  in  sucb  glowing  colors,  of  their  females  having  felt 
and  displayed  the  passion  of  love  towards  individuals  of  the  whites,  with 
such  devoted  constancy,  have,  no  doubt,  existed.  But  they  were  excep- 
tions— anomalies  from  the  general  character.  We  bave  seen  fathers  in 
their  cabins  caressing  their  children ;  but  even  their  caressing  was  of  their 
customary  moody  and  stern  character,  and  as  if  they  were  ashamed  to  do 
it.  They  are  apparently  a  sullen,  melancholy  and  musing  race,  who  ap- 
pear to  have  whatever  they  have  of  emotion,  or  excitement,  on  ordinary 
occasions,  going  on  in  the  inner  man.  Every  one  has  remarked,  how 
little  surprise  they  express  for  whatever  is  new,  strange,  or  striking. — 
Their  continual  converse  with  woods,  rocks  and  sterile  deserts,  with  the 
roar  of  winds  and  storms,  and  the  solitude  and  gloom  of  the  wilderness; 
their  apparent  exile  from  social  nature;  their  alternations  of  satiety  and 
hunger;  their  continual  exposure  to  danger;  their  uncertain  existence; 
their  constant  struggle  with  nature  to  maintain  il ;  the  little  hold,  which 
their  affections  seem  to  have  upon  life;  the  wild,  savage  and  hostile 
nature,  that  incessantly  surrounds  them; — these  circumstances  seem  to 
have  impressed  a  steady  and  unalterable  gloom  upon  their  countenances. 
If  there  be  here  and  there  among  them,  a  young  man,  who  feels  the 
freshness  and  vivacity  of  youthful  existence,  and  shows  anything  of  the 
gaiety  and  volatility  of  other  animals  in  such  circumstances,  though 
otherwise  born  to  distinction,  he  is  denounced,  as  ,a  trifling  thing;  and 
the  silent  and  sullen  young  savage  will  naturally  take  the  place  of  him. 
They  seem  to  be  born  with  an  instinctive  determination,  to  be,  as  much 
as  possible,  independent  of  nature  and  society,  and  to  concentrate,  as 
much  as  possible,  within  themselves  an  existence,  which  at  any  moment 
they  seem  willing  to  lay  down. 

Their  impassible  fortitude  and  endurance  of  suffering,  their  contempt 
of  pain  and  death,  invest  their  character  with  a  kind  of  moral  grandeur. 
It  is  to  be  doubted,  whether  some  part  of  this  vaunted  stoicism  be  not 
the  result  of  a  more  than  ordinary  degree  of  physical  insensibility.  It 
has  been  said,  with  how  much  truth  we  know  not,  that  in  amputation, 
and  in  other  surgical  operations,  their  nerves  do  not  shrink,  or  show  the 
same  tendency  to  spasm,  with  those  of  the  whites.  When  the  savage,  to 
explain  his  insensibility  to  cold,  called  upon  the  white  man  to  recollect 
how  little  his  own  face  was  affected  by  it,  in  consequence  of  constant 
exposure,  the  savage  added  'my  body  is  all  face.'  This  increasing  in- 
sensibility, transmitted  from  generation  to  generation,  finally  becomes 


A  DO  R  I  U  I  S  Lis.  |4j 

inwrought  with  the  whole  weh  of  animal  nature,  and  the  body  of  the 
savage  at  last  approximates  the  insensibility  of  the  hoofs  of  horses.  Con- 
sidering the  necessary  condition  of  savage  existence,  this  temperament 
is  the  highest  boon  of  Providence.  Of  course  no  ordinary  stimulus 
excites  them  to  action.  Few  of  the  common  motives,  excitements  or 
endearments  operate  upon  them  at  all.  Most  of  the  things  that  move 
us,  they  either  do  not  feel,  or  hold  in  proud  disdain.  The  horrors  of  their 
dreadful  warfare;  the  infernal  rage  of  their  battles;  the  demoniac  fury  of. 
gratified  revenge;  the  alternations  of  hope  and  despair  in  their  gambling, 
to  which  they  are  addicted,  even  beyond  the  whites;  the  brutal  exhilara- 
tion of  drunkenness; — these  are  their  pleasurable  excitements.  These 
are  the  things  that  awaken  them  to  a  strong  and  joyous  consciousness  of 
existence.  When  these  excitements  arouse  the  imprisoned  energies  of 
their  long  and  sullen  meditations,  it  is  like  yEolus  uncaging  the  whirl- 
winds. The  tomahawk  flies  with  unpitying  and  unsparing  fury;  and  the 
writhing  of  their  victims  inspires  a  horrible  joy.  Let  the  benevolent 
make  every  exertion  to  ameliorate  their  character  and  condition.  Let 
Christianity  arouse  every  effort  to  convey  her  pity,  mercy  and  immortal 
hopes  to  their  rugged  bosoms.  But  surely  it  is  preposterous  to  admire 
the  savage  character  in  the  abstract.  Let  us  never  undervalue  the  com- 
fort and  security  of  municipal  and  civilized  life;  nor  the  sensibilities, 
charities  and  endearments  of  our  own  homes.  The  happiness  of  savages, 
steeled  against  sympathy  and  feeling,  at  war  with  nature,  with  the 
elements,  and  with  each  other,  can  have  no  existence,  except  in  the 
visionary  dreaming  of  those,  who  never  contemplated  their  actual 
condition. 

It  is  curious  to  remark,  that  different  as  are  their  standards  of  opinion 
from  ours,  in  the  main  they  have  much  the  same  notions  of  a  good  and 
respedable  man,  that  we  have.  If  we  mark  the  passion  for  military 
display  among  our  race,  and  observe  what  point  is  assigned  by  common 
feeling  as  well  as  history  to  military  prowess,  we  shall  hardly  consider  it 
a  striking  difference  from  our  nature,  that  bravery  and  daring,  command 
the  first  place  in  their  homage.  Their  whole  training,  from  their  first  to 
their  last  hour,  inculcates  the  maxim,  that,  courage  is  everything.  But 
apart  from  these  views,  the  traits  of  character,  that  entitle  a  man  to  the 
appellation  of  virtuous  and  good  among  us,  have  the  same  bearing  upon 
the  estimation  of  the  Indians.  In  conversing  with  them,  we  are  struck 
with  surprise,  to  observe  how  widely  and  deeply  the  obligations  of  truth, 
constancy,  honor,  generosity  and  forbearance  are  felt  and  understood 
among  them. 

It  has  been  often  observed  by  foreign  writers,  and  the  sentiment 
has  been  echoed  by  philosophers  of  our  own  country,  that  they  were 


120  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEV.     / 

less  subject  to  desire,  and  that  the  sexual  propensities  were  weaker  in 
their  jace,  than  in  ours;  and  they  have  evidenced  the  want  of  beard  in 
the  males,  as  a  physical  proof.  The  Indians  are  as  particular,  as  the 
Parisians,  not  to  depart  from  their  own  modes  and  fashions.  But  we 
have  occasionally  seen  a  savage,  who  had  the  courage  or  the  affectation 
to  be  singular,  and  such  a  person  has  a  beard,  that  would  do  credit 
to  an  Oriental.  It  is  well  known,  that  one  of  the  most  general  and 
troublesome  employments  of  the  young  Indians  is,  to  pull  out  the  starting 
crop  of  beard  with  tweezers.  We  know  not  if  their  beard  would  grow 
naturally  as  abundant,  as  that  of  the  whites.  But  if  it  would  not,  it  is 
unquestionably  owing  to  other  causes,  than  want  of  natural  vigor. 
Labor,  a  diet  often  meagre  from  necessity,  exposure,  and  the  indulgence 
of  passions  of  a  deeper  character,  as  ambit  ion  $  vindictiveness  and  the 
appetite  for  war,  would  probably  weaken,  if  not  extinguish,  in  whites, 
passions,  which  are  fostered  in  indolence,  plenty  and  repose.  But  when 
savages  are  placed  in  situations  favorable  to  the  development  and  indul- 
gence of  animal  desires,  we  have  seen  no  indications  that  they  are  feebler^ 
or  less  intense  in  them,  than  in  the  whites.  When  we  look  upon  the  wild 
and  naked  elements,  upon  which,  in  some  sense,  their  children  are  cast; 
when  we  consider  how  unfavorable  is  their  situation  for  rearing  children, 
we  are  astonished,  at  seeing  so  many  in  their  cabins.  Of  the  squaws, 
that  we  have  seen,  of  mature  age,  a  very  great  proportion  of  them  had 
their  babe,  either  swinging  in  its  bark  cradle,  suspended  between  two 
trees;  or  if  the  mother  was  travelling,  hung  to  her  back  by  the  usual 
strings,  passed  over  her  shoulders,  compressed  to  her  back  by  a  bark  cage, 
not  unlike  the  shell  of  a  tortoise.  Its  copper  colored  nose  is  seen  peeping 
from  this  cage,  like  that  of  a  tortoise  from  its  shell;  and  even  the  infants 
seem  to  feel,  that  crying  is  to  no  purpose;  and  its  note  of  grief  is 
seldom  heard. 

It  is  to  be  lamented,  that  the  intercourse  of  the  whites  among  them  has 
been  calculated  to  convey  any  impressions  of  them,  rather  than  those  of 
the  philosophers,  to  whom  we  have  spoken.  Numberless  fatal  cases  of 
jealousy  ore  recorded  of  their  young  warriors,  in  reference  to  the  deport- 
ment of  our  people  towards  their  women,  while  among  them.  The  man- 
ners of  out  people,  in  this  intercourse,  have  too  often  been  an  outrage 
upon  decency  and  humanity.  There  are  but  few  tribes,  among  whom 
the  passing  American  sojourner,  if  he  have  any  respectability  of  appear, 
ance,  does  not  receive  the  offer  of  a  daughter,  or  perhaps  the  wife  of  his 
host,  as  a  temporary  companion.  Almost  every  American  trader  and 
resident  among  them  has  an  Indian  wife;  and  but  too  often,  wives  in  the 
region  which  they  left.  In  Long's  first  expedition  an  instance  of  this 
sort  is  recorded,  of  the  deep  and  devoted  constancy  of  affection  on  the 


ABORlGINEb. 


121 


part  of  the  young  Indian  wife,  and  thrilling  proofs  of  the  struggle  be- 
tween maternal  and  conjugal  affection.  The  whole  story  is  character- 
istic;  and  reflects  as  much  honor  upon  the  Indian  wife  and  mother,  as  it 
does  shame  and  contempt  on  the  base  and  cold  blooded  perfidy  of  the 
American   husband. 

In  all  the  Indian  tribes,  they  have  contrived  to  emulate  the  most  pol- 
ished and  civilized  people  in  the  extent  of  prostitution,  practised  among 
them;  and  the  degraded  subjects  have  the  same  estimation  in  the  one 
country  and  the  other.  Unnatural  vices,  fornication  and  adultery,  prevail 
among  many  of  the  tribes,  no  doubt,  to  a  great  extent;  but  taking  into 
view  the  opportunities  in  the  solitude  of  the  desert,  the  smallness  of  their 
societies,  and  the  diminished  influence  of  opinion,  that  results  from  it; 
taking  into  view,  that  they  have  no  laws,  but  indefinite  opinion,  no  religion, 
and  no  visible  restraints, — the  state  of  morals,  in  these  respects,  is  far 
purer,  than  would  naturally  be  expected.  Instead  of  admiring,  that 
these  vices  are  practised  among  them,  but,  perhaps,  not  to  a  greater  degree, 
than  in  civilized  countries,  it  is,  to  a  thinking  mind,  matter  of  astonish- 
ment, that  there  is  so  much  decorum  and  restraint,  in  these  respects,  as 
there  is.  We  feel  constrained,  too,  to  place  this  decorum  among  them- 
selves, and  that  astonishing  delicacy,  with  which  they  deport  themselves 
towards  white  females  that  fall  into  their  power,  to  a  more  honorable  cause, 
than  the  destitution  of  passions.  When  we  have  passed  various  Indian 
tribes  encamped  near  together, in  company  with  ladies,  we  have  observed 
the  same  manners,  and  the  same  indications  of  what  was  passing  in  their 
minds  that  we  should  expect  to  see  in  untrained  and  low  people  among 
ourselves;  nor  have  we  ever  believed  for  a  moment,  that  the  propensi- 
ties of  nature  are  not  as  strong,  under  similar  circumstances,  in  them, 
as  in  us. 

There  are  different  standards  of  morals  among  them,  as  there  are 
among  the  white  nations.  With  some  tribes,  adultery  is  a  venial  offence; 
and  in  others,  it  is  punished  with  mutilation,  death,  or  the  handing  over 
the  degraded  female  to  the  males  of  the  tribe.  The  instance  of  a  young 
squaw,  who  is  a  mother  before  marriage,  is  a  very  uncommon  occurrence; 
nor  have  we  as  much  faith  as  others,  in  their  adroitness  at  procuring 
abortion.  In  the  case  of  a  young  Indian  woman  the  fact  of  pregnancy 
could  not  be  hidden. 

The  modes  of  managing  marriage  are  as  various,  as  among  the  whites. 
If  there  be  any  prevalent  custom  among  the  tribes,  it  is,  that  the  parents 
manage  the  matter;  and  the  young  warrior  in  the  morning  finds  the 
squaw,  elected  by  the  parents,  sitting  in  his  quarters,  with  whatever  she 
is  expected  to  bring,  as  a  dowry,  removed  with  her.  It  sometimes,  but 
not  often,  happens,  that  he  enters  his  dissent,  and  she  returns  with  her 

16 


|22  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY 

baggage  to  her  mother.  It  is  an  universal  custom  to  marry  as  many 
wives,  as  the  warrior  or  hunter  pleases.  This  is  an  affair,  accurately 
prescribed  by  custom.  If  a  young  hunter  has  been  for  a  length  of  time 
very  successful  in  hunting,  like  a  rich  Turk,  he  is  authorized  by  opinion 
to  take  as  many  wives,  as  he  has  proved  himself  able  to  maintain. 

Jealousy  in  this  case,  and  in  all  other  cases,  shows  itself  under  the 
same  forms,  which  it  would  naturally  assume  among  our  people.  In 
Long's  first  expedition,  we  have  a  very  amusing  account  of  the  manner, 
in  which  a  wife  deports  herself,  when  her  husband  happens  to  manifest 
a  greater  fondness  for  another  wife.  Sometimes  the  favorite,  to  avoid 
her  tongue,  teeth  and  nails,  flies  with  her  husband  to  the  campaign  or 
hunt.  At  others,  in  dread  of  her  life,  she  returns  to  her  parents.  When 
the  two  wives  quarrel,  whatever  be  the  taciturnity  of  the  husband,  there 
is  no  want  of  words  between  the  wives.  The  husband,  squat  on  his 
hams,  with  his  pipe  in  his  mouth,  his  head  half  covered,  and  his  eyes 
half  closed,  affects  to  be  dozing,  while  they  rate  each  other.  If  the 
contest  of  words  goes  on  to  blows,  as  is  often  the  case,  he  arises  with  the 
stern  air  of  a  judge,  and  parts  them,  with  a  manner,  that  indicates  which 
is  the  favorite.  The  wives  generally  find  one  lodge  too  narrow  for  both 
to  inhabit  together.  The  Indian  spends  his  time,  perhaps,  in  equal 
portions  between  them.  But  if  he  happens  to  spend  more  time  with  the 
one  than  the  other,  when  he  returns  to  the  neglected  wife,  she  manifests 
her  view  of  the  case  by  kicking  his  dog,  throwing  his  food  on  the  ground, 
and  admitting  him  with  great  frankness  into  her  thoughts  of  him  and  his 
favorite.  The  more  our  species  are  studied,  the  more  clearly  it  is  found, 
that  the  human  heart  is  every  where  the  same. 

It  is  beyond  all  question,  that  some  of  the  tribes  now  occasionally 
practise  cannibalism;  and  that  before  the  new  world  was  visited  by  the 
whites,  it  was  a  custom  generally,  if  not  universally  prevalent  among 
them.  The  imperceptible  influence  of  the  horror,  with  which  this  practise 
is  regarded  by  the  whites,  has  made  its  way  among  them;  and,  little  as 
they  are  disposed  to  confess,  that  they  are  swayed  by  our  opinions,  the 
earnestness  with  which  they  deny  the  existence  of  the  practise  at  present 
in  their  tribes,  and  with  which  they  attempt  to  vindicate  their  ancestors 
from  the  charge,  is  an  incontestible  admission  of  the  influence,  which  our 
opinions  exercise  over  them. 

It  would  extend  these  remarks  beyond  our  object,  to  give  extensive 
and  general  details  of  Indian  manners  and  modes  of  life.  An  important 
era  with  the  youth  of  all  the  tribes  is,  that  when  they  pass  from  minority 
to  the  duties  and  estimation  of  warriors  and  hunters.  This  period  is 
celebrated  with  great  solemnity.  It  is  well  known,  that  hunting  is  the 
serious  business,  and  war  the  important  amusement  and  pleasure  of  their 


ABORIGINES.  jyJJ 

lives.  The  manner,  in  which  they  conduct  these  pursuits,  is  sufficiently 
well  known.  Their  modes  of  constructing  their  habitations  vary,  accord- 
ing as  they  dwell  in  a  country  of  forests  or  prairies,  or  northern  or 
southern  climate.  Al  hough  in  the  very  few  instances,  in  which  the 
savages  have  become  cultivators  in  good  earnest,  they  may  have  con- 
structed good  houses,  the  far  greater  portion  aim  at  nothing  more,  than 
the  frailest  and  rudest  cabin.  Yet  in  the  construction  of  these,  there  are 
the  same  differences,  as-  are  seen  in  the  cabins  of  the  backwoods  men. 
Some  are  extremely  rude;  and  some  are  framed  with  ingenious  and 
persevering  reference  to  comfort  and  utility.  The  same  differences  are 
visible  in  the  internal  arrangement  and  keeping  of  the  cabin.  In  most 
instances  the  interior  is  filthy  and  uncomfortable,  beyond  the  endurance 
of  any  but  a  savage.  We  have  been  in  others,  where  the  neatly  matted 
floor,  or  the  earth  covered  with  the  fresh  verdure  of  the  palmetto,  and  the 
neatness  of  all  the  accompaniments,  gAve  the  scene  such  an  air  of  com- 
fort, as  created  a  train  of  pleasant  associations  with  the  place. 

Like  all  ignorant  people,  unable  to  trace  the  relation  between  results 
and  causes,  they  are  beyond  all  other  people  superstitious.  It  may  be 
laid  down,  as  an  universal  trait  of  the  Indian  character.  The  warrior, 
who  braves  death  a  thousand  times,  and  in  every  form  in  the  fury  of  battle, 
carries  with  him  to  the  combat  a  little  charmed  bag  of  filthy  and  disgust- 
ing ingredients,  in  which  he  places  no  little  reliance,  as  security  against 
the  balls  and  arrows,  that  are  fired  upon  him.  They  are  much  addicted 
to  faith  in  dreams.  One  of  the  dreamers,  the  day  before  alert,  confident 
and  intrepid,  awakes  the  next  morning,  subdued  and  timid.  He  paints 
one  side  of  his  face  black.  He  suljects  himself  to  the  most  rigorous 
abstinence  and  fasting.  Nothing  can  induce  him  to  indulge  or  taste 
food,  until  the  interdict  has  passed  away.  He  has  dreamed  an  unfavora- 
ble dream.  Such  astonishing  hold  have  these  dreams  upon  their  mind, 
that  a  warrior  has  been  known  to  assume  the  dress,  the  duties,  the  drud- 
gery, and  what  is  infinitely  more  humiliating  to  an  Indian,  the  estima- 
tion and  standing  of  a  squaw,  in  consequence  of  one  of  these  dreams. 

This  great  tendency  to  superstition  in  an  Indian  mind,  furnishes  strong 
inducements  to  ingenious  and  bold  impesters  among  them,  to  assume  the 
character  of  jugglers,  quacks,  medicine  men  and  prophets.  Our  country 
had  a  terrible  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  this  assumption,  in  the  case  of  the 
'Shawnee  prophet,'  and  inferior  men  of  the  same  character,  during  the 
late  war.  A  chief  among  the  savages  of  the  Missouri,  exercised,  through 
the  influence  of  fear,  a  long  and  severe  authority  over  Indians,  by  whom 
he  was  abhorred.  He  had  a  medicine  bag  of  terrible  efficacy;  and  his 
enemies  fell  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left.  It  was  a  received  opinion 
in  his  tribe,  that  his  wish  had  a  withering  and  fatal  influence  en  whom- 


124 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY 


aoever  he  directed  it.  After  his  death,  his  grand  medicine  was  found  to 
be  arsenic. 

Every  thing  with  them,  of  great  efficacy  and  power,  that  is  inexplica- 
ble, is  a  'medicine;''  and  the  medicine  men  among  them  have  the  next 
decree  of  consideration  to  chiefs  and  noted  warriors.  We  have  conversed 
with  Indians,  who  were  atheists,  and  treated  as  fabulous,  all  notions  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul;  and  defended  their  opinions  with  as  much 
ingenuity,  as  abandoned  people  of  the  lower  -orders  among  ourselves, 
who  profess  to  hold  the  same  opinions.  But  in  some  shape  or  form, 
almost  all  savages  admit  the  being  of  a  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  The  Great  Spirit  is  termed  in  many  of  their  languages, '  Wahcon- 
dati?  or  Master  of  Life.  Storm  and  thunder  are  manifestations  of  his 
wrath;  and  success  in  war  and  hunting,  of  his  favor.  Many  of  the  tribes 
have  forms  of  prayer,  in  the  use  of  which  they  are  regular  and  earnest, 
particularly  when  starting  on  expeditions  of  hunting  or  war. — Their 
prophets  occasionally  give  out,  that  they  have  had  communications  with 
this  Spirit,  who  has  made  himself  visibly  manifest  to  them,  in  the  form 
of  some  bird  or  beast;  and  they  paint  their  faces  black,  and  observe 
great  mystery  on  the  occasion ;  and  thence  derive  their  pretensions  to 
prophecy,  and  to  be  treated  with  the  deference  of 'medicine  men.'  Their 
notions  of  the  condition  of  departed  spirits  are  such,  as  we  might  expect 
from  their  character  and  condition.  In  some  distant  regions  of  a  south- 
ern temperature,  they  place  the  home  of  the  worthy  departed  in  the 
country  of 'brave  and  free'  spirit?,  who  pass  to  that  country  of  game  and 
good  cheer,  over  a  bridge  scarcely  wider  than  a  hair,  suspended  over  a 
yawning  gulf.  They,  who  have  firm  hearts  and  feet,  and  unlilenching 
countenances, — that  is  to  say,  who  were  good  warriors  in  life,  pass 
safely  over  the  bridge;  while  the  timid  and  trembling  fall  into  the  gulf 
below. 

Though  they  will  sometimes  talk  of  these  matters  with  great  earnest- 
ness and  apparent  conviction,  yet,  we  believe,  of  all  people,  that  have 
been  known  on  the  earth,  their  thoughts,  hopes  and  fears  dwell  the  least 
on  any  thing  beyond  this  life.  It  seems  to  be  inexplicable  to  them,  that 
any  part  of  their  conduct  here  can  have  any  hearing  upon  their  condition 
hereafter.  If  they  can  be  comfortable,  and  gain  iheir  points  in  this  life, 
they  concern  themselves  very  little  about  what  will  happen  to  them  in 
the  life  to  come.  Of  course,  ajjult  sivajjes  have  too  often  been  found 
hopeless  subjects,  upon  whom  to  bestow  the  pure  and  sublime  truths 
of  our  gospel.  The  days  of  the  Brainards  and  Elliots  seem  to  have  gone 
by;  or  the  western  and  southern  savages  are  more  hopeless  subjects  for 
conversion,  than  those  of  the  north.  They  have  certainly  been  found 
utterly  destitute  of  the  plastic  docility  of  the  Mexican  and  Peruvian 


ABORIGINES.  y^o 

Indians.  Charlevoix  has  given,  as  a  characteristic  trait  of  the  Canadian 
and  western  savages  of  his  day,  one,  lhat  has  heen  found  equally  appli- 
cable to  them  at  the  present  time.  They  listen  with  apparent  docility 
and  attention  to  our  expositions  of  our  religion,  our  faitlj,  and  oar 
hopes;  and  assent  to  all,  and  admit,  that  this  may  all  be  true,  in  relation 
to  individuals  of  our  race.  They  relate  in  turn  their  own  fables,  their 
own  dim  and  visionary  notions  of  a  God  and  hereafter;  and  exact  the 
same  docility  and  complaisance  to  their  creed,  which  they  yielded  to 
ours. 

In  respect  to  the  lesser  morals,  all  savages  in  this  region  are  hospitable. 
Even  the  enemy,  whom  they  would  have  sought,  and  slain  far  from  their 
cabins,  who  presents  himself  fearlessly  there,  claims,  and  receives  their 
hospitality.  They  accord  to  the  cabin  hearth,  the  honors  and  the  sanc- 
tity of  an  asylum.  A  great  numberof  instances  are  on  record,  of  sav- 
ages of  hostile  tribes,  obnoxious  to  the  most  deadly  revenge  of  particular 
warriors,  presenting  themselves  on  a  sudden  before  those  warriors,  and 
offering  their  bosoms  to  the  knife.  This  heroism  often  not  only  disarms 
revenge,  but  with  admiration  excites  more  generous  feelings,  and  brings 
about  a  peace  between  the  contending  tribes.  That  part  of  our  charac- 
ter, which  they  are  the  last  to  understand,  is  that  when  we  have  received 
in  their  villages  the  most  ample  hospitality,  they,  in  returning  the  visit, 
should  find,  that  our  strangers  lodged  in  taverns. 

We  have  not  the  same  plenary  faith  in  their  tenacious  remembrance  of 
kindnesses,  and  the  certainty  of  our  dependence  upon  the  constancy  of 
their  friendship.  We  consider  them  a  treacherous  people,  easily  swayed. 
from  their  purpose,  paying  their  court  to  the  divinity  of  good  fortune,  and 
always  ready  to  side  with  the  strongest.  We  should  not  rely  upon  their 
feelings  of  to-day,  as  any  pledge  for  what  they  will  be  to-morrow. 

They  are  well  known  for  their  voraciousness  of  appetite.  They  en- 
dure hunger  and  thirst,  as  they  do  pain  and  death,  with  astonishing  pa- 
tience and  constancy.     When  they  kill  a  deer,  a  buffalo,  or  a  bear,  after 

a  long  abstinence,  they  will  devour  an  enormous  quantity  of  flesh 

Their  fatal  and  devoted  attachment  to  ardent  spirits,  is  matter  of  melan- 
choly notoriety.  In  all  their  councils,  and  'talks'  and  conferences  with 
the  officers  of  the  government,  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Rocky  Mountains 
the  first  and  the  last  request  is  'whiskey.1  This  is  the  only  point  upon 
which  it  is  useless  to  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  honor  and  shame  in  an 
Indian.  Declaim  as  we  may  against  the  use  of  it;  paint  the  ill  effects 
of  it,  as  strongly  as  we  choose;  speak  with  as  much  contempt  as  we 
may,  of  drunkards;  their  best  and  their  bravest  still  clamor  for  whiskey. 
Schoolcraft  gives  us  a  characteristic  anecdote  to  this  effect.  A  noted 
Pottawotomie  chief  presented  himself  to  the  American  agent  at  Chicago, 


]26  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

as  a  good  man,  and  a  good  friend  to  the  Americans,  and  concluded  with 
the  usual  request  for  whiskey.  The  reply  was,  that  the  agent  did  not 
give  whiskey  to  good  Indians;  that  such  neither  asked  for  it,  nor  drank 
it,  when  offered;  that.it  was  bad  Indians  only,  who  asked  for  whiskey. 

The  Indian  replied  with  great  quickness,  in  broken  English,  'Me  d n 

rascal.1 

All  words  would  be  thrown  away  in  attempting  to  portray,  in  just 
colors,  the  effects  of  whiskey  upon  such  a  race.  It  is,  indeed,  the  heavi- 
est curse  that  their  intercourse  with  the  whites  has  entailed  upon  them. 
Every  obligation  of  duty,  as  philanthropists  and  Christians,  imposes  up- 
on us  all  possible  efforts  to  prevent  the  extirpation  of  the  whole  race;  the 
inevitable  consequence  of  their  having  free  access  to  this  liquid  poison. 
We  have  adverted  to  the  stern  and  rigorous  prohibitions  of  the  General 
Government,  and  the  fidelity  with- which  they  are  generally  carried  into 
effect;  yet,  in  some  way  or  other,  wherever  Americans  have  access, 
Indians  have  whiskey.  It  is  understood  that  the  laws  of  the  State  Gov- 
ernments and  of  the  General  Government  are  not  in  concert  upon  this 
subject.  It  is  matter  of  undoubted  fact,  that  in  the  States  the  Indians 
find  much  less  difficulty  in  procuring  whiskey,  than  in  the  Territories; 
and,  of  course,  intoxication  is  far  more  common.  The  duties  of  the 
States  imperiously  call  upon  them  to  frame  laws  in  unison  with  those  of 
the  General  Government,  and  to  unite  with  that,  to  prevent  these  unhap- 
py beings  from  exercising  their  suicide  propensities. 

It  has  been  inferred,  because  they  make  it  a  point,  not  to  express 
astonishment  or  curiosity,  in  view  of  our  improvements  and  arts,  that 
they  have  little  curiosity;  and  because  they  seem  to  hold  them  in  con- 
tempt and  disdain,  that  they  have  nothing  analogous  to  the  cupidity,  van- 
ity or  pride  of  the  whites.  They  are,  unquestionably,  a  very  proud  race» 
and  their  pride  induces  them  to  affect  indifference,  and  to  hold  those 
things  in  apparent  contempt  which  they  are  conscious  they  cannot  obtain. 
As  regards  their  vanity,  we  have  not  often  had  the  fortune  to  contem- 
plate a  young  squaw  at  her  toilet.  But  from  the  studied  arrangement 
of  her  calico  jacket,  from  the  glaring  circles  of  vermillion  on  her  round 
face,  from  the  artificial  manner  in  which  her  hair  is  clubbed,  and  from 
the  time  which  she  occupies  in  completing  these  arrangements,  we  infer, 
that  dress,  and  personal  ornament,  occupy  the  same  portion  of  her 
thoughts,  that  they  do  of  the  fashionable  women  of  civilized  society- 
A  young  Indian  warrior  is  notoriously  the  most  thorough-going  beau  in 
the  world.  Broadway  and  Bond  street  furnish  no  subjects  that  will  spend 
as  much  time,  or  endure  as  much  crimping  and  confinement,  to  appear 
in  full  dress.  We  think  that  we  have  observed  such  a  character,  con- 
stantly employed  with  his  paints  and  his  pocket  glass  for  three  full  hours' 


a  B  0  R  1  U  i  N  £  a  .  |  • .  • 

laying  on  his  paints,  and  arranging  his  tresses,  and  contemplating,  with 
visible  satisfaction,  from  time  to  time,  the  progress  of  his  attractions. — 
The  chiefs  and  warriors,  in  full  dress,  have  one,  two,  or  three  clasps  of 
silver  about  their  arms,  generally  jewels  in  their  ears,  and  often  in  their 
nose;  and  nothing  is  more  common,  than  to  see  a  thin,  circular  piece  of 
silver,  of  the  size  of  a  dollar,  hanging  from  their  nose,  a  little  below  their 
upper  lip.  This  ornament,  so  horribly  inconvenient,  seems  to  be  one  of 
the  highest  Indian  taste.  Painted  porcupine  quills  are  twirled  in  their 
hair.  Tails  of  animals  hang  from  the  hair  behind;  or  from  the  point 
where  they  were  originally  appended  to  theanimal.  A  necklace  of  bear's 
or  aligator's  teeth,  or  claws  of  the  bald  eagle,  or  common  red  beads,  or, 
wanting  these,  a  kind  of  rosary  of  red  hawthorns,  hangs  about  the  neck. 
From  the  knees  to  the  feet,  the  legs  are  ornamented  with  great  numbers 
of  little  perforated,  cylindrical  pieces  of  silver,  or  brass,  that  tinkle  as 
the  pers(  n  walks.  If  to  all  this,  he  add  an  American  hat,  and  a  soldier's 
coat,  of  blue,  faced  with  red,  over  the  customary  calico  shirt,  he  steps 
firmly  on  the  ground,  to  give  to  his  tinklers  a  simultaneous  noise,  and 
apparently  considers  his  person  with  as  much  complacency  as  the  human 
bosom  can  be  supposed  to  feel.  This  is  a  very  curtailed  view  of  an  In- 
dian beau,  and  faithful,  as  far  as  it  goes,  to  the  description  of  almost 
every  young  Indian  at  a  great  public  dance. 

So  many  faithful  prints  have  recently  been  presented  to  the  public  of 
the  Indian  figure  and  costume,  that  most  of  those,  who  have  not  seen  the 
living  subject,  have  definite  views  of  it.  The  males  for  the  most  part, 
wear  leggins,  sitting  closely  from  the  loins  to  the  ancles,  generally  of 
smoke-tanned  deer  skin,  sometimes  of  blue  cloth.  Those  who  inhabit 
beyond  the  range  of  the  buffalo,  wear  a  blanket,  thrown  loosely  over  the 
shoulders;  and  those  who  live  in  the  region  of  the  buffalo,  wear  a  dressed 
skin  of  that  animal.  Their  moccasins  are  ornamented  with  exlren'.ecare 
with  different  colored  porcupine  quilts,  arranged  in  lines  and  compart- 
ments. But  in  the  sultry  months,  they  are  often  seen  with  no  other 
dress,  than  a  piece  of  blue  cloth,  in  the  language  of  the  country,  'stroud- 
ing,'  passed  between  the  thighs,  and  brought  round  the  loins.  In  regions 
contiguous  to  the  whites,  they  have  generally  a  calico  shirt  of  the  finest 
colors;  and  they  are  particularly  attached  to  a  long  calico  dress,  resem- 
bling a  morning  gown. 

The  women  have  a  calico  jacket,  leggins,  not  much  unlike  those  of  the 
men,  and  wherever  they  can  afford  it,  a  blue  broadcloth  petticoat.  We 
do  not  remember  to  have  seen  Indians  either  m^'e  or  female,  effect  any 
other  colors,  than  red  or  blue.  The  thick,  heavy,  black  tresses  of  hair 
are  parted  on  the  forehead,  and  skewered  with  a  quill  or  thorn  in  a  large 
club  behind. 


128  MISSISSIPPI      VALLEY. 

They  have  various  dances,  to  which  they  are  extravagantly  attached; 
and  which  often  have,  as  did  the  dances  of  the  old  time,  a  religious  char- 
acter. The  aged  council  chiefs  drum,  and  the  young  warriors  dance 
with  great  vehemence,  beating  the  ground  with  their  feet.  They  pursue 
the  business  with  a  vigor,  which  causes  the  perspiration  to  pour  from  their 
bodies.  They  have  the  war,  the  council,  the  feast,  and  the  dog  dance; 
and  tunes  corresponding  to  the  different  objects.  The  tunes  are  very 
monotonous,  running  through  only  three  or  four  notes,  and  constantly 
recuring  to  the  same  strain.  In  most  of  the  tribes,  the  women  take  no 
part  in  the  song  or  dance. — Among  some  of  the  tribes,  we  have  heard 
the  women  chime  in  on  the  last  note. 

Incredible  stories  are  relaled  of  the  powers  of  their  jugglers  and  moun- 
tebanks. Many  of  their  alleged  feats  never  took  place,  except  in  the 
imaginations  of  the  ignorant  people,  who  related  them.  But.  they  have 
undoubtedly  a  rigidity  of  muscle,  a  callousness  of  nerve,  and  a  contempt 
of  pain  and  wounds,  that  enable  them  to  achieve  swallowing  fire,  putting 
knives  and  swords  down  their  throats,  and  such  like  exploits  with  great 
success.  To  create  admiration  is  of  course  a  passion  with  them;  and 
this  desire  incites  them  to  thought  and  study,  in  order  to  learn  the  mystic 
art  of  legerdemain,  in  which  they  certainly  attain  no  inconsiderable  pro- 
ficiency. Their  medicine  men  are  a  kind  of  jugglers;  and  there  is  much 
ceremony  and  affectation  of  mystery,  in  the  preparing  and  administering 
their  medicines.  The  most  amusing  part  of  this  business  is,  that  the 
scaramouch  who  has  gone  through  all  the  ceremonies,  and  prepared  the 
medicine,  generally  takes  it  himself.  We  have  little  faith  in  their 
boasted  acquaintance  with  remedies,  from  their  own  vegetable  kingdom. 
We  have  remarked,  that  when  they  were  near  our  settlements,  their  sick 
are  in  the  habit  of  applying  to  our  physicians. 

The  Indian  head  is  such,  as  we  would  suppose  the  craniologists  would 
select,  as  finely  moulded  for  intelligence.  In  this  respect  he  would 
probably  place  them,  as  a  race,  beside  the  homo  sapiens  Europceus. — 
We  have  seen  them  in  every  position,  to  try  their  native  acuteness.  We 
have  taught  their  young.  We  consider  them  naturally  a  shrewd,  intelli- 
gent people,  with  heads  capable  of  the  highest  mental  development  in 
every  department  of  thought,  in  as  great  a  degree  as  our  own  race.  They 
have,  probably,  as  much  curiosity,  but  a  more  stern  perseverance  in  the 
effort  to  suppress  it.  The  fust  time  that  they  witness  a  steam  boat,  they 
never  suppress  the  outward  expression  of  their  admiration,  and  their  em- 
phatic lughP 

Languages.  It  cannot  be  expected,  that  we  should  dismiss  this 
article,  which  with  every  effort  to  curtail  it,  has  grown  up  under  our  hands, 
without  remarking  on  their  languages.     In  all  their  dialects  we  suspect, 


ABORIGINES. 


i2d 


that.  like  the  Chinese,  their  words  were  originally  but  of  one  syllable. 
— Every  word,  then,  of  more  than  one  syllable,  has  been  formed  in  the 
progress  of  advancing  ideas  among  them,  by  a  corresponding  combina- 
tion of  ideas.  Having  few  abstractions  among  their  ideas,  and  knowing 
and  caring  little  about  our  complex  combinations  of  thought,  conversant 
wholly  with  tangible  and  visible  matters,  their  expressions  are  paint- 
ings of  sensible  ideas  with  the  coloring  matter  of  words.  Whenever 
we  undertake  to  convey  to  them  a  connected  chain  of  abstract  ideas, 
they  turn  to  us  for  a  while  with  a  complacent  inclination  of  the  head, 
and  apply  their  hand  to  their  ear,  with  the  sign,  so  readily  understood  by 
all  Indians,  to  imply  that  they  are  deaf.  Their  manner  of  numbering, 
evidences  the  extreme  simplicity  of  their  language.  We  have  requested 
of  all  the  tribes,  with  Which  we  have  been  conversant,  their  terms  of 
numbering,  as  far  as  an  hundred.  In  some,  the  terms  are  simple  as  far 
as  ten.  In  others,  six  is  five-one,  seven  five-two,  and  so  on.  Beyond 
ten  they  generally  count  by  reduplication  of  ten.  This  they  perform  by 
a  mechanical  arithmetic,  intricate  to  explain,  but  readily  apprehended 
by  the  eye.  Some  of  the  tribes  are  said  to  be  perplexed  in  their  attempts 
to  number  beyond  an  hundred.  When  the  question  turned  upon  any 
point,  that  involved  great  numbers,  we  have  generally  heard  them  avail 
themselves  of  an  English  word,  the  first,  we  believe,  and  the  most  uni- 
versally understood  by  savages — heap.  We  have  read,  that  in  some  of 
their  languages,  there  are  subtleties  of  structure,  and  nice  shades  of 
divisions  of  time,  in  the  tenses  of  their  verbs,  that  transcend  even  the 
famed  exactness  and  finish  of  the  Greek.  There  is  something  inex- 
plicable, it  must  be  admitted,  in  the  combinations  and  artificial  structure 
of  the  language  of  a  people  of  such  extreme  simplicity  of  thought. 

We  profess  to  know  little  of  the  origin  of  these  languages.  We  sus- 
pect, that  a  life  might  be  spent  in  studying  them  in  the  closet  to  very  little 
purpose.  The  savages  vary  their  meaning  by  the  accent  and  intonation 
which  they  give  their  words,  still  more  than  the  French.  We  fear,  that  a 
printed  page  of  Indian  words,  most  carefully  and  accurately  noted  by 
the  marks  of  accent  and  sound  in  our  dictionaries,  could  hardly  be  read 
by  an  unpractised  American,  so  as  to  be  intelligi'  le  to  the  Indian,  whose 
language  they  purport  tj  be.  We  suppose  the  Muskogee  and  Cherokee 
to  be  the  patriarchal  dialec  s  of  the  South;  the  Chippeway  and  Dicota, 
of  the  Indians  of  the  lakes  and  tie  Upper  Mississippi;  and  the  Os  gs 
and  Pawnee,  of  the  savages  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Red  River. — 
We  sh:uld  not  forget,  that  they  have  a  language  of  signs, —  heL.t.n, 
or  c  mmon  language,  by  w  licb  all  the  t:i  es  converse  with  e  ch  other. 
It  is  a  trite  maxim,  that  'Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention;'  and  it  is- 
inconceivable,  except  by  those  who  have  witnessed  it,  how  copious  and 

17 


130 


M  T  S  S  1  S  6  1  P  r  I     VALLEY 


expressive  a  language  they  have  formed  with  signs.     In  Long's  first  ex, 
pedition  a  full  and  accurate  vocabulary  of  this  language  is  given. 

After  all,  that  which  has  struck  us,  in  contemplating  the  Indians,  with 
the  most  astonishment  and  admiration,  is  the  invisible  but  universal  energy 
of  the  operation  and  influence  of  an  inexplicable  law,  which  has,  where 
it  operates,  a  more  certain  and  controlling  power,  than  all  the  municipal 
and  written  laws  of  the  whites  united.  There  is  despotic  rule,  without 
any  hereditary  or  elected  chief.  There  are  chiefs  with  great  power,  who 
cannot  tell  when,  where,  or  how,  they  became  such.  There  is  perfect 
unanimity  in  a  question  involving  the  existence  of  a  tribe,  where  every 
member  belonged  to  the  wild  and  fierce  democracy  of  nature,  and  could 
dissent,  without  giving  a  reason.  A  case  occurs,  where  it  is  prescribed 
by  custom,  that  an  individual  should  be  punished  with  death.  Escaped 
far  from  the  control  of  his  tribe,  and  as  free  as  the  winds,  this  invisible 
tie  is  about  him;  and  he  returns  and  surrenders  himself  to  justice. — 
His  accounts  are  not  settled,  and  he  is  in  debt;  he  requests  delay,  till  he 
shall  have  accomplished  his  summer's  hunt.  He  finishes  it,  pays  his 
debt,  and  dies  with  a  constancy,  which  has  always  been,  in  all  views  of 
Indian  character,  the  theme  of  admiration. 

A  serious  question  occurs,  in  conclusion.  What  is  the  prospect  of 
bringing  to  these  rugged  and  comfortless  beings,  apparently  the  outcasts 
of  nature  and  civilization,  the  moulding,  the  guidance  and  hopes  of  the 
Gospel? — The  gloomy  fact  must  be  admitted,  that  but  little  has  yet'  been 
done.  Pious  and  devoted  Catholic  missionaries  have  carried  their  lives 
in  their  hands,  have  renounced  all  earthly  hopes,  and  have  lived  and  died 
among  them,  to  carry  them  the  Gospel.  The  Protestants  have  not  been 
behind  them  in  these  labors  of  love.  But,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  a 
century,  scarcely  an  adult  savage  can  be  found,  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
who  will  pronounce  himself  a  Christian.  There  are  many  that  have  crosses 
suspended  from  their  necks,  which  they  show  as  they  do  their  medals. — 
They  seem  to  think,  that  the  profession  of  Christianity  gives  them  ad- 
ditional claims  upon  us.  While  we  were  writing,  some  Appalachy  In- 
dians applied  to  the  judge  of  the  district,  where  we  resided,  for  redress. 
They  spoke  of  the  alleged  outrage  in  terms  of  indignant  feeling.  'Nous 
sommes  baptises,''  we  have  been  baptised,  said  they;  and  appeared  to  feel 
as  if  this  gave  the  outrage  a  greater  enormity.  We  are  sure,  that  if  any 
effort  can  have  marks  of  moral  heroism,  and  nobleness  of  self-devotion 
beyond  another,  the  self-devotion  of  missionaries  among  the  savages,  is 
the  noblest  of  all.  Surely,  if  any  men  merit  earnest  wishes  and  prayers 
for  their  success,  it  musl  be  til  se  men  who  have  lefl  I  he  precincts  of 
everything  that  is  desirable  in  hie,  to  go  into  these  solitudes,  and  take  in 
hand  these  uninformed  children  of  nature. 


M  0  \  m  i 


131 


There  are  some  circumstances,  which  invest  the  present  missionary 
efforts  with  stronger  probabilities  of  success,  than  any,  that  have  preceded 
them.  The  number  of  Indians,  that  are  half  breeds,  or  mixtures  of  the 
blood  of  the  whites,  is  great,  and  continually  increasing.  These  gene- 
rally espouse,  either  from  conviction,  or  from  party  feeling,  the  interest 
of  civilization  and  Christianity.  It  is  more  universally,  than  it  once 
was,  a  conviction,  that  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  social  and  civilized 
man.  Instead  of  relying  much  on  the  hope  of  the  conversion  of  adult 
hunting  and  warrior  savages,  the  effort  is  chiefly  directed  towards  the 
young.  Schools,  the  loom,  the  anvil,  the  plough,  are  sent  to  them- 
Amidst  the  comfort,  stability  and  plenty  of  cultivation,  they  are  to  be 
imbued  with  a  taste  for  our  institutions,  arts,  industry  and  religion,  at 
the  same  time. — Every  benevolent  man  will  wish  these  efforts  of  benevo- 
lence all  possible  success. 

Monuments.  The  tumuli,  or  mounds  of  the  western  country,  are 
first  seen  on  the  southern  shores  of  lake  Erie.  We  trace  them  through 
the  western  parts  of  New  Yoik.  We  find  them  increasing  in  numbers 
and  size  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  They  are  seen  thence,  with  more  or  less 
frequency,  over  all  the  valley;  and  from  Humboldt  we  learn,  that  mounds 
of  a  similar  character  abound  in  Mexico.  If  so  much  had  not  been 
already  written  upon  the  subject,  we  should  hold  it  idle  to  detain  the 
reader  a  moment,  in  useless  dissertation  upon  the  question,  by  whom 
these  mounds  were  formed,  and  for  what  purposes?  As  every  opinion 
on  the  point  must  rest  entirely  upon  conjecture,  without  the  slightest 
rational  element  on  which  to  found  it,  we  shall  discover  at  once,  that 
such  dissertations  could  throw  no  certain  light  on  the  subject.  Whether 
the  mass  of  them  was  constructed  for  fortifications,  observatories,  tem- 
ples, or  tombs,  it  is  hopeless  to  enquire.  That  some  of  them  served  for 
the  last  purpose,  we  have  the  conclusive  evidence,  that  they  abound  in 
human  bones.  It  has  been  often  asserted,  that  some  of  the  mounds  are 
full  of  bones,  that  are  perforated,  as  though  the  living  subjects  were  slain 
in  battle;  and  that  the  skeletons  are  heaped  together  in  promiscuous 
confusion,  as  if  buried  after  a  conflict,  without  order  or  arrangement. 
The  bones,  which  we  have  seen,  were  such,  and  so  arranged,  as  might  be 
expected  in  the  common  process  of  solemn  and  deliberate  inhumation. 
The  mounds  show  no  more  art,  though  infinitely  more  labor,  than  might 
be  expected  from  the  present  Indians.  They  are  mere  erections  of  earth, 
exhibiting  no  other  trace  of  skill,  than  that  most  of  them  are  of  regular 
forms,  contained  under  circular  or  right  lines.  Iron  tools  were  not  used 
in  the  formation  of  them.  Stone  makes  no  part  of  them.  Yet  many  of 
the  squares  and  parallelograms  make  a  much  more  conspicuous  figure, 


j32  MISSISSIPPI      \    LLXrfSY. 

after  the  lapse  of  unknown  ages,  than  the  defences  of  earth,  thrown  up 
on  the  Atlantic  shore,  during  the  revolutionary  war. 

Some  of  them  are  said  to  be  found  on  hills.  We  have  seen  none  such. 
They  are  generally  on  fertile  wooded  bottoms,  plains,  or  the  richer  allu- 
vial prairies,  where  wild  fruits,  game  and  fish  are  abundanl  and  at  hand. 
The  most  dense  ancient  population  existed  precisely  in  the  places  where 
the  most  crowded  future  population  will  exist  in  the  generations  to  come. 
The  appearance  of  a  series  of  mounds  generally  indicates  the  contiguity 
of  rich  and  level  lands,  easy  communications,  fish,  game,  and  the  .most 
favorable  adjacent  positions.  The  only  circumstance,  which  strongly 
discredits  their  having  been  formed  by  the  progenitors  of  the  present 
Indians,  is  the  immensity  of  the  size  of  some  of  them,  beyond  what 
could  be  expected  from  the  sparse  population  and  the  indolence  of  the 
present  race.  We  know  of  no  monuments,  which  they  now  raise  for 
their  dead,  that  might  not  be  the  work  of  a  few  people  in  a  few  days. 
We  have  seen  mounds,  which  would  require  the  labor  of  a  thousand  of 
the  men  employed  on  our  canals,  with  all  their  mechanical  aids,  and  the 
improved  implements  of  their  labor  for  months.  We  have,  more  than 
once,  hesitated  in  view  of  one  of  these  prodigious  mounds,  whether  it 
were  not  really  a  natural  hill.  But  they  are  uniformly  so  placed,  in 
reference  to  the  adjoining  country,  and  their  conformation  is  so  unique 
and  similar,  that  no  eye  hesitates  long  in  referring  them  to  the  class  of 
artificial  erections.  The  largest,  that  has  been  discovered  in  the  Ohio 
valley,  as  far  as  Ave  know,  is  in  the  bottom  of  Grave  Creek,  near  its 
entrance  into  the  Ohio,  and  fourteen  miles  below  Wheeling.  It  is  between 
thirty  and  forty  rods  in  circumference  at  its  base,  with  a  proportionate 
diameter.  It  is  seventy  feet  in  perpendicular  height;  and  has  a  table 
area  on  its  summit,  which  is  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  in  the  centre  of  which 
is  a  great  and  regular  concavity.  A  single  white  oak  rises  from  this 
concavity,  like  a  flag  staff. 

The  most  numerous  group  of  mounds,  that  we  have  seen,  is  near 
CuhJiiu,  in  the  American  bottom.  There  are  said  to  be  two  hundred 
in  all.  The  largest  is  on  the  banks  of  Cahokia  Creek.  Its  form  is  that 
of  a  parallelogram.  Its  circumference  is  commonly  given  at  eight 
hundred  yards,  and  its  height  at  ninety  feet.  There  is  a  terrace  on  the 
south  side  of  it.  The  monks  of  La  Trappe  had  a  monastery  adjoining 
it,  and  their  garden  was  on  the  terrace.  They  cultivated  the  mound. 
The  earth  could  not  have  furnished  them  a  place,  more  in  keeping  with 
their  profession  and  avowed  objects.  In  the  midst  of  the  American 
bottom,  perhaps  the  most  fertile  spot  on  the  globe,  exerting  its  exhaust- 
less  fertility  only  in  the  production  of  dense  forest,  or  a  useless  luxuriance 
of  weeds  and  flowers,  all  in  view  of  their  dwelling  is  a  solitary  prairie- 


M  u  ft  L  M  B  s  . 


!;;:: 


A  few  dreaming  men,  vowed  to  perpetual  silence,  apparently  belonging 
more  to  another  world,  than  this,  seat  themselves  on  one  of  these  lonely 
and  inexplicable  monuments  of  generations,  that  are  now  no  more,  in 
the  midst  of  gigantic  weeds,  gaudy  flowers,  and  rank  grass. — No  noise 
disturbs  them,  by  d;iy  or  night,  but  the  chirping  of  the  grasshopper,  or 
the  cry  of  wolves,  or  the  hooting  of  owls. 

There  are  very  interesting  mounds  near  St.  Louis,  a  little  north  of  the 
town.  Some  of  them  have  the  aspect  of  enormous  stacks.  That  one 
of  them,  called  the  '  falling  garden,'  is  generally  pointed  out,  as  a  great 
curiosity — One  of  these  mounds,  and  it  was  a  very  striking  one,  was 
levelled  in  the  centre  of  Chillicothe.  In  digging  it  down,  it  is  said, 
there  were  removed  cart  loads  of  human  bones.  The  town  of  Circleville 
in  Ohio,  is  principally  laid  out  within  the  limits  of  a  couple  of  contigu- 
ous mounds;  the  one  circular,  the  other  square.  The  town  has  its  name 
from  its  position,  chiefly  in  the  circular  mound.  In  this,  and  in  many 
other  mounds,  the  singular  circumstance  is  said  to  exist,  and  by  people, 
who  live  near  them,  and  ought  to  know  that,  of  which  they  affirm,  that 
the  earth,  of  which  they  are  composed,  is  entirely  distinct  from  that  in 
the  vicinity.  It  is  of  no  avail  to  enquire,  why  the  builders  should  have 
encountered  the  immense  toil,  to  bring  these  hills  of  earth  from  another 
place? 

Our  country  has  been  described  abroad,  as  sterile  of  moral  interest. 
We  have,  it  is  said,  no  monuments,  no  ruins,  none  of  the  colossal  remains 
of  temples,  and  baronial  castles,  and  monkish  towers;  nothing  to  connect 
the  imagination  and  the  heart  with  the  past;  none  of  the  dim, recollec- 
tions of  times  gone  by,  to  associate  the  past  with  the  future.  We  have 
not  travelled  in  other  lands.  But  in  passing  over  our  vast  prairies,  in 
viewing  our  noble  and  ancient  forests,,  planted  by  nature,  and  nurtured 
only  by  ages;  when  we  have  seen  the  sun  rising  over  a  boundless  plain, 
where  the  blue  of  the  heavens  in  all  directions  touched,  and  mingled 
with  the  verdure  of  the  flowers;  when  our  thoughts  have  traversed  rivers 
of  a  thousand  leagues  in  length;  when  we  have  seen  the  ascending  steam 
boat  breasting  the  surge,  and  gleaming  through  the  verdure  of  the  trees; 
when  we  have  imagined  the  happy  multitudes,  that  from  these  shores 
will  contemplate  this  scenery  in  days  to  come;  we  have  thought,  that 
our  great  country  might  at  least  compare  with  any  other,  in  the  beauty  of 
its  natural  scenery.  When,  on  an  uninhabited  prairie,  we  have  fallen  at 
nightfall  upon  a  group  of  these  mounds,  and  have  thought  of  the  masses 
of  human  bones,  that  moulder  beneath;  when  the  heart  and  the  imagina- 
tion evoke  the  busy  multitudes,  that  here  '  strutted  through  life's  poor 
play,'  and  ask  the  phantoms  who  and  what  they  were,  and  why  they  have 
left  no  memorials,  but  these  mounds:  wre  have  found  ample  scope  for 


(34  MISSISSIPPI      VALLEY. 

reflections  and  associations  of  the  past  with  the  future.  We  should  not 
highly  estimate  tlie  mind,  or  the  heart  of  the  man,  who  could  behold  these 
tombs  of  the  prairies  without  deep  thought. 

These  regions  bear  ample  testimonials,  of  another  sort,  of  a  world  gone 
by-  Besides  the  human  skeletons,  found  in  the  nitre  caves,  and  at  the 
Maramec,  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  in  another  place, 
there  are  found  al  the  licks,  and,  as  habitancy  and  cultivation  bring  us 
more  acquainted  with  what  is  concealed  beneath  the  soil,  over  all  the 
valley,  masses  of  bones  of  animals  of  enormous  size,  to  which  the  name 
of  mammoth  and  megalonyx  have  been  given.  A  ship's  cargo  could 
easily  be  furnished. — The  bones  of  animals  of  different  classes,  forms 
and  sizes  from  any  that  are  now  known  to  exist,  and  different,  too,  from 
the  mammoth,  are  discovered  in  the  same  places  with  these  huge  remains. 
While  we  are  writing,  they  are  exhibiting  at  New-Orleans  the  bones  of 
an  animal,  to  which  the  mammoth  itself  must  have  been  a  pigmy,  found 
near  Plaquemine,  on  the  Mississippi,  below  that  city — They  have  been 
asserted,  and  denied  to  be  the  bones  of  a  whale.  A  diligent  and  unwea- 
ried antiquarian,  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  affirms,  that  he  has  discovered,  in 
laying  open  the  earth  in  his  geological  examinations,  the  wood  and  the 
leaves  of  the  bread-fruit  tree,  and  other  vegetable  tropical  remains. 
Whatever  credit  this  opinion  may  receive,  all  admit,  that  every  part  of 
the  Mississippi  valley  is  marked  with  monuments  of  immense  and  inex- 
plicable changes  in  the  natural  world,  and  of  races  of  animals  and  men, 
that  are  now  no  more. 

Present  Population.  The  progress  of  the  population  of  this  coun- 
try, as  every  one  knows,  is  without  any  example  or  parallel  in  the  records 
of  other  colonies,  in  ancient  or  modern  times;  not  excepting  even  the 
annals  of  the  advancement  of  the  Atlantic  country.  We  can  remember, 
when  all  this  country,  except  the  ancient  French  colonies  in  it,  was  an 
unknown  and  an  unpeopled  wilderness.  The  first  settlers  encountered 
incredible  hardships  and  dangers.  But  only  open  before  Americans  a 
fertile  soil,  and  a  mild  climate,  and  their  native  enterprise,  fostered  by 
the  stimulant  effect  of  freedom  and  mild  laws,  will  overcome  every  im- 
pediment. Sickness,  solitude,  mountains,  the  war-whoop,  the  merciless 
tomahawk,  wolves,  panthers,  and  bears,  dear  and  distant  homes,  forsaken 
forever,  will  come  over  thi'ir  waking  thoughts,  and  revisit  their  dreams 
in  vain,  to  prevent  the  young,  florid  and  unportioned  pair  from  scaling 
remote  mountains,  descending  long  rivers,  and  finally  selecting  their 
spot  in  the  forests,  consecrating  their  solitary  cabin  with  the  dear  and 
sacred  name  of  home. 


POPULATION  135 

The  following  synoptical  view,  will  show  in  a  few  words,  the  astonish- 
ing advance  of  this  population,  ihi  1790,  the  population  of  this  valley, 
exclusive  of  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  Florida,  which 
were  not  then  within  our  territorial  limits,  was  estimated,  hy  enumera- 
tion, at  little  more  than  100,000.  In  1800,  it  was  something  short  of 
380,100.  In  1810,  it  was  short  of  a  million.  In  1620,  including  the 
population  west  of  the  Mississippi,  rating  the  population  of  Florida  at 
20,000,  and  that  of  the  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  included  in 
this  valley  at  300,000,  and  it  will  give  the  population  of  1820  at  2,500,- 
000.  The  present  population  may  be  rated  at  4,000,000.  It  will  be 
perceived,  that  this  is  an  increase,  in  more  than  a  duplicate  ratio  in  ten 
years. 

Some  considerable  allowance  must  be  made,  of  course,  for  the  flood 
of  immigration,  which  cannot  reasonably  be  expected  to  set  this  way,  for 
the  future,  as  strongly  as  it  has  for  the  past.  Ohio,  with  the  largest  and 
most  dense  population  of  any  of  the  western  states,  has  neaily  double 
the  number  of  inhabitants,  by  the  census  of  1830,  which  she  had  by  that 
of  1820. — During  that  interval,  her  gain  by  immigration  has  scarcely 
equalled  her  loss  by  emigration;  and  of  course,  is  simply  that  of  natural 
increase.  In  the  rapidity  of  this  increase,  we  believe,  this  state  not  only 
exceeds  any  other  in  the  west,  but  in  the  world.  It  is  the  good  natured 
jest  of  all,  who  travel  through  the  western  states,  that  however  produc- 
tive in  other  harvests,  they  are  still  more  so  in  an  unequalled  crop  of 
flaxen  headed  children ;  and  that  'this  is  the  noble  growth  our  realms 
supply..'  We  have  a  million  more  inhabitants,  than' the  thirteen  good  old 
United  States,  when,  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war, 
they  threw  down  the  gauntlet  in  the  face  of  the  parent  country,  then  the 
most  powerful  empire  on  the  globe. 

Notwithstanding  the  impression,  so  generally  entertained  in  the  Atlan- 
tic country,  that  this  valley  is  universally  unhealthy,  and  notwithstanding 
the  necessary  admission,  that  fever  and  ague  is  prevalent  to  a  great  and 
an  annoying  degree,  the  stubborn  facts,  above  stated,  demonstrate,  be- 
yond all  possibility  of  denial,  that  no  country  is  more  propitious  to  in- 
crease by  natural  population.  Wherever  the  means  of  easy,  free  and 
ample  subsistence  are  provided,  it  is  in  the  nature  and  order  of  human 
things,  that  population  should  increase  rapidly.  In  such  a  country, 
though  some  parts  of  it  should  prove  sickly,  perseverance  will  ultimately 
triumph  over  even  this  impediment,  the  most  formidable  of  all.  In  that 
ferti'e  region,  for  the  insalubrious  districts  are  almost  invariably  those  of 
the  highest  fertility,  in. migrants  will  arrive,  Lecome  sick  y,  and  discour- 
aged; and  perliMps,  return  with  an  evil  report  of  the  country.  In  the 
productive  and  sickly  sections  of  the  south,  aLured  by  its  rich  products, 


1 36  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY, 

and  its  exemption  from  winter,  adventurers  will  successively  arrive,  fix 
themselves,  become  sickly,  and  "it  may  be,  die.  Others,  lusting  for  gain, 
and  with  that  recklessness  to  the  future,  for  wise  ends  awarded  us  by 
Providence,  and  undismayed  by  the  fate  of  those,  who  have  preceded 
them,  will  replace  them.  By  culture,  draining,  the  feeding  of  cattle,  and 
the  opening  the  country  to  the  fever-banishing  breeze,  the  atmosphere  is 
found  gradually  to  meliorate.  The  inhabitants,  taught  by  experience 
and  suffering,  come  by  degrees  to  learn  the  climate,  the  diseases,  and 
preventives;  and  a  race  will  finally  stand,  which  will  possess  the  adapta- 
tion to  the  country,  which  results  from  acclimation:  and  even  these  sec- 
tions are  found,  in  time,  to  have  a  degree  of  natural  increase  of  popula- 
tion with  the  rest.  Such  has  proved  to  be  the  steady  advance  of  things 
in  the  sickliest  points  of  the  south.  The  rapidity  of  our  increase  in 
numbers  multiplies  the  difficulties  of  subsistence,  and  stimulates  and 
sharpens  the  swarming  faculties  and  propensities  in  the  parent  hive,  and 
will  cause,  that  in  due  lapse  of  time  and  progress  of  things,  every  fertile 
quarter  section  in  this  valley  will  sustain  its  family. 

Another  pleasant  circumstance  appended  to  this  view  is,  that  almost 
the  entire  population  of  the  valley  are  cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  in- 
habitants of  crowded  towns  and  villages,  the  numerous  artizans  and 
laborers  in  manufactories,  can  neither  be,  as  a  mass,  so  healthy,  so  virtu- 
ous or  happy,  as  free  cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  man,  -whose  daily 
range  of  prospect  is  dusty  streets,  or  smoky  and  dead  brick  walls,  and 
whose  views  become  limited  by  habit  to  the  enclosure  of  these  walls; 
who  depends  for  his  subsistence  on  the  daily  supplies  of  the  market; 
and  whose  motives  to  action  are  elicited  by  constant  and  hourly  struggle 
and  competition  with  his  fellows;  will  have  the  advantage  in  some  points 
over  the  secluded  tenant  of  a  cabin,  or  a  farm  house.  But  still,  taking 
everything  into  the  calculation,  we  would  choose  to  be  the  owner  of  half 
a  section  of  land,  and  daily  contemplate  nature,  as  we  tilled  the  soil, 
aided  in  that  primitive  and  noble  employment  by  our  own  vigorous  chil- 
dren. The  dweller  in  towns  and  villages  may  have  more  of  the  air  and 
tone  of  society,  and  his  daughters  may  keep  nearer  to  the  changes  of 
the  fashions.  But  we  have  little  doubt,  that,  in  striking  the  balance  of 
enjoyment,  the  hitler  will  be  found  to  1  e  the  haj  pier  man,  and  more  hkely 
to  have  a  numeious  and  healiliy  family.  The  people  of  the  west,  with 
very  small  deductions,  are  cullivatois  of  the  sod.  A  I,  that  are  neither 
idle,  nor  unable  lo  labor,  lia\e  a  run  I  abundance  of  die  articles  which 
the  soil  on  furnish,  far  beyond  die  needs  of  the  country;  and  it  is  one 
of  our  most  prcvaleiit  c  mplaints,  tln.t  th>s  abundance  is  tar  beyond  ti;e 
chances  of  profitable  sale 


POPULATION.  1Q7 

Ohio,  has,  palpably*  more  of  the  northern  propensity  to  form  villages, 
and  condense  population,  than  any  other  of  ihe  western  stales.  Of  course, 
het  people  have  a  readier  aptitude  for  an  artizan's  life,  and  a  manufactu- 
rer's condition.  We  suppose,  that  at  least  half  the  manufacturers  of  the 
west  inhabit  the  region,  of  which,  Pittsburgh  and  the  state  of  Ohio  are 
the  centre.  Her  s  ins,  too,  have  the  New  England  aspiration  to  become 
scholars  and  professional  men,  and  merchants  and  traders.  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  send  abroad  their  circulating  phalanxes  of  this  kind  of  f  .ra- 
gers,  to  compete  with  the  Yankees  for  ths  professions  and  trade  of  the 
more  western  state?.  In  Ohio,  this  class  hens  by  far  the  greatest  pro- 
portion to  the  cultivators,  of  any  part  of  the  valley.  Yet  in  Ohio,  from 
the  returns  of  the  very  accurate  census  of  1S"20,  it  appears,  that  out  of 
a  population  of  nearly  800,000,  there  were  only  1S,950  manufacturers, 
and  1,459  merchants  and  traders.  Thus  it  appears,  that  nearly  twenly- 
nine  out  of  thirty  of  this  whole  population,  were  engaged  in  agriculture. 

It  would  require  a  separate  and  distinct  article,  if  we  were  to  trace 
the  influence  of  slavery  upon  population  and  improvement.  This  dis- 
cussion too,  would  more  properly  fall  under  the  head  of  an  artic'e,  pre- 
senting a  contrasted  view  of  the  condition  and  progress  of  the  slave  hold- 
ing, comparing  with  the  non-slave  holding  states.  It  is  sufficient  for 
our  present  purposes  to  remark,  that  with  the  exception  of  some  districts 
that  are  particularly  sickly,  the  blacks  increase  still  more  rapidly  than  the 
whiles. 

From  the  general  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  abundance  with  which  it 
yields  all  the  supplies  of  life;  from  the  comparative  rareness  and  small 
proportion  of  sterile,  mountainous  and  marshy  lands,  that  cannol  be  easily 
brought  into  cultivation;  no  thinking  mind  can  have  failed  to  foresee, 
that  this  country  must  and  will  ultimately  sustain  a  great  and  dense  pop- 
ulation of  farmers.  Taking  into  view  soil,  climate,  and  the  means  of 
e:;sy  communication,  the  most  material  and  natural  elements  upon  which 
to  calculate,  in  regard  to  future  increase  of  population,  and  no  country 
can  be  found,  which  invites  increase  more  strongly  than  ours,  in  half 
a  century,  the  settled  parts  of  it  will,  propably,  have  become  as  healthy 
as  any  other  country.  In  that  lapse  of  time,  it  can  hardly  be  sanguine 
to  calculate,  that  by  improving  the  navigation  of  the  existing  rivers,  by 
the  numerous  canals  which  will  be  made,  in  aid  of  what  nature  has  al- 
ready done,  in  a  region  where  there  are  no  mountains,  and  few  high  hills, 
and  no  intermixture  of  refractory  granite;  where  the  rivers,  which  rise 
almost  in  the  same  level,  interlock,  and  (hen  wind  away  in  opposite  direc- 
tions; where,  from  these  circumstances,  and  ihe  absence  of  grnite  hiils, 
canals  can  be  made  with  comparative  ease;  that  the  country  will  be  per- 
meated in  every  direction,  either  by  steam  boats,  or  sea  vessels  towed  by 

18 


13S 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEV 


them,  or  hy  transporf.  conducted  by  rail-road  power.  No  country,  it 
is  generally  supposed  he:-e,  can  be  founi.  which  contains  so  great  a  pro- 
portion of  cultivable  and  habitable  land,  compared  with  the  whole  extent 
of  its  surface. — Humbolt,  so  well  qualified  to  judge  by  comparison,  has 
pronounced  it  the  largest  valley  in  the  world.  It  has  a  less  proportion  of 
swamps,  sterile  plains,  and  uncultivable  mountains,  than  any  other  region 
of  ihe  same  extent. — When  it  shall  have  been  inhabited  as  long  as  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Virginia,  what  limits  can  imagination  assign  to  its  popula- 
tion and  improvement? 

No  one  can  fail  to  have  foreseen,  at  this  time  of  the  dij9  that  the  period 
is  not  far  distant,  when  the  grealer  mass  of  the  population  of  our  coun- 
try will  be  on  this  side  the  mountains.     We  would  not  desire,  in  antici- 
pation, to  vex  the  question,  where  the  centre  of  our  National  Govern- 
ment will  then  be?     We  are  connected  already  with  the  Atlantic  country 
by  noble  roads.     We  shall  shortly  be  connected  with  the  Hudson,  Dela- 
ware and  Chesapeake  Bays,  by  navigable  canals.     A  rail-road  between 
Baltimore  and  ihe  Ohio,  is  in  rapid  progress,  and  thousands  have  travelled 
on  the  first  completed  section.     Gur  different  physical  conformation  of 
country,  and  the  moral  circumstances  of  our  condition,  have  assigned  to 
us,  as  wo  think,  agriculture,  as  our  chief  pursuit.     Suppose  manufac- 
tures to  fiourish  among  us  to  the  utmost  extent,  which  our  most  honest 
and  earnest  patriots  could  desire,  and  we  should  still,  as  we  think,  find 
ourselves  bound  by  the  ties  of  a  thousand  wants,  to  the  country  north 
and  east  of  the  mountains.     The  very  difference  of  our  physical  and 
moral  character  contributes  to  form  a  chain  of  mutual  wants,  holding  us 
to  that  region  by  the  indissoluble  tie  of  mutual  interest.     At  present, 
the  passage  of  the  mountains,  formerly  estimated  by  the  Atlantic  people 
something  like  an  East  Indian  voyage,  and  not  without  its  dangers,  as  well 
as  its  difficulties,  is  no  more,  than  a  trip  of  pleasure  of  two  or  three  days. 
We  shall  soon  be  able  to  sail,  at  the  writing  desk,  or  asleep,  from  New 
Orleans,  Fort  Mandan.  or  Prairie  du  Chien,  through  the  interior  forests 
to  the  beautiful  bay  of  New  York.     The  time  is  not  distant,  when  the 
travelled  citizen  of  the  other  side  the  mountains  will  not  be  willing    to 
admit  that  he  has  not  taken  an  autumnal  or  vernal  trip  of  pleasure,  or 
observation,  from  Pittsburgh  to  New  Orleans.     The  landscape  painter 
and  the  poet  will  ccme  among  us,  to  study  and  admire  our  forest,  river 
and  prairie  scenery,  and  to  imbibe  new  ideas,  from  contemplating  the 
grandeur  and  the  freshness  of  our  nature. 

For  us,  as  a  people,  we  look  over  the  mountains,  and  connect  our 
affections  with  the  parent  country  beyond,  by  the  strong  ties  of  natal 
attachment;  for  there,  to  the  passing  generation  at  least,  was  the  place 
of  their  birth.     There  still  live  our  fathers  and  our  brethren.     There  are 


NATIONAL     C  H  A  fi  A  C  T  E  R . 


183 


the  graves  of  our  ancestors;  and  there  are  all  the  delightful  and  never 
forgotten  remembrances  of  our  infancy  and  our  boyhood.  We  have 
hitherto  been  connected  to  that  country,  by  looking  lo  it  ex  dusively  for 
fashions,  models  and  literature.  The  connexion  will  remain,  not  as  we 
hope,  a  slavish  one;  for  duty,  interest  and  self-respect  imperiously  call 
upon  us  to  set  up  for  ourselves,  in  these  respects,  as  fast  as  possible. 
But  as  younger  members  of  the  family,  thrust  into  the  wood-1,  to  give 
place  to  those  who  had  the  rights  of  primogeniture,  and  obliged  to  find 
our  subsistence  by  cutting  down  the  trees,  we  have  as  yet  had  but  little 
leisure  to  think  of  anything,  beyon  1  the  calls  of  necessity,  and  the  cal- 
culations of  immediate  interest  and  utility.  As  soon  as  we  have  the 
leisure  for  higher  purposes,  we  shall  be  unworthy  of  our  family  alliance, 
if  we  do  not  immediately  institute  a  friendly  rivalry  in  these  respects, 
which  will  be  equally  honorable  and  useful  for  each  of  the  parties.  We 
know  our  rights,  and  we  aro  abie  to  maintain  them.  It  is  only  the  little 
minded  and  puny,  that  allow  themselves  to  indulge  in  a  causeless  and 
fretful  jealousy.  There  must  be  a  real,  palpable  and  continued  purpose 
to  undervalue  us,  and  curtail  our  rights,  and  arrest  our  advancement  and 
prosperity,  before  we  would  allow  ourselves  to  remember  our  great  chain 
of  mountains,  and  our  world  by  itself.  Our  patriotism  has  been  tam- 
pered with,  more  than  once,  even  in  our  infancy.  We  came  forth  with 
honor  from  every  trial.  Every  link  of  the  golden,  and,  we  hope,  perpet- 
ual chain  of  the  union,  will  be  grasped  as  firmly  by  the  citizens  of  the 
west,  as  of  the  Atlantic.  We  Hitter  ourselves,  that  we  have  had  uncom- 
mon chances  to  note  the  scale  of  the  western  thermometer,  in  this  respect. 
We  have  everywhere  seen  and  felt  a  spirit,  which  has  given  us  the  assu- 
rance of  conviction,  that  the  popularity  of  lhat  demagogue  would  be 
blasted,  and  would  wither  for  ever,  who  should  for  a  moment  manifest 
the  remotest  incipient  wish  to  touch  the  chain  of  this  union  with  an  un- 
hallowed hand.  The  interests  and  affections  of  the  western  people  hold 
to  that,  as  strongly,  and  proudly,  to  say  no  more,  as  those  of  the  east. 
From  lime  to  time,  demagogues  will  spring  up,  and  atrocious  and  un- 
principled editors  will  be  found  to  meditate  anything, — and  to  dare  to 
inculcate,  and  write,  and  pul  lish  what  they  meditate.  But  the  strength 
and  virtue  of  the  community  will  never  bear  them  out. 

Wherever  attempts  may  be  made  to  disaffoct,  alienate  and  sever  ene 
section  of  this  great  union  from  the  rest,  may  God  avert  the  omen !  that 
attempt  will  not  commence  with  us.  They  may  reproach  us  with  being 
rough,  untrained,  and  backwoods  men.  But  as  a  people  we  are  strong 
for  the  union  and  the  whole  union.  Every  true  son  of  the  west  will 
join  in  the  holiest  aspirations,  iesto  perpetual  May  it  last  as  long  as 
the  sun  and  moon  shall  endure! 


140  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

National  Character  of  the  Western  People.  We  shall  remark 
upon  the  character  of  the  French  part  of  our  population,  in  describing 
Louisiana  and  Missouri,  where  the  greater  portion  of  that  people  is 
found.  We  shall  remark  upon  the  distinctive  character  of  Kentucky, 
in  giving  the  Geography  of  that  State.  We  only  wish  to  catch  here,  if 
possihle,  the  slight,  but  perceptible,  peculiarities  of  national  character, 
which  our  peculiar  circumstances  and  condition  have  imposed  upon  us. 

The  people  of  this  valley  are  as  thorough  a  combination  and  mixture 
of  the  people  of  all  nations,  characters,  languages,  conditions  and  opinions 
as  can  well  be  imagined.  Scarcely  a  State  in  the  Union,  or  a  nation 
in  Europe,  but  has  furnished  us  immigrants.  Philosophers  and  noble- 
men have  visited  us  from  beyond  the  seas;  some  to  study  our  natural 
history,  or  to  contemplate  a  new  people  rising  from  the  freshness  of 
nature,  over  the  fertile  ruins  of  a  once  submerged  world;  or  deluded 
here  by  the  pastoral  dreams  of  Rousseau,  or  Chateaubriand;  or  in  the 
sample  of  the  savages,  to  study  man  in  a  state  of  nature. 

The  much  greater  proportion  of  the  immigrants  from  Europe  are  of  the 
poorer  classes,  who  come  here  from  hunger,  poverty,  oppression,  and  the 
grinding  vassalage  of  crowded  and  miserable  tenants  of  an  aristocratic 
race,  born  to  the  inheritance  of  the  soil,  and  all  the  comforts  and  hopes 
of  present  existence.  They  find  themselves  here,  with  the  joy  of  ship- 
wrecked mariners,  cast  on  the  untenanted  woods,  and  instantly  become 
cheered  with  the  invigorating  hope  of  being  able  to  build  up  a  family  and 
a  fortune  from  new  elements.  '■The  north  has  given  to  us,  and  the  south 
has  not  kept  back.''  The  puritan  and  the  planter,  the  German  and  the 
Irishman,  the  Briton  and  the  Frenchman,  each  with  their  peculiar  preju- 
dices and  local  attachments,  and  the  complicated  and  inwoven  tissue  of 
sentiments,  feelings  and  thoughts,  that  country,  and  kindred,  and  home, 
indelibly  combine  with  the  web  of  our  youthful  existence,  have  here  set 
down  beside  each  other.  The  merchant,  mechanic  and  farmer,  each 
witli  their  peculiar  prejudices  and  jealousies,  have  found  themselves 
placed  by  necessity  in  the  same  society.  Mr.  Owen's  grand  engine  of 
circumstances  begins  to  play  upon  them.  Men  must  cleave  to  their 
kind,  and  must  be  dependent  upon  each  other.  Bride  and  jealousy  must 
give  way  to  the  natural  yearnings  of  the  human  heart  for  society.  They 
begin  to  rub  off  mutual  prejudices.  One  takes  a  step,  and  then  the 
other.  They  meet  half  way,  and  embrace;  and  the  society  thus  newly 
organized  and  constituted,  is  more  liberal,  enlarged,  unprejudiced,  and, 
of  course,  more  affectionate  and  pleasant,  than  a  society  of  people  of 
unique  birth  and  character,  who  bring  all  theis  early  prejudices,  as  a 
common  stock,  to  be  transmitted  as  an  inheritance  in  perpetuity. 


KATIONAi    CHARACTER  j  j  j 

The  rough,  sturdy  and  smiple  habits  of  tlie  backwoods  men,  living  in 
that  plenty,  which  depends  only  on  Cod  and  nature,  forming  the  prepon- 
derantly cast  of  character  in  the  western  country,  have  laid  the  stamina 
of  independent  thought  and  feeling  deep  in  the  breasts  of  this  people. 
A  man  accustomed  only  to  the  fascinating,  but  hollow  intercourse  of  the 
polished  circles  in  the  Atlantic  cities,  at  first  feels  a  painful  revulsion, 
when  mingled  with  this  more  simple  race.  But  he  soon  becomes  ac- 
customed to  the  new  order  of  things;  and  if  he  have  a  heart  to  admire 
simplicity,  truth  and  nature, begins  to  be  pleased  with  it.  He  respects  a 
people,  where  a  poor,  but  honest  man  enters  the  most  aristocratic  mansion 
with  a  feeling  of  ease  and  equality. 

It  may  readily  be  supposed,  that  among  such  an  infinite  variety  of 
people,  so  recent'y  thrown  together,  and  scarcely  yet  amalgamated  into 
one  people,  and  in  a  country,  where  the  institutions  are  almost  as  fresh 
and  simple  as  the  log  houses,  any  very  distinctive  national  character 
could  hardly  yet  be  predicated  of  the  inhabitants.  Every  attentive  ob- 
server, however,  discriminates  the  immigrants  from  the  different  nations-, 
and  even  from  the  different  states  of  our  own  country.  The  people  of 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  for  example,  have  a  character  somewhat  distinct  from 
that  of  the  other  western  states.  That  of  the  former,  especially,  is 
moulded  as  a  very  fair  sample  of  the  New  England  and  New  Jersey 
patterns.  In  the  latter,  this  character  is  blended,  not  merged  with  the 
manners,  opinions,  and  dialect  of  Kentucky.  Illinois,  though  a  free 
state,  has  a  clear  preponderance  of  Kentucky  nationality.  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Missouri,  the  upper  part  of  Alabama,  and  Arkansas,  have 
distinct  manners,  in  which  the  nationality  cf  Kentucky  is  the  ground 
color.  The  country  still  more  south,  peopled  with  large  planters  of  cot- 
ton and  sugir  cat  e,  with  numerous  gangs  of  slaves,  have  the  peculiar 
manners,  that  have  naturally  grown  out  of  their  condition.  On  these 
states  too,  especially  on  Louisiana,  we  begin  to  discern  the  distinct  im- 
press and  influence  of  French  temperament  and  manners.  These  shades 
of  difference  are  very  distinctly  visible  to  persons  who  have  been  loner 
and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  people  of  the  different  regions  where 
they  are  marked. 

But  young  as  the  country  is,  variously  constituted  and  combined,  as 
are  the  elements  of  its  population,  there  is  already  marked,  and  it  is  every 
year  more  fully  developed,  a  distinctive  character  of  the  western  people. 
A  traveller  from  the  Atlantic  cities,  and  used  only  to  their  manners,  tes- 
ting from  Pittsburgh,  or  Woeehng,  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  in  a 
steam  boat  of  the  larger  class,  will  find  on  board  what  may  be  considered 
fair  samples  of  ali  classes  in  our  country,  except  the  farmers  To  be 
come  conversant  with  the  younger  representatives  of  the  yoemanry,  he 


1 4;J  MISSISSIPPI      VALLEY. 

must  acquaint  himself  with  the  crews  of  the  descending  flat  boats. — 
Sufficiently  copious  specimens  of  the  merchants  and  traders,  the  artizans, 
the  large  planters,  the  speculators,  and  last,  though  not  least,  the  ladies, 
will  be  seen  on  board  the  different  steam  boats,  descending  to  New  Or- 
leans, or  on  their  return  voyage.  The  manners  so  ascertained  will  strike 
such  a  traveller  as  we  have  supposed,  with  as  much  novelty,  distinctness, 
and  we  may  add,  if  he  be  not  bigoted  and  fastidious,  with  as  much  plea- 
sure, saving  the  language,  as  though  he  had  visited  a  country  beyond  the 
seas.  The  dialect  is  different.  The  enunciation  is  different.  The  pe- 
culiar proverbial  colloquy  is  different.  The  figures  and  illustrations  used 
in  common  parlance,  are  strikingly  different.  We  regret  that  fidelity  to 
our  picture,  that  frankness  and  truth  compel  us  to  admit,  that  the  fre- 
quency of  profanity  and  strange  curses  is  ordinarily  an  unpleasant  ele- 
ment in  the  conversation.  The  speaking  is  more  rapid.  The  manner 
has  more  appearance  of  earnestness  and  abruptness.  The  common  com- 
parisons and  analogies  are  drawn  from  different  views  and  relations  of 
things.  Of  course  he  is  every  moment  reminded,  that  he  is  a  stranger 
among  a  people,  whose  modes  of  existence  and  ways  of  thinking  are  of 
a  widely  different  character  from  those  in  the  midst  of  which  he  was 
reared. 

Although  we  have  so  often  been  described  to  this  traveller,  by  the 
repulsive  terms  'backwoods  men,'  'gougers,'  'ruffians,'  'demi-savages,' 
a  strange  mixture,  in  the  slang  phrase,  of  the  'horse'  and  the  'alligator,' 
we  confidently  hazard  the  opinion,  that  when  a  little  accustomed  to  the 
manners  of  the  better  class  of  people  among  us,  he  will  institute  a  com- 
parison between  our  people,  and  his  own,  not  unfavorable  to  us.  There 
is  evidently  more  ease  and  frankness,  more  readiness  to  meet  a  wish,  to 
form  an  acquaintance,  sufficient  tact,  when  to  advance,  and  how  far, 
and  where  to  pause  in  this  effort;  less  holding  back,  less  distrust,  less 
feeling  as  if  the  address  of  a  stranger  were  an  insult,  or  a  degradation. 
There  is  inculcated  and  practised  on  board  the  steam  boats,  a  courtesy  to 
ladies,  which  is  delightful  in  its  proper  extent;  but  which  is  here,  some- 
times, apt  to  overstep  the  modesty  of  nature,  in  the  affectation  of  a 
chivalrous  deference,  which  would  be  considered  misplaced,  or  ridiculous 
on  the  Atlantic  shores.  A  series  of  acquaintances  are  readily  and  natu- 
rally formed  between  fellow  passengers,  in  their  long  descents  to  New 
Orleans,  very  unlike  the  cold,  constrained,  and  almost  repelling  and 
hostile  deportment  of  fellow  passengers  in  the  short  stage  and  steam 
I  oal  passages  in  the  Atlantic  country.  They  are  very  different  from  the 
intimacies  of  fellow  passengers  in  crossing  the  Atlantic,  and  infinitely 
more  pleasant.  Putting  oul  of  the  question  ennui,  seasickness,  and  the 
constant  rolling  of  the  vessel,  circumstances  so  unpropitious  to  the  culti- 


N  A  T  I  O  N  A  L    CIIAKACTEE. 


US 


vation  of  pleasant  intercourse,  custom  Ins  prescribed  a  slate  and  distance 
on  shipboard,  which  cause,  that  cabin  passengers  often  cress  ihe  ocean 
together,  without  acquiring  any  thing  more  than  a  speaking  intimacy  at 
the  end  of  the  voyage,.  Not  so  on  these  passages,  where  the  boat  glides 
steadily  and  swiftly  along  the  verge  of  the  fragrant  willows.  The  green 
shores  are  always  seen  with  the  same  coup  (P  ail,  that  takes  in  the  magni- 
ficent and  broad  wave  of  the  Mississippi.  Refreshments  come  in  from  the 
shore.  The  passengers  every  day  have  their  promenade.  The  claims  of 
prescription  on  the  score  of  wealth,  family,  office,  and  adventitious  dis- 
tinctions of  every  sort,  are  in  a  measure  luid  aside,  or  pass  for  nothing. 
The  estimation,  the  worth  and  interest  of  a  person  are  naturally  tried  on 
his  simple  merits,  his  powers  of  conversation,  his  innate  civility,  his  capa- 
cities to  amuse,  an. I  his  good  feelings. 

The  distinctive  character  of  the  western  people  may  be  traced  in  its 
minuter  shades  to  a  thousand  causes,  among  which  are  not  oniy  their  new 
modes  of  existence,  the  solitary  lives  which  they,  who  arc  not  inhabitants 
of  towns,  lead   in  remote  and  detached  habitations,  the  greater  part  of 
the  time,  and  the  readier  aptitud?  and  zest,  which  they  will  naturally  have, 
when  thus  brought  together,  as  we  h  lve  described  above,  to  enjoy  society  ; 
but  it  chiefly  results  from  the  unchangeable  pbysieal   formation  of  the 
country.     For  instance,  it  has  been  remarked,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
western  country,  when  thrown  upon  the  blue  water,  are  sailors  almost  at 
once.     Their  long  inland  water  courses,  at  once  the  channels  of  convey- 
ance and  communication,  place  them  in  primary  nautical  schools,  train 
them  to  familiar  acquaintance  with  all  the  methods  of  managing  and 
propelling  water  crafts,  and  naturally  conduct  their  thoughts  from  their 
interior  forests,  and  their  rural  and  secluded  abodes,  down  to  the  ocean. 
The  skill  and  facility,  thus  acquired,  in  being  familiar  with  the  move- 
ments of  the  canoe,  the  perioguennd  skiff",  almost  from  the  days  of  infan- 
cy, give  them  the  same  dexterity  and  daring  on  the  ocean,  when  they  are 
at  length  wafted  down  to  its  tempestuous  bosom,  with  those  who  were 
reared  on  the  shores  of  that  element.     But  an  inhabitant  of  the  Atlantic 
shore  can  have  but  a  faint  conception  of  the  sublime  emotions,  with  which 
a  young  man  reared  in  the  silence  and  seclusion  of  the  western  forests, 
first  beholds  the  illimitable  extent  of  the  'broad,  flat  sea.'     Every  intelli- 
gent and  gifted  son  of  the  West  will  be  a  poet  for  the  first  few  hours  of 
his  sailing  on  the  ocean,  if  sea  sickness  do  not  banish  the  visitings  of  the 
muse. 

Their  forests  and  prairies  concur  with  their  inclinations  and  abundant 
leisure,  to  give  them  the  spirit-stirring  and  adventurous  habits  of  the 
chase.  Their  early  training  to  leave  the  endearments  and  the  maternal 
nursing  of  home,  for  an  absence  of  three  or  four  months,  on  voyages  of 


J44  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

constant  exposure,  and  often  of  a  length  of  more  than  five  hundred 
leagues,  will  naturally  tend  to  create  a  character,  widely  unlike  ihe  mire 
shrinking,  stationary  and  regular  hal  ils  of  the  people  of  the  older  coun- 
try. Multitudes,  perhaps  the  majority  of  those  in  the  middle  walks  of 
life  in  the  Atlantic  country,  seldom  extend  their  travels  beyond  their 
metropolis,  or  their  chief  mart.  Every  part  of  the  middle  and  northern 
states  is  traversed  in  all  directions  by  fine  roads,  on  which  are  continually 
passing  great  numbers  of  stage  coaches.  In  the  West,  all  this  is  very 
different.  There  are  roads,  indeed,  sorrte  of  which  nature,  and  but  a  very 
few,  art,  has  rendered  tolerably  passable.  Bat  the  passing  on  them,  even 
in  ihe  most  poynlous  districts  is  limited.  The  passages  are  seldom  more 
than  from  village  to  village,  settlement  to  settlement,  and  for  the  most 
part  subservient  to  arriving  at  the  real  roads,  the  great  turnpikes  of  the 
West,  her  long  rivers. 

These  rivers,  which  bound  or  intersect  every  state  in  the  West,  are  of 
a  character  entirely  unlike  most  of  those,  which  flow  east  of  the  moun- 
tains. They  are  narrow,  deep,  and  lo  a  person  used  only  to  the  rivers  of 
the  East,  and  judging  them  by  comparison  and  by  their  width*  of  an  in- 
conceivable length  of  course.  Their  depth  of  water  resulting  from  the 
narrowness  of  their  channels,  and  the  level  and  alluvial  country,  through 
which  for  the  most  part  they  flow,  renders  them  almost  universally  suscep- 
tible of  steam  boat,  or  at  least  boat  navigation.  The  instance  of  a  young 
man  of  enterprize  and  standing,  as  a  merchant,  trader,  planter,  or  even 
farmer,  who  has  not  made  at  least  one  trip  to  New  Orle  ns,  is  uncommon. 
From  the  upper  and  even  middle  western  states,  before  the  invention  of 
steam  boats,  it.  was  a  voyage  of  long  duration,  and  we  m;'.y  add,  of  more 
peril,  than  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic.  These  rivers  are  still  descended 
as  before  that  invention,  in  boats  of  every  description.  In  recently 
making  the  descent  from  Pittsburgh  to  Natchez,  in  an  uncommonly  low 
stage  of  the  waters,  we  noted  between  two  and  three  hundred  descending 
boats,  of  different  descriptions,  and  of  the  larger  class.  The  greater  por- 
tion, however,  were  fiat  and  keel  boals.  Almost  all  the  crews,  that 
descend  on  these  boats,  return  on  steam  boats.  An  ascending  steam 
boat  carries  from  one  to  three  hundred  passengers;  and  the  average  trip 
IV  in  New  Orleans  to  Louisville,  or  St.  Louis,  may  be  twelve  days,  and 
to  Cincinnati,  thirteen.  Every  principal  farmer,  along  the  great  water 
courses,  builds  a  flat  boat  a. id  sends  to  New-Orleans  the  produce  of  his 
farm  in  it.  Tims  a  great  proportion  of  the  males  of  the  West,  of  a  relative 
standing  and  situation  in  life  lo  be  most  likely  to  impress  their  opinions 
and  manners  upon  society,  have  made  this  pass;.ge  to  New-Orleans, 
They  have  passed  through  different  states  and  regions,  have  been  moro 
or  less  conversant  with  men  of  different  nations,  languages  and  manners.* 


NATIONAL     CHARACTER.  {45 

'They  have  experienced  that  expansion  of  mind,  which  cannot  fail  to  be 
produced  by  traversing  long  distances  of  country,  and  viewing  different 
forms  of  nature  and  society.  Each  flit  or  keel  boat,  that  has  descended 
from  Pittsburgh  or  the  Missouri,  to  New  Orleans,  could  publish  a  journal 
of  no  inconsiderable  interest.  The  descent,  if  in  autumn,  has  probahly 
occupied  fifty  days.  Until  the  boatmen  had  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio,  they  must  have  been  in  some  sense  amphibious  animals,  continually 
getting  into  the  water,  to  work  their  boat  off  shoals  and  sandbars.  The 
remainder  of  the  descent  wis  amidst  all  the  dangers  of  sawyers,  sandbars, 
snags,  storms,  points  of  islands,  wreck  heaps,  difficulty  and  danger  of 
landing,  and  a  great  many  anomalous  trials  and  dangers.  The  whole 
voyage  is  a  scene  of  anxiety,  exposure  and  labor. 

It  follows,  that  the  habits  of  the  whole  people  of  the  West  must  as 
necessarily  receive  a  peculiar  bent  and  impulse,  as  those  of  Marblehead, 
Cape  Cod,  and  Nantucket,  in  Massachusetts.  The  influence  of  these 
causes  is  already  visibly  impressed  upon  the  manners  and  thoughts  of 
the  people.  They  are  the  manners  of  people  accustomed,  on  going  on 
board  a  steam  boat,  to  see  it  fitted  up  with  a  glaring  of  splendor  and 
display,  perhaps  not  always  in  the  best  taste,  but  peculiarly  calculated  to 
captivate  and  dazzle  the  youthful  eye.  They  come  to  this  crowded  scene 
of  gaiety  and  splendor,  this  little  moving  city,  from  the  solitudes  of  for- 
ests and  prairies,  and  remote  dwellings.  They  find  themselves  amidst  a 
mass  of  people,  male  and  female,  dressed  as  much  as  their  means  will 
allow.  There  are  cards,  and  wine,  and  novels,  and  young  and  gay  peo- 
ple, and  all  conceivable  artificial  excitements,  to  stir  up  the  youthful 
appetite  for  hilarity.  When  we  consider  what  temptations  these  long, 
and  necessarily  intimate  associations  present  to  minds,  often  not  much 
regulated  by  religious  discipline,  training  or  example,  to  undue  gaiety, 
gallantry,  intoxication  and  gambling,  it  is  as  surprising  as  it  is  honorable 
to  the  character  of  the  West,  that  these  voyages  are  generally  terminated 
in  so  much  quietness,  morality  and  friendship. 

It  is  true,  the  gay,  the  young,  dashing,  and  reckless  spirits  of  the  com- 
munity are  thus  brought  in  contact,  to  act,  and  re-act  upon  each  other, 
and  society.  But  there  are  always  some  graver  spirits  on  the  steam  boats, 
whose  presence  inspires  a  certain  degree  of  awe  and  restraint. — A  keen 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  strong  and  unvarying  regulations,  has  created 
rigid  rules,  at  least  upon  the  better  of  them,  for  regulating  the  temporary 
intercourse  on  board ;  and  on  the  whole,  there  is  an  air  of  much  more  de- 
corum and  quietness,  than  could  be  inferred  from  knowing  the  circumstan- 
ces of  these  temporary  associations. 

In  tracing  the  result  of  these  effects,  we  discover,  that  the  idea  of  dis- 
tance is  very  different  in  the  head  of  a  west  country  man,  from  the  same 

10 


no 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY 


idea  as  entertained  by  the  inhabitant  of  Lancaster  in  Pennsylvania,  or 
Worcester  in  Massachusetts.  The  conversation  of  the  farmer  indicates, 
that  his  train  of  thinking  is  mo^ellei  by  images  drawn  from  great  dis- 
tances on  long  rivers,  from  extensive  trips  on  steam  boats,  long  absence 
from  home,  familiarity  with  exposure,  and  the  habit  of  looking  danger 
and  death  in  the  face.  Were  it  not  foreign  to  the  objects  of  this  article, 
a-  thousand  amusing  examples  could  be  given.  The  vocabulary  of  fig- 
ures drawn  from  boats  and  steam  boats,  the  phrases,  metaphors,  allu- 
sions, that  grow  out  of  the  peculiar  modes  of  life  of  this  people,  are  at 
once  amusing,  singular  and  copious.  The  stump  speech  of  a  western 
aspirant  for  the  favors  of  the  people,  has  a  very  appropriate  garnish  from 
this  vocabulary,  and  compared  with  that  of  an  Atlantic  demagogue,  would 
finely  illustrate  his  peculiar  modes  of  thinking. 

The  point  most  to  our  purpose  in  these  remarks,  is  to  enquire,  what 
influence  this,  and  other  great  operating  causes  have  upon  the  character, 
manners  and  morals  of  the  people?  It  must  be  admitted,  that  while  these 
frequent  trips  up  and  down  the  river,  and  more  than  all  to  New  Orleans, 
give  to  the  young  people,  and  thosi  who  impart  authority,  impulse  and 
tone  to  fashion  and  opinion,  an  air  of  ^cciety,  ease  and  confidence;  the 
young  are  apt,  at  the  same  time,  to  imbibe  from  the  contagion  of  exam- 
ple, habits  of  extravagance,  dissipation,  and  a  rooted  attachment  to  a 
wandering  life. 

Religious  Character  or  the  Western  People.  An  experiment 
is  making  in  this  vast  country,  which  must  ultimately  contain  so  many 
millions  of  people,  on  the  broadest  scale  on  which  it  has  over  been  made, 
whether  religion,  as  a  national  distinction  of  character,  can  be  maintain- 
ed without  any  legislative  aid,  or  even  recognition  by  the  government. 
If  there  be  any  reference  to  religion,  in  any  of  the  constitutions  and 
enactments,  in  the  western  country,  beyond  the  simple  occasional  grant- 
ing of  a  distinct  incorporation,  it  manifests  itself  in  a  guarded  jealousy 
of  the  interference  of  any  religious  feeling,  or  influence  with  the  tenor 
of  legislation.  In  most  of  the  constitutions,  ministers  of  the  gospel  are 
expressly  interdicted  from  any  office  of  profit  or  trust,  in  the  gift  of  the 
people.  In  none  of  the  enactments  are  there  any  provisions  for  the  sup- 
port of  any  form  of  worship  whatever.  But  if  it  be  inferred  from  this, 
that  religion  occupies  little  or  no  place  in  the  thoughts  of  the  people,  lhat 
there  are  no  forms  of  worship,  and  few  ministers  of  the  gospel,  no  in- 
ference can  be  wider  from  the  fact.  It  is  the  settled  political  maxim  of 
the  West,  that  religion  is  a  concern  entirely  between  the  conscience  and 
God,  and  ought  to  be  left  solely  to  his  guardianship  and  care.  The  peo- 
ple are  generally  averse  by  binding  themselves  by  any  previous  legal  obli- 


RELIGIOUS     CHARACTBE 


147 


gation  (o  a  pastor  for  services  stipulated  to  be  performed.  It  is  the  gen- 
eral impression,  that  he  ought  to  derive  his  support  from  voluntary  con- 
tributions, after  services  performed,  and  uninfluenced  by  any  antecedent 
contract  or  understanding.  There  are  many  towns  and  villages,  where 
other  modes  prevail;  but  such  is  the  general  standing  feeling  of  the  West. 

Hence,  except  among  the  Catholics,  there  are  very  few  settled  pas- 
tors, in  the  sense  in  which  that  phrase  is  understood  in  New  England  and 
the  Atlantic  cities.  Most  of  the  ministers  that  are  in  some  sense  perma- 
nent, discharge  pastoral  duties  not  only  in  their  individual  societies,  but 
in  a  wide  district,  about  them.  The  range  of  duties,  the  emolument, 
the  estimation,  and  in  fact  the  whole  condition  of  a  western  pastor,  are 
widely  different  from  an  Atlantic  minister.  In  each  case  there  are  pecu- 
liar immunities,  pleasures  and  inconveniences,  growing  out  of  the  differ- 
ences of  condition.  We  do  not  undertake  to  balance  the  advantages  in 
favor  of  either.  It  has  been  an  hundred  times  represented,  and  in  every 
form  of  intelligence,  in  the  eastern  religious  publications,  that  there  were 
few  preachers  in  the  country,  and  that  whole  wide  districts  had  no  relig- 
ious instruction,  or  forms  of  worship  whatever.  We  believe,  from  a  sur- 
vey, certainly  very  general,  and,  we  trust,  faithful,  that  there  are  as  many 
preachers,  in  proportion  to  the  people,  as  there  are  in  the  Atlantic  country. 
A  circulating  phalanx  of  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Cumberland  Presby- 
terians, of  Atlantic  missionaries,  and  of  young  eleves  of  the  Catholic 
theological  seminaries,  from  the  redundant  mass  of  unoccupied  ministers, 
both  in  the  Protestant  and  Catholic  countries,  pervades  this  great  valley, 
with  its  numerous  detachments,  from  Pittsburgh,  the  mountains,  the  lakes, 
and  the  Missouri,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They  all  pursue  the  interests 
of  their  several  denominations  in  their  own  way,  and  generally  in  pro- 
found peace. 

It  is  true,  a  serious  mind  cannot  fail  to  observe  with  regret,  the  want 
of  the  permament  and  regular  moral  influence  of  settled  religious  insti- 
tutions. The  regular  'church  going  bell,'  to  our  ear,  such  a  delightful 
peal  on  the  sabbath,  is  not  often  beard  in  the  western  villages  with  the 
recurrence  of  that  day;  and  there  is  something  of  tranquil  sobriety,  of 
elevated  and  just  notions  of  morals,  the  influence  of  which  is  so  imme- 
diately perceived  in  a  country,  where  regular  worship  prevails,  that  in 
the  more  unsettled  districts  of  this  country,  is  felt  as  a  pa'inful  privation. 
But  if  we  except  Arkansas  and  Louisiana,  there  is  every  where  else  an 
abundance  of  some  kind  of  preaching.  The  village  papers  on  all  sides 
contain  printed  notices,  and  written  ones  are  affixed  to  the  public  places, 
notifying  what  are  called  'meetings.'  A  traveller  in  a  clerical  dress  does 
not  fail  to  be  asked,  at  the  public  houses,  where  he  stops,  if  he  is  > 
preacher,  and  if  he  wishes  to  notify  a  meeting. 


148 


MISSISSIPPI      VALLEY. 


There  are  stationary  preachers  in  the  towns,  particularly  in  Ohio.    But 
in  the  rural  congregations  through  the  western  country  beyond   Ohio,  it 
is  seldom  that  a  minister  is  stationary  for  more  than   two  months.     A 
ministry  of  a  year  in  one  place  may  be  considered  beyond  the  common 
duration.     Nine-tenths  of  the  religious  instruction  of  the  country  is  given 
by  people,  who  itinerate,  and  who  are,  with  very  few  exceptions,  not- 
withstanding all  that  has  been  said  to  the  contrary,  men  of  great  zeal  and 
sanctity.     These  earnest  men,  who  have  little  to  expect  from  pecuniary 
support,  and  less  from  the  prescribed  reverence  and  influence,  which  can 
only  appertain  to  a  stated  ministry,  find,  at  once,  that  every  thing  depends 
upon  the  cultivation  of  popular  talents.     Zeal  for  the  great-cause,  mixed, 
perhaps,  imperceptibly,  with  a  spice  of  earthly  ambition,  and  the  latent 
emulation  and  pride  of  our  natures,  and  other  motives,  which  uncon- 
sciously influence,  more  or  less,  the  most  sincere  and  the  most  disinte- 
rested, the  desire  of  distinction  among  their  cotemporaries  and  their  bre- 
thren, and  a  reaching  struggle  for  the  fascination  of  popularity,  goad 
them  on  to  study  all  the  means  and  arts  of  winning  the  people.     Trav- 
elling from  month  to  month  through  dark  forests,  with  such  ample  time 
and  range  for  deep  thought,  as  they  amble  slowly  on  horseback  along 
their  perigrinations,  the  men  naturally  acquire  a  pensive  and  romantic 
turn  of  thought  and  expression,  as  we  think,  favorable  to  eloquence. 
Hence  the  preaching  is  of  a  highly  popular  cast,  and  its  first  aim  is  to 
excite  the  feelings. — Hence,  too.  excitements,  or  in  religious  parlance 
'awakenings,1  are  common  in  all  this  region.     Living  remote,  and  con- 
signed the  greater  part  of  the  time,  to  the  musing  loneliness  of  their 
condition  in  the  square  clearing  of  the  forest,  or  the  prairie;  when  they 
congregate  on  these  exciting  occasions,  society  itself  is  a  novelty,  and 
an  excitement.     The  people  are  naturally  more  sensitive  and  enthusias- 
tic, than  in  the  older  countries.     A  man  of  rude,  boisterous,  but  native 
eloquence,  rises  among  these  children  of  the  forest  and  simple  nature, 
with  his  voice  pitched  upon  the  tones,  and  his  utterance  thrilling  with 
that  awful  theme,  to  which  each  string  of  the  human  heart  every  where 
responds;  and  while  the  woods  echo  his  vehement  declamations,  his 
audience  is  alternately  dissolved  in  tears,  awed  to  profound  feeling,  or 
falling  in  spasms.     This  country  opens  a  boundless  theatre  for  strong, 
earnest  and  unlettered  eloquence;  and  the  preacher  seldom  has  exten- 
sive influence,  or  usefulness,  who  does  not  possess  some  touch  of  this 
power. 

These  excitements  have  been  prevalent,  within  the  two  or  three  past 
years,  in  the  middle  western  slates;  chiefly  in  Tennessee,  and  for  the 
most  part,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians.  Some' 
times  it  influences  a  settlement,  or  a  town;  and  sometimes,  as  there, 


RKLIGIOU3     CHARACTER.  j^g 

spreads  over  a  state.  The  people  assemble,  as  to  an  imposing  spectacle. 
They  pour  from  their  woods,  to  hear  the  new  preacher,  whose  fame  has 
travelled  before  him.  The  preaching  has  a  scenic  effect.  It  is  a  theme 
of  eamest'discussion,  reviewing,  comparison,  and  intense  interest. 

None,  but  one  who  has  ^een,  can  imagine  the  interest,  excited  in  a 
district  of  country,  perllaps  fifty  miles  in  extent,  by  the  awaited  approach 
of  the  time  for  a  camp  meeting;  and  none,  but  one  who  has  seen,  can 
imagine  how  profoundly  the  preachers  have  understood  what  produces 
effect,  and  how  well  they  have  practised  upon  it.  Suppose  the  scene  to 
be,  where  the  most  extensive  excitements  and  the  most  frequent  camp 
meetings  have  been,  during  the  two  past  years,  in  one  of  the  beautiful 
and  fertile  valleys  among  the  mountains  of  Tennessee.  The  notice  has 
been  circulated  two  or  three  months.  On  the  appointed  day,  coaches, 
chaises,  wagons,  carts,  people  on  horseback,  and  multitudes  travelling 
from  a  distance  on  foot,  wagons  with  provisions,  mattresses,  tents,  and 
arrangements  for  the  stay  of  a  week,  are  seen  hurrying  from  every  point 
towards  the  central  spot.  It  is  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of  those  beautiful 
and  lofty  trees,  natural  to  the  vallies  of  Tennessee,  in  its  deepest  ver- 
dure, and  beside  a  spring  branch,  for  the  requisite  supply  of  water. 

The  ambitious  and  wealthy  are  there,  because  in  this  region,  opinion 
is  all-powerful ;  and  they  are  there,  either  to  extend  their  influence,  or 
that  their  absence  may  not  be  noted,  to  diminish  it.  Aspirants  for  office 
are  there,  to  electioneer,  and  gain  popularity.  Vast  numbers  are  there 
from  simple  curiosity,  and  merely  to  enjoy  a  spectacle.  The  young  and 
the  beautiful  are  there,  with  mixed  motives,  which  it  were  best  not  se- 
verely to  scrutinize.  Children  are  there,  their  young  eyes  glistening  with 
the  intense  interest  of  eager  curiosity.  The  middle  aged  fathers  and 
mothers  of  families  are  there,  with  the  sober  views  of  people,  whose  plans 
in  life  are  fixed,  and  waiting  calmly  to  hear.  Men  and  women  of  hoary 
hairs  are  there,  with  such  thoughts,  it  may  be  hoped,  as  their  years  invite. 
— Such  is  the  congregation  consisting  of  thousands. 

A  host  of  preachers  of  different  denominations  are  there,  some  in  the 
earnest  vigor  and  aspiring  desires  of  youth,  waiting  an  opportunity  for 
display;  others,  who  have  proclaimed  the  gospel,  as  pilgrims  of  the  cross? 
from  the  remotest  north  of  our  vast  country  to  the  shores  of  the  Mexican 
gulf,  and  ready  to  utter  the  words,  the  feelings  and  the  experience,  which 
they  have  treasured  up  in  a  travelling  ministry  of  fifty  years,  and  whose 
accents,  trembling  with  age,  still  more  impressively  than  their  words,  an- 
nounce, that  they  will  soon  travel,  and  preach  no  more  on  the  earth,  are 
there. — Such  are  the  preachers. 

The  line  of  tents  is  pitched;  and  the  religious  city  grows  up  in  a  few 
hours  under  the  trees,  beside  the  stream.  Lamps  are  hung  in  lines  among 


150 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


the  blanches;  and  the  effect  of  their  glare  upon  the  surrounding  forest  is, 
as  of  magic.  The  scenery  of  the  most  brilliant  theatre  in  the  world  is 
a  painting  only  for  children,  compared  with  it.  Meantime  the  multi- 
tudes, wilh  the  highest  excitement  of  social  feeling  added  to  the  general 
enthusiasm  of  expectation,  pass  from  tent  to  tent,  and  interchange  apos- 
tolic greetings  and  embraces,  and  talk  of  the  co»ing  solemnities.  Their 
coffee  and  tea  are  prepared,  and  their  supper  is  finished.  By  this  time, 
the  moon,  for  they  take-thought  to  appoint  the  meeting  at  the  proper 
time  of  the  moon,  begins  to  show  its  disk  above  the  dark  summits  of  the 
mountains;  aud  a  few  stars  are  seen  glimmering  through  the  intervals 
of  the  branches.  The  whole  constitutes  a  temple  worthy  of  the  grandeur 
of  God.  An  old  man,  in  a  dress  of  the  quaintest  simplicity,  ascends  a 
platform,  wipes  the  dust  from  his  spectacles,  and  in  a  voice  of  suppressed 
emotion,  gives  out  the  hymn,  of  which  the  whole  assembled  multitude 
can  recite  the  words, — and  an  air,  in  which  every  voice  can  join.  We 
should  deem  poorly  of  the  heart,  that  would  not  thrill,  as  the  song  is  heard 
like  the  'sound  of  many  waters,'  echoing  among  the  hills  and  mountains. 
Such  are  the  scenes,  the  associations,  and  such  the  influence  of  external 
things  upon  a  nature  so  'fearfully  and  wonderfully'  constituted,  as  ours, 
that  little  effort  is  necessary  on  such  a  theme  as  religion,  urged  at  such 
a  place,  under  such  circumstances,  to  fill  the  heart  and  the  eyes.  The 
hoary  orator  talks  of  God,  of  eternity,  a  judgment  to  come,  and  all  that 
is  impressive  beyond.  He  speaks  of  his  'experiences,'  his  toils  and 
travels,  his  persecutions  and  welcomes,  and  how  many  he  has  seen  in 
hope,  in  peace  and  triumph,  gathered  to  their  fathers;  and  when  he  speaks 
of  the  short  space  that  remains  to  him,  his  only  regret  is,  that  he  can  no 
more  proclaim,  in  the  silence  of  death,  the  mercies  of  his  crucified  Re- 
deemer. 

There  is  no  need  of  the  studied  trick  of  oratory,  to  produce  in  such 

a  place  the  deepest  movements  of  the  heart.  No  wonder,  as  the  speaker 
pauses  to  dash  the  gathering  moisture  from  his  own  eye,  that  his  audience 
are  dissolved  in  tears,  or  uttering  the  exclamations  of  penitence.  Nor  is 
it  cause  for  admiration,  that  many,  who  poised  themselves  on  an  estima- 
tion of  higher  intellect,  and  a  nobler  insensibility,  than  the  crowd,  catch 
the  infectious  feeling,  and  become  women  and  children  in  their  turn; 
and  though  they  'came  to  mock,  remain  to  pray.' 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  in  derision  of  these  spectacles, 
so  common  in  this  region,  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  influence,  on  the 
whole,  is  salutary,  and  the  general  bearing  upon  the  great  interests  of  the 
community,  good.  It  will  be  long  before  a  regular  ministry  can  be  gen- 
erally supported,  if  ever.  In  place  of  that,  nothing  tends  so  strongly  to 
supply  the  want  of  the  influence,  resulting  from  the  constant  duties  of  a 


RELIGIOUS     CHARACTER.  J5l 

stated  ministry,  as  the  recurrence  of  these  explosions  of  feeling,  which 
shake  the  moral  world,  and  purify  its  atmosphere,  uniil  the  accumulating 
seeds  of  moral  disease  require  a  similar  lus:ration  again. 

Whatever  be  the  cause,  the  effect  is  certain,  that  through  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  parts  of  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois,  these  excitements  have  produced  a  palpable  change  in  the 
habits  and  manners  of  the  people.  The  gambling  and  drinking  shops 
are  deserted:  and  the  people  that  used  to  congregate  there,  now  go  to  the 
religious  meetings.  The  Methodists,  too,  have  done  great  and  incalcula- 
ble good.  They  are  generally  of  a  character,  education  and  training,  that 
prepare  them  for  the  elements  upon  which  they  are  destined  to  operate 
They  speak  the  dialect,  understand  the  interests,  and  enter  into  the  feel- 
ings of  their  audience.  They  exert  a  prodigious  and  incalculable  bearing 
upon  the  rough  backwoods  men;  and  do  good,  where  more  polished  and 
trained  ministers  would  preach  without  effect.  No  mind  but  His,  for 
whom  they  labor,  can  know  how  many  profane  they  have  reclaimed,  — 
drunkards  they  have  reformed, — and  wanderers  they  have  brought  home 
to  God. 

The  Baptists,  too,  and  the  missionaries  from  the  Atlantic  country, 
seeing  such  a  wide  and  open  held  before  them,  labor  with  great  diligence 
and  earnestness,  operating  generally  upon  another  class  of  the  community. 
The  Catholics  are  both  numerous  and  zealous;  and  perfectly  united  in 
spirit  and  interest,  form  a  compact  phalanx,  and  produce  the  effect  of 
moral  union.  From  their  united  exertions  it  happens,  that  over  all  this 
country,  among  all  the  occasions  for  public  gatherings,  which,  from  their 
rareness  excite  the  greater  interest,  religious  meetings  are  by  far  the  most 
numerous. 

That  part  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  west  of  the  mountains  has  a 
predominance  of  Presbyterians.  The  great  state  of  Ohio  is  made  up  of 
such  mixed  elements,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  which  of  all  the 
sects  prevails.  As  a  general  characteristic,  the  people  are  strongly  in- 
clined to  attend  on  some  kind  of  religious  worship. — Presbyterians  and 
Baptists  strive  for  the  ascendancy  in  Kentucky.  Methodists  and  Cum- 
berland Presbyterians  are  numerous.  They,  probably,  have  the  ascend- 
ancy in  Tennessee,  and  they  are  making  great  efforts  in  Alabama  and 
Mississippi.  Methodists  are  the  prevailing  denomination  in  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  Catholics  have 
an  undisputed  ascendancy  in  Louisiana  and  Florida.  They  have  many 
societies  in  Missouri  and  Illinois.  They  are  prevalent  in  a  portion  of 
Kentucky,  and  have  a  very  respectable  seminary  at  Bardstown.  Meth- 
odists, Presbyterians,  and  Catholics  are  the  prevailing  denominations  of 
the  West  * 

•For  table  of  Religious  Sects,  see  Appendix,  Table  No.  VI. 


J52  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Pursuits  of  the  People.  Manufactures,  &c.  Western  Pennsylva- 
nia is  a  manufacturing  region,  and  along  with  Ohio,  is  the  New  England 
of  the  West.  The  people  bring  down  the  Alleghany,  clear  and  fine  pine 
plank;  delivering  them  along  the  whole  course  of  the  Ohio,  and  sending 
great  quantities  even  to  New  Orleans.  These  pines,  of  which  the  houses 
in  New  Orleans  are  finished,  waved  over  the  streams  of  New  York,  and 
are  despatched  in  rafts  and  flat  boats,  after  being  sawed  into  plank,  from 
Orleanne  point.  From  the  Monongahela  is  sent  the  rye  whiskey,  which 
is  so  famous  in  the  lower  country.  On  the  Youghiogheny  and  Mononga- 
hela, at  Connelsville  on  the  former,  and  Brownsville  on  the  latter,  are 
important  manufactories,  chiefly  of  iron.  Pittsburgh  has  been  called  the 
Birmingham  of  America;  though  that  honor,  is  keenly  disputed  by  her 
rival,  Cincinnati.  There  are  numerous  manufacturing  towns  in  Ohio,  of 
which,  after  Cincinnati,  Zanesville  and  Steubenville  are  the  chief.  All 
this  region,  in  numerous  streams,  calculated  for  water  power,  in  a  salu- 
brious climate,  in  abundance  of  pit  coal,  in  its  position,  and  the  genius 
and  habits  of  its  inhabitants,  is  naturally  adapted  to  become  a  manufac- 
turing country.  Materials  for  articles  of  prime  necessity,  as  salt,  iron 
and  glass,  exist  in  the  most  ample  abundance.  Pittsburgh,  blackened 
with  the  smoke  of  pit  coal,  and  one  quarter  of  Cincinnati,  throwing  up 
columns  of  smoke  from  the  steam  factories,  may  be  considered  as  great 
manufacturing  establishments.  If  we  except  the  cordage,  bale  rope, 
bagginc,  and  other  articles  of  hempen  fabric,  manufactured  in  Kentucky, 
the  chief  part  of  the  weslern  manufactures  originates  in  west  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio.  There  are  some  indications,  that  Indiana  will  possess 
a  manufacturing  spirit;  and  there  are  separate,  incipient  establishments 
of  this  kind,  more  or  less  considerable,  in  every  state,  but  Louisiana  and 
Mississippi. 

These  manufactures  consist  of  a  great  variety  of  articles  of  prime 
necessity,  use  and  ornament.  The  principal  are  of  iron,  as  castings  of 
all  sorts;  and  almost  every  article  of  ironmongery,  that  is  manufactured 
in  the  world-     This  manufacture  is  carried  on  to  an  immense  extent. 

Glass  is  manufactured  in  various  places,  at  present,  it  is  supposed 
nearly  to  an  amount,  i.o  supply  the  country.  Manufactures  in  woollen 
and  cotton,  in  pottery,  in  laboratories,  as  white  and  red  lead,  Prussian 
blue,  and  the  colors  generally,  the  acids  and  other  chemical  preparations 
in  steam  power  machinery,  saddlery,  wheel  irons,  wire  drawing,  buttons, 
knitting  needles,  silver  plaiting,  morocco  leather,  articles  in  brass  and 
copper,  hats,  boots  and  shoes,  breweries,  tin,  and  olher  metals,  cabinet 
work;  in  short,  manufactures  subservient  to  the  arts,  and  to  domestic 
subsistence,  are  carried  on  at  various  places  in  the  western  country  with 
great  spirit.    Ohio  has  imbibed  from  her  prototype,  New  England,  manu- 


PURSUITS    Or    THE    PEOPLE.  J53 

factoring  propensities;  and  we  have  heard  it  earnestly  contested,  that 
her  capabilities  for  being  a  great  manufacturing  country,  were  even 
superior  to  those  of  New  England.  It  is  affirmed,  that,  taking  the  whole 
year  into  consideration,  her  climate  is  more  favorable  to  health;  and 
there  can  be  no  question,  that  in  her  abundance  of  fuel,  pit  coal,  and  iron 
and  the  greater  profusion  of  the  raw  material  of  manufactures  in  general, 
she  has  greatly  the  advantage. 

In  the  state  of  Kentucky,  hemp  is  raised  to  a  considerable  extent;  and 
in  its  di  fie  rent  manufactures,  constitutes  a  material  article  in  her  exports. 
Salt  is  manufactured  through  all  the  western  country  in  sufficient  abun- 
dance for  home- consumption.  Shoes,  hats  and  clothing,  to  a  considera- 
ble extent,  are  yet  imported  from  abroad  into  some  of  the  western  states. 
But,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  far  greater  part  of  the  people  are  farmers. 
In  west  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  in  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Missouri,  and  a  part  of  Tennessee,  the  same  articles  are  grown, 
and  sent  abroad,  as  flour,  corn,  the  small  grains  and  whiskey;  pulse, 
potatoes,  and  the  other  vegetables;  fruit,  as  apples,  dried  peaches, 
and  other  preserved  fruits;  beef,  pork,  cheese,- butter,  poultry,  venison 
hams,  live  cattle,  hogs  and  horses.  The  greater  part  of  the  flour  is  sent 
from  Ohio  and  Kentucky;  though  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri  are  fol- 
lowing the  example  with  great  vigor.  Wheat  is  grown  with  more  ease 
in  Illinois  ?.nd  Missouri  than  in  the  other  states.  Ohio  has  gone  consid- 
erably into  the  culture  of  yellow  tobacco. — Tobacco  is  one  of  the  staples 
of  Kentucky  export.  Cattle,  hogs  and  horses  are  sent  to  New  Orleans 
extensively  from  Illinois  and  Missouri,  as  are,  also,  lead  and  peltries.  In 
Arkansas,  part  of  Tennessee,  all  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  cotton  is  the 
chief  object  of  cultivation.  Grains,  and  other  materials  of  nutriment, 
are  only  raised  in  subservience  to  this  culture.  The  cultivation  of  Lou- 
isiana, and  a  part  of  Florida,  is  divided  between  cotton  and  sugar. 

The  cultivation  in  all  the  states,  except  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  i3 
chiefly  performed  by  slaves,  of  whose  character,  habits  and  condition,  we 
have  yet  to  treat.  The  farms  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  are  generally  of 
moderate  size,  and  the  cultivators  do  not  materially  differ  in  their  habits 
from  those  of  the  northern  Atlantic  states.  In  Kentucky,  Illinois  and 
Missouri,  they  are  more  addicted  to  what  is  called  '  cropping,'  that  is, 
devoting  the  chief  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  one  article.  In  all  the 
states,  save  those  that  cultivate  cotton  and  sugar,  they  make,  on  an 
average,  sixty  bushels  of  maize  to  the  acre:  and  the  cultivation  consists 
:n  ploughing  two  or  three  times  between  the  rows,  during  the  growing  of 
the  crop.  From  eighty  to  an  hundred  bushels  are  not  an  uncommon 
crop,  and  manuring  is  scarcely  yet  thought  of  in  cultivation.  The  good 
lands  in  Illinois  md  in  Missouri  yield  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  bushel* 

20 


154 


UI8S1S31PPI     VALLErj. 


of  wheat  to  the  acre.  The  cultivation  is  on  prairie,  or  bottom  land;  an  J 
as  the  soil  is  friable,  loose  and  perfectly  free  from  stones,  and  on  the 
prairies,  from  every  other  obstruction,  farming  is  not  laborious  and  diffi- 
cult, as  in  hard,  rough  and  rocky  grounds.  The  ease  and  abundance, 
with  which  all  the  articles  of  the  country  are  produced,  is  one  of  the 
chief  objects  of  complaint.  The  necessary  result  is,  that  they  are  raised 
in  such  abundance,  as  to  glut  the  market  at  New  Orleans,  and  used  often 
not  to  bring  enough  to  pay  the  expenses  of  transportation.  All  this  has 
been  recently  so  changed  by  the  effects  of  our  canals,  the  rapid  influx  of 
immigration,  and  the  levelling  tendency  of  the  increased  facilities  of 
transport,  that  the  price  of  western  produce  is  fast  approximating  the 
Atlantic  value.  A  natural  result  of  this  order  of  things  will  be,  that  the 
west  will  soon  export  four  times  its  former  amount  of  flour,  and  other 
produce. 

From  the  cheapness  of  corn,  and  the  abundance  of  'mast,1  as  it  is 
called,  in  the  woods,  hogs,  too,  are  easily  multiplied,  far  beyond  the 
wants  of  the  people.  Pork  is  becoming  one  of  the  great  staples  of  all 
the  western  states,  except  those  that  grow  cotton  and  sugar.  Cincinnati 
is  decidedly  the  largest  pork  market  in  the  United  States.  Prodigious 
numbers  of  swine  are  slaughtered  there,  and  the  business  of  barrelling  it, 
and  curing  bacon  for  exportation,  is  one  of  the  most  important  sources  of 
its  trade.  Cattle  and  swine,  when  carried  to  New  Orleans,  command  a 
fair  price.  Horses  are  an  important  and  increasing  article  of  export. 
Orchards  north  of  36°  prosper,  perhaps,  better  than  in  any  other  country; 
and  apples  and  cider  are  already  important  articles  of  exportation,  and 
will  soon  be  more  so;  for  nowhere  do  apple  trees  grow  with  more  rapidity 
and  beauty,  and  sooner  and  more  amply  load  themselves  with  fruit. 
Venison  and  deer  skins,  honey  and  beeswax,  are  commonly  received  in 
the  country  stores,  in  pay  for  goods.  From  Missouri,  peltries,  furs  and 
lead,  from  the  Illinois  mines,  and  from  those  in  the  Missouri  mine  region, 
are  the  chief  articles  of  present  export.  The  amount  of  export  of  these 
articles,  together  with  the  cotton  and  sugar  of  the  southern  country,  and 
the  prodigious  quantities  of  whiskey  from  all  the  western  states,  will  be 
seen  by  recurrence  to  the  table  of  exports.* 

Modes  of  conveyance  to  market.  Water  carriage,  &,c.  From  the 
northern  and  eastern  parts  of  this  valley,  no  inconsiderable  amount  of  the 
produce  and  articles  of  the  West,  finds  its  way  to  the  eastern  country  by 
the  canals  and  on  the  lakes.  Cleveland  and  Sandusky,  on  lake  Erie,  are 
deriving  importance,  from  being  places  of  shipment  from  Ohio  over  the 
lakes.     The  northern  garrisons  are  beginning  to  be  supplied  with  provi- 

•  6««  Appendix,  tabit  No.  VII. 


PURSUITS  OF  THK  PEOPLH,  15$ 

sions  from  Illinois  and  Missouri,  by  the  way  of  Chicago  and  lake  Michigan. 
Horses,  cattle  and  swine  to  a  large  amount,  are  driven  over  the  moun- 
tains from  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  So  early  as  1813-14,  in  one  year,  four 
thousand  and  fifty-five  transport  wagons  were  numbered  from  Philadel- 
phia to  Pittsburgh.  Many  of  them  found  a  return  load  of  articles  of  the 
West.  Much  of  this  transport",  which  has  vastly  increased  since  that 
time,  now  takes  place  on  the  great  Pennsylvania  canal,  which  wants  the 
completion  of  an  interval  of  no  great  distance  among  the  mountains,  to 
be  an  entire  water  communication  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh, 
and  the  longest  continued  canal  in  the  United  States.  The  Ohio  and 
Erie  canal  is  now  complete  and  will  add  immensely  to  the  facility  of  trans- 
port from  the  west  to  the  east.  Rail  roads  will  concur  1o  the  same  result; 
and  when  the  contemplated  rail-roads  and  canals  shall  be  in  operation, 
the  western  country  will  be  placed  more  nearly  on  an  equality  with  the 
sea-board,  in  regard  to  a  market. 

At  present,  however,  the  greater  part  of  the  commercial  intercourse  of 
the  country  is  yet  with  New  Orleans,  by  the  rivers  and  the  Mississippi, 
in  boats.  These  are  so  various  in  their  kinds,  and  so  curious  in  their 
construction,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  reduce  them  to  specific  classes 
and  divisions.  No  form  of  water  craft  so  whimsical,  no  shape  so  out- 
landish, can  well  be  imagined,  but  what,  on  descending  from  Pittsburgh 
to  New  Orleans,  it  may  somewhere  be  seen  lying  to  the  shore,  or  floating 
on  the  river.  The  New  York  canal  is  generating  monstrous  conceptions 
of  this  sort;  and  there  will  soon  be  a  rivalry  between  the  East  and  the 
West,  which  can  create  the  most  ingenious  floating  river  monsters  of 
passage  and  transport. 

The  barge  is  of  the  size  of  an  Atlantic  schooner,  with  a  raised  and 
outlandish  looking  deck.  It  had  sails,  masts  and  rigging  not  unlike  a 
sea  vessel,  and  carried  from  fifty  to  an  hundred  tons.  It  required  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  hands  to  work  it  up  stream.  On  the  lower  courses  of  the 
Mississippi,  when  the  wind  did  not  serve,  and  the  waters  were  high,  it 
was  worked  up  stream  by  the  operation  that  is  called  '  warping,' — a  most 
laborious,  slow  and  difficult  mode  of  ascent,  and  in  which  six  or  eight 
miles  a  day  was  good  progress.  It  consisted  in  having  two  yawls,  the 
one  in  advance  of  the  other,  carrying  out  a  warp  of  some  hundred  yards 
in  length,  making  it  fast  to  a  tree,  and  then  drawing  the  barge  up  to  that 
tree  by  the  warp.  When  that  warp  was  coiled,  the  yawl  in  advance  had 
another  laid,  and  so  on  alternately.  From  ninety  to  an  hundred  days 
was  a  tolerable  passage  from  New  Orleans  to  Cincinnati.  In  this  way^ 
the  intercourse  between  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Nashville  $ 
and  St-  Louis,  for  the  more  important  purposes  of  commerce,  was  kept 
up  with  New  Orleans.     One  need  only  read  the  journal  of  a  barge  on 


156  MISSISSIPPI     VALLBY. 

such  an  ascent,  to  comprehend  the  full  value  of  the  invention  of  steam 
boats.  They  are  now  gone  into  disuse,  and  we  do  not  remember  to  have 
seen  a  barge  for  some  years,  except  on  the  waters  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio. 

The  keel  boat  is  of  a  long,  slender  and  elegant  form,  and  generally 
carries  from  fifteen  to  thirty  tons.  Its  advantage  is  in  its  small  draft  of 
water,  and  the  lightness  of  its  construction.  It  is  still  used  on  the  Ohio 
and  upper  Mississippi  in  low  stages  of  water,  and  on  all  the  boatable 
streams  where  steam  boats  do  not  yet  run.  Its  propelling  power  is  by 
oars,  sails,  setting  poles,  the  cordelle,  and  when  the  waters  are  high,  and 
the  boat  runs  on  the  margin  of  the  bushes,  'bush-whacking,  or  pulling  up 
by  the  bushes.  Before  the  invention  of  steam  boats,  these  boats  were 
used  in  the  proportion  of  six  to  one  at  the  present  time. 

The  ferry  flat  is  a  scow-boat,  and  when  used  as  a  boat  of  descent  for 
families,  has  a  roof,  or  covering.  These  are  sometimes,  in  the  vernacu- 
lar phrase,  called  '  sleds.'  The  Alleghany  or  Mackinaw  skiff,  is  a  covered 
skiff,  carrying  from  six  to  ten  tons,  and  is  much  used  on  the  Alleghany, 
the  Illinois,  and  the  rivers  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri. 
Periogues  are  sometimes  hollowed  from  one  very  large  tree,  or  from  the 
trunks  of  two  trees  united,  and  fitted  with  a  plank  rim^  They  carry 
from  one  to  three  tons.  There  are  common  skiffs,  canoes  and  'dug-outs,' 
for  the  convenience  of  crossing  the  rivers;  and  a  select  company  of  a 
few  travellers  often  descend  in  them  to  New  Orleans.  Hunters  arid  In- 
dians, and  sometimes  passengers,  make  long  journeys  of  ascent  of  the 
rivers  in  them.  Besides  these,  there  are  anomalous  water  crafts,  that 
can  hardly  be  reduced  to  any  class,  used  as  boats  of  passage%r  descent. 
We  have  seen  flat  boats,  worked  by  a  wheel,  which  was  driven  by  the 
cattle,  that  were  conveying  to  the  New  Orleans  market.  There  are  horse 
boats  of  various  constructions,  used  for  the  most,  part  as  ferry  boats;  but 
sometimes  as  boats  of  ascent.  Two  keel  boats  are  connected  by  a  plat- 
form. A  pen  holds  the  horses,  which,  by  circular  movement,  propel 
wheels.  We  saw  United  States'  troops  ascending  the  Missouri  by  boats, 
propelled  by  tread  wheels;  and  we  have,  more  than  once,  seen  a  boat 
moved  rapidly  up  stream  by  wheels,  after  the  steam  boat  construction, 
propelled  by  a  man  turning  a  crank. 

But  the  boats  of  passage  and  conveyance,  that  remain  after  the  inven- 
tion of  steam  boats,  and  are  still  important  to  those  objects,  are  keel 
boats,  and  flats.  The  flat  boats  are  called,  in  the  vernacular  phrase, 
'Kentucky  flats,'  or  'broad  horns.'  They  are  simply  an  oblong  ark, 
with  a  roof  slightly  curved  from  the  centre  to  shed  rain.  They  are  gen- 
erally about  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  from  fifty  to  eighty,  and  sometimes  an 
hundred  feet  in  length.  The  timbers  of  the  bottom  are  massive  beams, 
and  they  are  intended  to  be  of  great  strength ;  and  to  carry  a  burden  of 


PURSUITS     OF     THE     PHOPL1.  J57 

from  two  to  four  hundred  barrels.  Great  numbers  of  cattle,  hogs  and 
horses  are  conveyed  to  market  in  them.  We  have  seen  family  boats  of 
this  description,  fitted  up  for  the  descent  of  families  to  the  lower  country, 
with  a  stove,  comfortable  apartments,  beds,  and  arrangements  for  com- 
modious habitancy.  We  see  in  them,  ladies,  servants,  cattle,  horses, 
sheep,  dogs,  and  poultry,  all  floating  on  the  same  bottom ;  and  on  the  roof 
the  looms,  ploughs,  spinning  wheels  and  domestic  implements  of  the 
family. 

Much  of  the  produce  of  the  upper  country,  even  after  the  invention 
of  steam  boats,  continues  to  descend  to  New  Orleans  in  Kentucky  flats. 
They  generally  carry  three  hands;  and  perhaps  a  supernumerary  fourth 
hand,  a  kind  of  supercargo.  This  boat,  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram, 
lying  flat  and  dead  in  the  water,  and  with  square  timbers  below  its  bot- 
tom planks,  and  carrying  such  a  great  weight,  runs  on  a  sandbar  with  a 
strong  headway,  and  ploughs  its  timbers  into  the  sand;  and  it  is,  of  course, 
a  work  of  extreme  labor  to  get  the  boat  afloat  again.  Its  form  and  its 
weight  render  it  difficult  to  give  it  a  direction  with  any  power  of  oars. 
Hence,  in  the  shallow  waters,  it  often  gets  aground.  When  it  has  at 
length  cleared  the  shallow  waters,  and  gained  the  heavy  current  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  landing  such  an  unwieldly  water  craft,  in  such  a  current, 
is  a  matter  of  no  little  difficulty  and  danger. 

All  the  toil,  and  danger,  and  exposure,  and  moving  accidents  of  this 
long  and  perilous  voyage,  are  hidden,  however,  from  the  inhabitants,  who 
contemplate  the  boats  floating  by  their  dwellings  on  beautiful  spring 
mornings,  when  the  verdant  forest,  the  mild  and  delicious  temperature  of 
the  air,  the  delightful  azure  of  the  sky  of  this  country,  the  fine  bottom 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  romantic  bluff  on  the  other,  the  broad  and  smooth 
stream  rolling  calmly  down  the  forest,  and  floating  the  boat  gently  for- 
ward, present  delightful  images  and  associations  to  the  beholders.  At 
this  time,  there  is  no  visible  danger,  or  call  for  labor.  The  boat  takes 
care  of  itself;  and  little  do  the  beholders  imagine,  how  different  a  scene 
may  be  presented  in  half  an  hour.  Meantime,  one  of  the  hands  scrapes 
a  violin,  and  the  others  dance.  Greetings,  or  rude  defiances,  or  trials  of 
wit,  or  proffers  of  love  to  the  girls  on  the  shore,  or  saucy  messages,  are 
scattered  between  them  and  the  spectators  along  the  banks.  The  boat 
glides  on,  until  it  disappears  behind  the  point  of  wood.  At  this  mo- 
ment, perhaps,  the  bugle,  with  which  all  the  boats  are  provided,  strikes 
up  its  note  in  the  distance  over  the  water.  These  scenes,  and  these 
notes,  echoing  from  the  bluffs  of  the  beautiful  Ohio,  have  a  charm  for  the 
imagination,  which  although  heard  a  thousand  times  repeated,  at  all 
hours  and  in  all  positions,  present  the  image  of  a  tempting  and  charming 
youthful  existence,  that  naturally  inspires  a  wish  to  be  a  boatman. 


158  MISSISSIPPI     VALLRY. 

No  wonder,  that  to  the  young,  who  are  reared  in  these  remote  regions, 
with  that  restless  curiosity,  which  is  fostered  by  solitude  and  silence,  and 
who  witness  scenes  like  this  so  frequently,  the  severe  and  unremitting 
labors  of  agriculture,  performed  directly  in  the  view  of  such  spectacles, 
should  become  tasteless  and  irksome.  No  wonder,  that  the  young,  along 
the  banks  of  the  great  streams,  should  detest  the  labors  of  the  field,  and 
embrace  every  opportunity,  either  openly,  or,  if  minors,  covertly  to  es- 
cape, and  devote  themselves  to  the  pernicious  employment  of  boating. 
Jn  this  view,  we  may  account  for  the  detestation  of  the  inhabitants,  along 
these  great  streams,  of  steam  boats,  which  are  continually  diminishing 
the  number  of  all  other  boats  and  boatmen,  and  which  have  already  with- 
drawn, probably  ten  thousand  from  that  employment.  We  have  seen, 
what  is  the  character  of  this  employment,  notwithstanding  all  its  seduc- 
tions. In  no  employment  do  the  hands  so  soon  wear  out.  It  is  compara- 
tively but  a  few  years,  since  these  waters  have  been  navigated  in  any  way. 
Yet  at  every  bend,  and  every  high  point  of  the  rivers,  where  you  go  on 
shore  for  a  moment,  you  may  expect  to  see  the  narrow  mound,  and  the 
rude  monument,  and  the  coarse  memorial  carved  on  an  adjoining  tree  by 
brother  boatmen,  to  mark  the  spot,  where  an  exausted  boatmen  yielded 
his  breath  and  was  buried. 

The  bayou  at  New  Madrid  has  an  extensive  and  fine  eddy,  into  which 
boats  float,  almost  without  exertion,  and  land  in  a  remarkably  fine  harbor. 
It  may  be  fairly  considered  the  central  point,  or  the  chief  meridian  of 
boats  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  This  bayou  generally  brings  up  the  des- 
cending and  ascending  boats;  and  this  is  an  excellent  point  of  observa- 
tion, from  which  to  contemplate  their  aspect,  the  character  of  boaling  and 
the  descriptions  and  the  amount  of  produce  from  the  upper  country. 
You  can  here  take  an  imaginary  voyage  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  or 
Missouri;  to  the  lead  minds  of  Rock  River,  or  to  Chicago  of  Lake  Mich- 
gan;  to  Tippicanoe  of  the  Wabash,  Orleanne  point  of  the  Alleghany, 
Brownsville  of  the  Monongahala,  the  Saline  of  the  Kenhawa,  or  the 
mountains,  round  whose  bases  winds  the  Tennessee;  or,  if  you  choose, 
you  may  take  the  cheap  and  rapid  journey  of  thought  along  the  courses 
of  an  hundred  other  rivers;  and  in  the  lapse  of  a  few  days'  residence  in 
the  spring,  at  this  point,  you  may  see  boats,  which  have  arrived  here  from 
all  these  imagined  places.  One  hundred  boats  have  landed  here  in  a  day. 
The  boisterous  gaity  of  the  hands,  the  congratulations  of  acquaintances, 
who  have  met  here  from  immense  distances,  the  moving  picture  of  life  on 
board  the  boats,  in  the  numerous  animals,  large  and  small,  which  they 
carry,  their  different  ladings,  the  evidence  of  the  increasing  agriculture 
above,  and,  more  than  all,  the  immense  distances,  which  they  have  already 
traversed,  afford  a  copious  fund  of  meditation.     In  one  place  there  are 


PURSUITS     or    THE     PEOPLE.  I59 

boats  loaded  with  pine  plank,  from  the  pine,  forests  of  the  southwest  of 
New  York.  In  another  quarter  there  are  numerous  boats  with  the  'Yan- 
kee notions'  of  Ohio.  In  another  quarter  are  landed  together  the  boats 
of  'old  Kentucky,'  with  their  whiskey,  hemp,  tobacco,  bagging  and  bale 
rope;  with  all  the  articles  of  the  produce  of  their  soil.  From  Tennes- 
see there  are  the  same  articles,  together  with  boats  loaded  with  bales  of 
cotton.  From  Illinois  and  Missouri,  cattle,  horses,  and  the  general  pro- 
duce of  the  western  country,  together  with  peltry  and  lead  from  Missouri. 
Some  boats  are  loaded  with  corn  in  bulk  and  in  the  ear.  Others  with 
barrels  of  apples  and  potatoes,  and  great  quantities  of  dried  apples  and 
peaches.  Others  have  loads  of  cider,  that  has  been  strengthened  by  boil- 
ing, or  freezing.  Other  boats  are  loaded  with  furniture,  tools,  domestic 
and  agricultural  implements;  in  short,  the  numerous  products  of  the  in- 
genuity, speculation,  manufacture  and  agriculture  of  the  whole  upper 
country  of  the  west.  They  have  come  from  regions,  thousands  of  miles 
apart.  They  have  floated  to  a  common  point  of  union — The  surface  of 
the  boats  covers  some  acres.  Dunghill  fowls  are  fluttering  over  the  roofs^ 
as  invariable  appendages.  The  piercing  note  of  the  chanticleer  is  heard. 
— The  cattle  low.  The  horses  trample,  as  in  their  stables.  The  swine 
utter  the  cries  of  fighting  with  each  other.  The  turkeys  gobble.  The 
dogs  of  an  hundred  regions  become  acquainted.  The  boatmen  travel 
about  from  boat  to  boat,  make  inquiries  and  acquaintances,  agree  to 'lash 
boats,'  as  it  is  called,  and  form  alliances  to  yield  mutual  assistance  to  each 
other  on  the  way  to  New  Orleans.  After  an  hour  or  two  passed  in  this 
way,  they  spring  on  shore,  to  'raise  the  wind'  in  the  village.  If  they 
tarry  all  night,  as  is  generally  the  case,  it  is  well  for  the  people  of  the 
town,  if  they  do  not  become  riotous  in  the  course  of  the  evening;  in 
which  case,  strong  measures  are  adopted,  and  the  proceedings  on  both 
sides  are  summary  and  decisive.  With  the  first  dawn,  all  is  bustle  and 
motion;  and  amidst  shouts,  and  trampling  of  cattle,  and  barking  of  dogs, 
and  crowing  of  the  dunghill  fowls,  the  fleet  is  in  half  an  hour  all  under 
weigh;  and  when  the  sun  rises,  nothing  is  seen,  but  the  broad  stream  roll- 
ing on  as  before.  These  boats  unite  once  more  at  Natchez  and  New 
Orleans;  and  although  they  live  on  the  same  river,  it  is  improbable  that 
they  will  ever  meet  again  on  the  earth. 

In  passing  below,  we  often  see  a  number  of  boats  lashed,  and  floating 
together.  In  travelling  over  the  roofs  of  the  floating  town,  you  have  a 
considerable  walk.  These  associations  have  various  objects.  Boats  so 
united,  as  is  well  known,  float  considerably  faster.  Perhaps  the  object  is 
to  barter,  and  obtain  supplies.  Perhaps  it  is  to  kill  beef,  or  pork,  for 
fresh  provisions.  Apples,  cider,  nuts,  dried  fruit,  whiskey,  peach  brandy, 
and  drams  are  retailed;  and  the  concern  is  for  a  while,  one  of  great 


IQO  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

merriment  and  good  will.  Unforseen  moral  storms  arise;  and  the  part- 
nerahip,  which  began  in  a  frolic,  ends  in  a  quarrel.  The  aggrieved  dis- 
charge a  few  mutual  volleys  of  the  compliments,  usually  interchanged 
on  such  occasions,  unlash,  and  each  one  manages  his  boat  in  his  own 
way. 

The  order  of  things  in  the  western  country,  naturally  fosters  a  propen- 
sity for  a  floating  life  on  the  water.  The  inhabitants  will  ultimately  be- 
come as  famous,  as  the  Chinese,  for  having  their  habitancy  in  boats.  In 
time  of  high  waters  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  we  were  on  board  an  im- 
mensely large  flat  boat,  on  which  was  'kept  a  town,'  which  had  figured  in 
the  papers,  as  a  place,  that  bade  fair  to  rival  the  ancient  metropolis  of 
the  Delta  of  the  Nile. — The  tavern,  the  retail  and  dram  shops,  together 
with  the  inhabitants,  and  no  small  number  of  very  merry  customers* 
floated  on  the  same  bottom.  We  have  seen  a  large  tinner's  establishment 
floating  down  the  Mississippi.  It  was  a  respectable  manufactory;  and 
the  articles  were  sold  wholesale  and  retail.  There  were  three  apart- 
ments, and  a  number  of  hands.  When  they  had  mended  all  the  tin,  and 
vended  all,  that  they  could  sell  in  one  place,  they  floated  on  to  another, 

A  piece  goods  store  united  with  a  bookstore  is  no  uncommon  establish- 
ment. We  have  heard  of  a  large  floating  blacksmith's  establishment} 
and  of  another,  in  which  it  was  contemplated  to  work  a  trip  hammer. 
Besides  the  numerous  periogues,  or  singular  looking  Spanish  and  French 
trading  retail  boats,  commonly  called  'chicken  thieves,'  which  scour  the 
rivers  within  an  hundred  leagues  of  New  Orleans,  there  are  on  all  the 
waters  of  the  West,  retail  trading  boats.  They  are  often  fitted  up  with  no 
inconsiderable  ingenuity  and  show.  The  goods  are  fancifully  arranged 
on  shelves.  The  delicate  hands  of  the  vender  would  bear  a  comparison 
with  those  of  the  spruce  clerk  behind  our  city  counters.  Every  consider- 
able landing  place  on  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  has  in  the 
spring,  a  number  of  stationary  and  inhabited  boats  lying  by  at  the  shores. 
They  are  too  often  dram  shops,  and  resorts  of  all  kinds  of  bad  company. 
A  severe  inquiry  ought  to  be  instituted  at  all  these  points,  respecting  the 
inmates  and  practices  of  these  floating  mansions  of  iniquity. 

There  is  no  portion  of  the  globe,  where  the  invention  of  steam  boats 
should  be  so  highly  appreciated,  as  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This 
invention  deserves  to  be  estimated  the  most  memorable  era  of  the  West; 
and  the  name  of  the  inventor  ought  to  be  handed  down  with  glory  to  the 
generations  to  come.  No  triumph  of  art  over  the  obstacles  of  nature 
has  eVer  been  so  complete.  But  for  this  invention,  this  valley  might 
■fchave  sustained  a  nation  of  farmers  and  planters;  and  the  comforts,  the 
arts,  refinements  and  intelligence  of  the  day  would  have  made  their  way 
slowly  from  New  Orleans  to  the  lakes,  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi, 


PURSUITS  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  \Q\ 

and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Thousands  of  boatmen  would  have  been 
slowly  and  laboriously  warping,  and  rowing,  and  poling,  and  cordelling 
their  boats,  in  a  three  month's  trip  up  these  mighty  and  long  streams, 
which  are  now  ascended  by  steam  boats  in  ten  days.  It  may  be  safely 
asserted,  that  in  many  respects,  the  improvements  of  fifty  years  without 
steam  boats,  were  brought  to  this  country  in  five  years  after  their  inven- 
tion. The  distant  points  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  U3ed  to  be 
separated  by  distances  and  obstacles  of  transit  more  formidable,  in  the 
passing,  than  the  Atlantic.  These  points  are  now  brought  into  juxta- 
position. Distances  on  the  rivers  are  not  indeed  annihilated;  but  they 
are  diminished  to  about  an  eighth  of  their  former  extent;  and  their  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  are  reduced  even  more  than  that.  All  the  advan- 
tages of  long  rivers,  such  as  variety  of  soil,  climate,  productions,  remain 
divested  of  all  the  disadvantages  of  distance  and  difficulty  of  ascent. 
The  day  that  commemorates  this  invention,  should  be  a  holiday  of  inter- 
est, only  second  to  that,  which  gave  birth  to  the  nation. 

It  is,  perhaps,  necessary  to  have  something  of  the  experience,  which 
we  have  had,  of  the  slowness,  difficulty  and  danger  of  propelling  boats 
against  the  current  of  these  long  rivers,  fully  to  estimate  the  advantages 
of  this  invention. — We  have  ascended  the  Mississippi  in  this  way  for 
fifty  days  in  succession.  We  have  had  but  too  much  of  the  same  kind 
of  experience  on  the  other  streams.  We  consider  ten  miles  a  day,  as 
good  progress.  It  is  now  refreshing,  and  it  imparts  a  feeling  of  energy 
and  power  to  the  beholder,  to  see  the  large  and  beautiful  steam  boats 
scudding  up  the  eddies,  as  though  on  the  wing.  When  they  have  run  out 
the  eddy,  and  strike  the  current,  it  is  a  still  more  noble  spectacle.  The 
foam  bursts  in  a  sheet  quite  over  the  deck.  The  boat  quivers  for  a  mo- 
ment with  the  concussion;  and  then,  as  though  she  had  collected  energy, 
and  vanquished  her  enemy,  she  resumes  her  stately  march,  and  mounts 
against  the  current  five  or  six  miles  an  hour.  We  have  travelled  ten 
days  together  between  New  Orleans  and  Louisville,  more  than  an  hundred 
miles  in  a  day  against  the  stream.  The  difficulty  of  ascending  used  to  be 
the  only  one,  that  was  dreaded  in  the  anticipation  of  a  voyage  of  this 
kind.  This  difficulty  has  now  disappeared,  and  the  only  one  that  re- 
mains,is  to  furnish  money  for  the  trip.  Even  the  expense,  considering 
the  luxury  of  the  fare,  and  accommodation,  is  more  moderate,  than  could 
be  expected.  A  family  in  Pittsburgh  wishes  to  make  a  social  visit  to  a 
kindred  family  on  Red  River.  The  trip,  as  matters  -now  stand,  is  but 
two  thousand  miles.  Servants,  baggage,  or  'plunder,'  as  the  phrase  is, 
the  family  and  the  family  dog,  cat  and  parrot,  all  go  together.  In  twelve 
days  they  reach  the  point  proposed.  Even  the  return  is  but  a  short  voy- 
age.    Surely  we  must  resist  strong  temptations,  if  we  do  not  become  a 

21 


162  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

social  people.  You  are  invited  lo  a  breakfast  at  seventy  miles  distance. 
You  go  on  board  the  parsing  steam  boat,  and  are  transported,  during  the 
night,  so  as  to  go  nut  in  the  morning,  and  reach  your  appointment.  The 
day  will  p  b  bly  come,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  warm  and  sickly 
regions  of  the  lower  points  of  the  Mississippi  will  take  their  periodical 
migrations  to  the  north,  with  the  geese  and  swans,  and  with  them  return 
to  the  south  in  the  autumn. 

We  have  compared  the  most  beautiful  steam  boats  of  the  Atlantic 
waters  with  those  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  we  have  seen  none,  which  in 
splendor  and  striking  effect  upon  the  eye,  and  the  luxury  and  comfort  of 
accommodation,  surpass  the  Washington.  Philadelphia,  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
Florida,  and  some  others,  on  these  waters.  We  have  been  amused  in 
observing  an  Atlantic  stranger,  who  had  heard  us  described  by  the  phrase 
'backwoods  men,'  taking  his  first  survey  of  such  a  steam  boat.  If  there 
be  any  ground  of  complaint,  it  is,  that  so  much  gorgeousness  offends 
good  taste,  and  seems  to  be  in  opposition  to  that  social  ease  and  comfort, 
which  one  would  desire  in  such  a  place.  Certainly,  there  can  be  no 
comparison  between  the  comfort  of  the  passage  from  Cincinnati  to  New 
Orleans  in  such  a  steam  boat,  and  a  voyage  at  sea.  The  barren  and 
boundless  expanse  of  waters  soon  tires  upon  every  eye,  but  a  seaman's. 
And  then  there  are  storms,  and  the  necessity  of  fastening  the  tables,  and 
of  holding  to  something,  to  keep  in  bed.  There  is  the  insupportable 
nausea  of  sea  sickness,  and  there  is  danger.  Here  you  are  always  near 
the  shore,  always  see  the  green  earth;  can  always  eat,  write,  and  study, 
undisturbed.  You  can  always  obtain  cream,  fowls,  vegetables,  fruit, 
fresh  meat,  and  wild  game,  in  their  season,  from  the  shore. 

A  stranger  to  this  mode  of  •  travelling  would  find  it  difficult  to  describe 
his  impressions  upon  descending  the  Mississippi  for  the  first  time  in  one 
of  these  steam  boats,  which  we  have  named.  He  contemplates  the  pro- 
digious construction,  with  its  double  tiers  of  cabins,  and  its  separate 
establishment  for  the  ladies,  and  its  commodious  arrangements  for  the 
deck  passengers  and  the  servants.  Over  head,  about  him,  and  below 
him,  all  is  life  and  movement.  He  contemplates  the  splendor  of  the 
cabin,  its  beautiful  finishing  of  the  richest  woods,  its  rich  carpeting,  its 
mirrors  and  fine  furniture,  its  sliding  tables,  its  bar  room,  and  all-its  ar- 
rangements for  the  accommodation  of  a  hundred  cabin  passengers.  The 
fare  is  sumptuous,  and  every  thing  in  a  style  of  splendor,  order  and 
quiet,  far  exceeding  most  city  taverns.  You  read,  converse,  walk,  or 
Bleep,  as  you  choose.  You  are  not  burdened  by  the  restraint  of  useless 
ceremony.  The  varied  and  verdant  scenery  shifts  about  you.  The  trees, 
the  green  islands,  the  houses  on  the  shore,  everything  has  an  appearance, 
as  hi  enchantment,  of  moving  past  you.     The  river  fowl,  with  their 


PURSUITS     OF     THI     PEOPLE, 


163 


white  and  extended  lines,  are  wheeling  their  flight  ahove  you.  The  sky 
is  bright.  The  river  is  dotted  with  boats  above,  beside,  and  below  you. 
Yuu  hear  the  echo  of  their  bugle  reverberating  from  the  woods.  Behind 
the  wooded  point,  you  see  the  ascending  column  of  smoke,  rising  over 
the  trees,  which  announces,  that  another  steam  boat  is  approaching  you. 
The  moving  pageant  glides  through  a  narrow  passage,  between  an  island, 
thick  set  with  young  cotton  woods,  so  even,  so  beautiful,  and  regular, 
that  they  seem  to  have  been  planted  for  a  pleasure  ground,  and  the  main 
shore.  As  you  shoot  out  again  into  the  broad  stream,  you  come 
in  view  of  a  plantation,  with  all  its  busy  and  cheerful  accompaniments. 
At  other  times,  you  are  sweeping  along  for  many  leagues  together, 
where  either  shore  is  a  boundless  and  pathless  wilderness.  A  contrast 
is  thus  strongly  forced  upon  the  mind,  of  the  highest  improvement  and 
the  latest  pre-eminent  invention  of  art  with  the  most  lonely  aspect  of  a 
grand  but  desolate  nature, — the  most  striking  and  complete  assemblage 
of  splendor  and  comfort,  the  cheerfulness  of  a  floating  hotel,  which 
carries,  perhaps,  hundreds  of  guests,  with  a  wild  and  uninhabited  forest, 
it  may  be  an  hundred  miles  in  width,  the  abode  only  of  bears,  owls  and 
noxious  animals. 

The  Mississippi  may  be  fairly  considered,  as  the  grand  trunk  of  water 
communication,  and  the  Missouri,  Illinois,  Ohio,  White,  Arkansas  and 
Red  rivers,  the- main  arteries.  Each  of  these  again  has  its  own  system 
of  circulation.  To  the  lakes,  and  the  immense  distances  of  the  highest 
boatable  waters  of  the  Alleghany,  Monongahela,  Kenhawa,  Cumberland, 
Tennessee,  Yazoo,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers,  add 
communications  with  all  the  shores  and  rivers  of  the  northern  lakes,  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  Atlantic  sea  board  by  the  Ohio  and  Erie 
canal,  and  the  Pennsylvania  canal;  and  the  numerous  connexions  of  all 
the  western  boatable  waters  by  canals,  to  which  these'  will  naturally  give 
birth,  and  we  may  safely  assert,  that  this  valley  is  a  sample  entirely  by 
itself  on  our  globe  of  the  ease  and  extent  of  inland  water  communica- 
tions. New  Orleans  cannot  have  less  than  40,000  miles  of  interior 
navigation  on  all  her  lakes,  bayous,  and  hundreds  of  boatable  streams; 
without  taking  into  view  the  added  extent  of  the  northern  lakes,  which 
will  be  connected  with  her  by  the  Ohio  canal.  For  water  communication 
she  has  no  rival  nor  compeer;  and  she  may  be  justly  denominated,  the 
queen  of  rivers.  The  whole  western  country  is  as  strongly  marked  off 
from  any  other  region  by  the  number  and  extent  of  its  navigable  waters, 
as  it  is  by  the  greater  magnitude  of  its  valley. 

We  annex  the  subjoined  table,  as  a  complete  list  of  the  names  and 
the  tonnage  of  the  steam  boats  at  present  on  the  western  waters.* 

*  Se«  Aj>p«ndix,  t»N«  No.  VIII. 


164  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Civil  History.  Our  plan  only  admits  a  very  brief  summary  of  th« 
more  prominent  points  of  those  events,  which  may  be  supposed  to  have 
had  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  progress  of  the  West.  It  will  touch  upon 
the  discovery  and  settlement  of  Florida;  and  the  country  on  the  Missis- 
sippi; the  first  settlement  of  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  valley,  by  the 
western  extension  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  over  the  mountains;  the 
first  settlement  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky;  those  incidents  in  the  war 
of  the  revolution  that  occurred  in  the  west;  the  settlement  of  Ohio;  the 
Indian  war  which  ensued  upon  that  settlement;  the  successive  admission 
of  the  Western  States  into  the  Union ;  the  first  use  of  steam  boats ;  the 
events  of  the  late  war  which  happened  in  the  West ;  and  its  subsequent 
improvement  and  prosperity. 

The  first  discovery  and  settlement  of  the  country  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, was  by  a  Spanish  squadron  from  Cuba,  commanded  by  Ponce  de 
Leon,  in  1512.  Successive  Spanish  adventurers  visited  the  country,  al- 
lured by  the  hope  of  finding  a  visionary  spring,  which  was  to  sustain  those 
who  drank  of  it  in  perpetual  youth;  or  the  same  harvest  of  golden  trea- 
sures with  their  countrymen  in  Mexico  and  Peru.  The  country,  though 
not  fertile,  abounded  in  fish  and  game,  and  with  tribes  of  fierce  savages. 
Vasquez,  Narvaez,  and  Soto  successively  visited  and  surveyed  the  coun- 
try. The  French  commenced  a  small  settlement  near  St.  Augustine,  in 
1564.  It  was  cruelly  destroyed  by  the  Spaniards.  The  establishment, 
which  they  left  in  place  of  it,  was  in  turn  destroyed  by  the  French. 

The  settlement  of  Canada  commenced  in  1608,  and  speedily  became  a 
streng  and  populous  colony.  The  honor  of  having  discovered  the  Mis- 
sissippi, is  claimed  both  by  the  Spanish  and  the  French.  Marquette  and 
Joliette,  two  French  Missionaries,  in  J 763,  were  probably  the  first  Eu- 
ropeans who  explored  the  river.  La  Salle,  a  year  or  two  afterwards,  fol- 
lowed their  track  from  Canada,  built  a  vessel,  called  the  Griffin,  on  the 
lake,  with  which  he  crossed  those  lonely  waters;  descended  the  Missis- 
sippi; and  by  his  more  extended  survey,  his  greater  enterprize,  his  ad- 
ventures and  misfortunes,  identified  his  name  with  the  Mississippi,  as  its 
discoverer. 

The  Spanish  made  various  unsuccessful  efforts  to  form  establishments 
in  Florida.  They  renewed  those  efforts,  until  they  founded  a  feeble  col- 
ony in  East  Florida;  and  gradually  extended  their  settlements  from  St. 
Augustine  to  Pensacola,  in  West  Florida.  They  had  been  in  undisturb- 
ed possession  of  that  country  more  than  fifty  years,  before  the  French  be- 
gan to  settle  the  Illinois  country.  Not  long  afterwards  they  descended 
the  Mississippi,  and  formed  settlements  at  Biloxi  and  Mobile,  in  Florida. 
It  was  some  time  afterwards  that  they  founded  St.  Genevieve  and  St. 
Louis,  on  the  west  shore  of  the  Mississippi.     The  Illinois  colony  followed 


CIVIL     HISTORY.  1^5 

the  chase  in  close  intimacy  with  the  Indians.  They  learned  to  cultirate 
maize  from  them;  and  in  their  exceedingly  fertile  country  soon  introduc- 
ed the  cultivation  of  wheat. 

The  first  French  settlement  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  that  acquired 
importance,  was  that  made  at  New  Orleans,  in  1717,  which  became  the 
germ  of  the  respectable  colony  of  Louisiana.  The  early  periods  of  Florida 
and  Louisiana  are  marked  only  by  the  customary  incidents  of  commenc- 
ing establishments  in  the  American  wilderness.  Settlements  were  com- 
menced and  abandoned.  Frequent  quarrels  occurring  with  the  Indians, 
made  a  universal  feature  of  these,  in  common  with  all  other  similar  be- 
ginnings. When  France  and  Spain  were  at  war,  as  happened  more  than 
once  during  these  annals,  these  remote  colonies  uniformly  felt  the  effects. 
Expeditions  against  each  other  were  fitted  out,  accompanied  by  all  the 
Indians  they  could  enlist  under  their  standard. 

The  first  settlers  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  were  chiefly  hunters  from 
Canada,  addicted  to  the  woods.  Louisana  was  peopled  by  immigrants 
directly  from  France,  many  of  whom  were  persons  of  rank  and  family. 
These  military  adventurers,  in  a  remote  country,  and  in  want  of  wives, 
were  sometimes  supplied  by  young  ladies,  selected  in  the  parent  country 
without  much  discrimination,  sent  over  the  sea,  and  married  in  mass  the 
first  night  of  their  arrival. 

The  Spanish  province  of  Florida  derived  its  chief  importance  from  its 
proximity  to  Cuba.  Cooler  and  healthier  than  the  burning  climate  of 
Havanna,  it  was  considered  a  retreat  from  that  city;  and  beside  occasion- 
ally furnished  it  with  provisions.  Various  circumstances  concurred  trf 
give  slavery  an  early  and  extensive  introduction  into  Louisiana.  Agri- 
culture, though  among  the  last  objects  contemplated  by  the  inhabitants, 
was  forced  upon  them  by  circumstances.  Apparently  ignorant  of  the 
exhaustless  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  French  for  a  long  time  imported  their 
provisions  from  the  parent  country,  or  the  Spanish  colonies.  Wars  and 
the  occasional  suspension  of  their  intercourse  with  France,  taught  them 
the  necessity  of  securing  a  less  precarious  subsistence  from  the  soil. — 
Illinois  early  sent  down  flour  to  Louisiana.  The  culture  of  rice  was  in- 
troduced with  great  success,  to  which  were  afterwards  added  cotton  and 
sugar.  The  last  important  article  was  first  cultivated  in  1751,  from  cane 
brought  from  Hispaniola.  It  was  abandoned,  and  effectually  resumed  in 
1794,  by  Etienne  Bore,  a  planter  from  Illinois. 

Different  enumerations  of  the  inhabitants  gave  results  as  follow: — In 
1769,  the  population  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  was  13,538;  and 
of  New  Orleans,  3,190.  In  1785,  32,114;  New  Orleans,  4,980;  in 
1768,  42,611;  New  Orleans,  5,338;  in  1810,  by  the  census  taken  by 
order  of  the  American  government,  Louisiana  alone  contained  76^566 ; 
and  New  Orleans,  24,552. 


1GC  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Could  we  present  the  picture  of  the  pursuits  and  manners  of  the  colonists 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Florida,  in  the  commencing  periods  of  their  history, 
it  would  he  striking  from  its  freshness  and  simplicity.  The  French,  in 
particular,  were  remarkable  for  a  talent  of  ingratiating  themselves  with 
the  savages;  and  for  an  easy  amalgamation  with  them;  at  first  from  nat- 
ural courtesy,  which  soon  became  a  real  inclination  and  a  habit.  The 
soil  was  fertile,  the  climate  mild,  and  the  chase  inexhaustible.-  Their 
choice  of  selection  in  a  forest  or  prairie,  extended  over  eight  hundred 
leagues;  unlike  other  European  immigrants,  who  generally  preferred  to 
settle  themselves  at  a  distance  from  each  other,  for  the  sake  of  range  for 
their  domestic  animals,  the  French  manifested  propensities  both  vagrant 
and  social,  and  each  in  the  highest  degree.  Their  villages,  though  an 
hundred  leagues  from  each  other,  were  built  with  such  narrow  streets, 
that  the  villagers  could  carry  on  their  voluble  conversations  across  the 
way.  It  gratified  their  national  ambition  to  maintain  a  preponderating 
influence  among  the  savage  tribes.  The  pursuit  of  the  young  men  was 
to  ascend  the  long  rivers  for  furs  and  peltries,  and  to  negotiate  marriages. 
When  they  returned,  dances  and  copious  narratives  of  their  adventures 
and  exploits  signalized  their  holiday  of  repose.  Such  is  an  outline  of 
the  modes  of  existence  of  the  French  in  these  early  times,  in  Kaskaskias, 
Cahokia,  Vincennes,  St.  Genevieve,  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles,  the  Post  of 
Arkansas,  Natchitoches,  and  Natchez. 

At  New  Orleans  there  was  always  a  certain  number  of  people  of  fash- 
ion, a  kind  of  court,  a  theatre,  and  the  semblance  of  more  polished,  but 
probably  less  happy  amusements.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  were  people 
of  family,  and  the  leading  men  military  characters.  The  first  settlers  of 
Louisiana  were  probably  of  higher  rank,  than  those  of  any  other  colony 
in  North  America,  if  we  except  Mexico. 

The  lower  classes  had  their  dogs  and  guns,  and  Indian  beauties;  and  to 
accommodate  their  vagrant  propensities,  there  were  rivers  of  a  thousand 
leagues  to  ascend.  An  unexplored  and  unbounded  forest  full  of  game, 
opened  sufficient  scope  to  their  imagination  and  enterprize.  It  was  per- 
haps a  fortunate  trait  in  their  character,  certainly  an  amiable  one,  that 
they  were  so  easy  in  forming  new  associations  with  the  savages,  the  only 
companions  they  could  expect  in  these  remote  deserts,  where  they  heard 
from  France  seldom  more,  than  once  in  a  year.  Their  descendants,  who 
inhabit  these  regions,  speak  of  their  fathers  as  a  favored  race  of  mortals, 
and  of  those  times  as  a  golden  age. 

From  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  the  exports  were  considerable,  consist- 
ing of  cotton,  indigo,  peltry,  furs,  hides,  tallow,  pilch,  tar,  ship  timber, 
and  other  raw  materials.  The  coast  above  New  Orleans  was  already 
beginning  to  be  that  highly  cultivated  district,  which  it  has  since  become. 


CIVIL     HISTORY:  \$*/ 

The  agriculture  and  exports  went  en  steadily  advancing,  during  all  its 
political  changes  and  transfers. 

The  settlements  of  the  Mississippi  valley  began  in  ils  southwest  and 
northeast  extremities,  the  one  point  two  thousand  miles  remote  from  the 
other.  From  these  points,  the  population  gradually  extended,  until  they 
met  in  the  centre. 

•Pittsburgh,  at  first  occupied  by  the  French,  and  called  Duquesne,  and 
afterwards  Fort  Pitt,  may  be  considered  the  hive,  or  parental  stock  of 
the  Anglo-American  settlements  in  the  western  country,  which  have  out- 
numbered the  population  of  the  much  more  ancient  French  settlements 
of  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  in  the  proportion  of  fifty  to  one.  There  were 
a  few  sparse  settlements  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Mononga- 
hela,  as  early  as  1750.  These  settlements  were  made  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  English  Ohio  company,  expressly  with  the  purpose  to  restrain 
the  French  encroachments  in  that  quarter.  In  pursuance  of  their  plan 
to  connect  their  settlements  in  Canada  and  Louisiana,  they  had  estab- 
lished a  fort  at  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela.  In 
1763  this  establishment  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  and  its  name 
was  changed  from  Fort  Duquesne  to  Fort  Pitt.  The  convenience  and 
importance  of  its  position  soon  attracted  a  considerable  number  of  in- 
habitants. Red  Stone,  now  Brownsville,  began  the  settlements  on  the 
Monongahela.  These  two  towns  were  the  nucleus  of  the  establishments 
in  West  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 

As  early  as  1750,  the  French  had  established  some  small  posts  on  the 
Alabama,  Tombigbee  and  Tennessee  rivers.  In  1757,  the  English  built 
Fort  Loudon  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  near  the  mouth 
of  Tellico  River.  The  object  was  to  secure  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Ten- 
nessee against  the  occupation  of  the  French,  as  an  asylum  for  American 
immigrants;  and  to  defend  the  frontier  settlements  against  the  invasions 
of  the  savages.  In  1760,  this  fort  was  taken  by  the  Cherokees;  and 
three  hundred  men,  women  and  children  were  slain,  and  all  the  Anglo- 
American  inhabitants  of  Tennessee  destroyed. 

In  1761,  Colonel  Grant  led  a  strong  force  into  the  Cherokee  country, 
chastised  the  savages,  and  compelled  them  to  sue  for  peace.  From  that 
time,  immigrants  from  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  began  to  find  their  way 
into  the  country,  and  to  name  the  mountains  and  rivers.  These  hunters 
and  adventurers  broadened  the  circle  of  population,  and  gradually  pene- 
trated into  the  interior  of  East  Tennessee. 

The  first  settlement  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  were  nearly  cotem- 
poraneous.  The  name  of  the  famous  Daniel  Boone  is  identified  with 
the  discovery  and  settlement  of  both.  Kentucky  was  first  explored  by 
Finley,  from  North  Carolina,  in  1767.     Finley,  Boone,  Harrod  and  Lo- 


i(38  Mississippi    valley. 

( 

gan  are  among  the  conspicuous  names  of  the  hardy  primitive  adventur- 
ers into  this  fertile  wilderness.  Sevier,  Tipton  and  Blount  hold  the  same 
rank  among  the  precursors  in  the  settlement  of  Tennessee. 

Few  colonies  have  existed,  that  can  produce  annals  of  deeper  interest} 
than  those  which  record  the  origin  and  progress  of  these  states.  The 
patriarchal  pioneers  of  these  hackwoods  men,  were  people  of  a  peculiar 
and  remarkable  order,  trained  by  circumstances  to  a  character,  which 
united  force,  hardihood,  and  energy  in  an  astonishing  degree.  Opinion 
has  generally  invested  them  with  a  predominance  of  rough  traits,  and 
rustic  habits  approximating  the  character  of  the  Indians.  They  were  in 
fact  as  much  distinguished  by  an  ample  basis  of  gentlemanly  character, 
and  chivalrous  notions  of  honor  and  justice,  as  for  strength,  firmness  and 
bravery. 

There  is  an  indescribable  charm  in  becoming  intimately  acquainted 
with  these  noble  founders  of  the  empire  of  the  west,  from  their  first  fix- 
ing their  families  in  the  selected  spot  in  the  forest,  through  their  conflicts 
with  the  Indians,  the  difficulties  incident  to  solitude,  distance  from  all 
social  comforts,  and  exposure  to  all  the  dangers  of  a  strange  climate; 
until  their  cabins  are  replaced  by  houses,  and  their  houses  by  mansions; 
until  their  stations  are  converted  to  villages,  and  the  villages  to  towns; 
and  until  these  sparse  beginnings  in  the  unexplored  wilderness  full  of 
savages  and  wild  beasts  become  powerful  states.  Imagination  would 
recoil  from  the  dreary  uniformity  of  these  early  annals,  in  recording  In- 
dian assaults,  burnings,  murders,  and  all  the  ruthless  manifestations  of 
unpilying  and  unsparing  savage  vengeance,  were  not  the  picture  relieved 
by  the  reckless  heroism  of  the  undaunted  spirits,  that  put  a  strong  and 
cheerful  hand  to  the  first  improvements,  every  moment  surrounded  by 
these  savages. 

Four  counties  were  constituted,  by  law,  in  Kentucky,  in  1783. — > 
Boonsborough,  Harrodsburgh,  Limestone,  now  Maysville,  Louisville  and 
Lexington,  were  among  the  earliest  and  most  conspicuous  foundations 
in  Kentucky.  Knoxville  and  Nashville  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the 
early  history  of  Tennessee,  the  former  being  settled  in  1782j  and  the  lat- 
ter in  1784.  Among  the  records  of  Indian  assault  and  revenge,  the  se- 
verest disaster  in  the  history  of  the  settlement  of  Kentucky,  is  that  of  the 
defeat  of  the  Kentuckians  at  the  Blue  Licks,  in  1782,  in  which  sixty-one 
were  slain,  and  eight  made  prisoners.  The  first  newspaper  punted  in 
Kentucky,  was  printed  at  Lexington,  August,  1787. 

As  early  as  1785,  the  people  of  Kentucky  began  to  discuss  the  expe- 
diency of  becoming  an  independent  State.  No  little  difficulty  occurred 
in  settling  the  preliminary  arrangements,  and  obtaining  the  unqualified 
assent  of  Virginia,  the  parent  State. 


CIVIL     HISTORY.  J  (JO, 

In  pursuing  measures  to  become  an  independent  Stale,  Tennessee 
found  more  difficulty  than  Kentucky.  Beside  the  same  opposition  from 
North  Carolina,  as  Kentucky  encountered  from  Virginia,  the  people  were 
divided  among  themselves.  A  portion  of  the  inhabitants,  who  wished  to 
establish  a  State  independent  of  the  consent  of  North  Carolina,  the  parent 
State,  constituted  themselves  into  a  republic  called  Frankland.  After  an 
inefficient  war  of  words  with  the  authorities  of  North  Carolina,  and  after 
some  blood  had  been  spilt  in  the  cause,  the  new  republic  was  merged  in 
the  State  of  Tennessee,  which  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1796. 
The  annals  of  East  and  West  Tennessee,  present  a  dreary  series  of  Indian 
murders,  sometimes  of  individuals,  sometimes  of  whole  families,  down  to 
as  late  a  period  as  three  or  four  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
federal  government.  Imagination  can  scarcely  realize,  that  in  this  great 
and  powerful  State,  now  so  prominent  a  member  of  the  confederacy,  the 
Indian  war  whoop  and  the  shrieks  of  assailed  women  and  children  were 
heard,  and  the  blaze  of  houses  and  settlements,  which  the  Indians  had 
fired,  were  seen,  after  the  year  1790,  and  in  districts,  where  Indians  are 
now  as  seldom  seen,  as  in  Washington  or  Philadelphia.  The  first  Ten- 
nessee newspaper  was  printed  at  Rogersville,  in  November,  1791.  It 
was  called  the  Knoxville  Gazette 

The  most  prominent  trait  of  character  in  the  people  of  these  two 
States,  from  the  commencement,  was  a  sturdy  spirit  of  independence,  and 
the  most  vigilant  jealousy  of  their  rights.  These  traits  were  abundantly 
put  forth  in  their  discussions  with  their  parent  States,  touching  the  ques- 
tion of  their  separation ;  and  in  the  guarded  manner  in  which  they  weighed 
the  extent,  the  right  and  influence  of  federal  jurisdiction,  and  in  their 
extreme  suspicion,  touching  the  manner  in  which  congress  vindicated 
their  claims  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  commencement  of  the  great  State  of  Ohio,  at  present  the  fourth 
in  point  of  size  in  the  Union,  and  completing  the  chain  of  population 
between  the  eastern  and  western  divisions  of  the  settled  portion  of  this 
valley,  was  of  still  more  recent  date.  The  progress  of  this  great  State 
has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  colonies,  in  point  of  advancement  in 
national  wealth,  population,  strength,  and  improvement  of  every  kind. 
Forty  years  since,  it  was  in  the  occupation  of  savages.  It  now  numbers 
a  million  of  inhabitants,  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  militia,  two  canals, 
one,  three  hundred  and  thirty  miles  in  length,  one  considerable  and  rapidly 
advancing  city,  a  great  number  of  towns,  and  a  hundred  populous  villages. 
Handsome  houses  are  springing  up  every  year.  Large  manufacturing 
establishments  are  constantly  arising,  emulating  the  same  order  of  things 
in  the  Atlantic  country.  A  mass  of  farmers  is  spread  over  tho  whole 
State,  rich  in  rural  abundance,  in  simplicity  of  manners,  and  the  materials 

22 


\%Q  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

of  genuine  independence.  Of  its  schools,  colleges,  manufactories,  and 
national  improvements,  any  State,  however  advanced  in  improvement, 
might  be  proud.  All  this  progress  has  been  from  an  innate  principle  of 
vigor,  without  the  forcing  aid  of  speculation,  opulence,  or  power;  and  is 
a. triumph  so  recently  won  from  the  forest,  that  on  all  sides  we  still  see 
the  remains  of  the  original  trees  in  the  fields. 

The  order  of  settlement  in  this  State,  as  if  fashioned  from  that  of  the 
Mississippi  valley,  commenced  almost  at  the  same  time  in  its  eastern 
and  western  extremities.  As  France  claims  the  paternity  of  the  settle- 
ments along  the  course  of  the  Mississippi,  and  North  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia, of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  Ohio  may  be  considered  the  offspring 
of  New  England  and  New  Jersey.  The  famous  wagon  which  carried  out 
the  first  settlers  from  Massachusetts  to  Ohio,  started  in  1788.  General 
Putnam  and  Br.  Cutler  may  be  estimated  the  pioneers  of  the  settlement 
of  Marietta. 

Judge  Symmes,  with  a  number  of  settlers  from  New  York,  New  Jersey 
and  Western  Pennsylvania,  commenced  the  settlement  between  the  two 
Miamis,  at  the  point  which  is  now  Columbia,  in  November,  1789. 
Fort  "Washington  was  established  on  the  present  site  of  Cincinnati,  in  the 
same  year.  This  establishment  was  the  germ  of  the  town,  which  was 
originally  called  Losantiville.  Ludlow,  Filson,  Denman,  and  Patterson 
were  the  original  purchasers  of  the  town  plat.  In  1789,  the  settlement, 
numbered  twenty  log  cabins,  two  marriages  were  celebrated,  and  the  first 
child  was  born.  The  first  court  was  organized  in  1790,  and  the  name  of 
the  place  changed  to  Cincinnati. 

The  settlements,  thus  commenced  at  Marietta  and  Cincinnati,  rapidly 
extended  on  every  side,  until  checked  by  the  Indian  war  in  1791.  From 
that  period,  commenced  the  same  gloomy  and  uniform  series  of  Indian 
massacres,  assaults  and  burnings,  that  signalized  the  beginnings  of  all 
the  American  settlements.  The  disastrous  campaign  of  General  St.  Clair 
for  a  while  arrested  the  progress  of  the  settlements.  Many  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Cincinnati  were  killed  in  that  campaign,  and  many  other  settlers 
moved  for  security  into  Kentucky,  which  had  attained  a  compactness  of 
population  to  be  fearless  of  Indian  assault.  The  glorious  campaign  of 
Wayne  succeeded;  and  an  end  was  put  to  this  sanguinary  warfare  in 
1795. 

From  this  time,  there  was  a  rush  of  immigration  towards  the  Ohio 
valley.  The  wonderful  tale  of  western  exuberance  once  more  circulated 
with  effect  along  the  whole  range  of  the  Atlantic  country.  It  was  no 
longer  counterbalanced  by  the  dread  of  the  Indian  scalping  knife.  All 
the  great  roads  of  approach  to  the  western  country,  were  crowded  with 
adventurers,  directing  their  course  towards  the  land  of  promise;  and  fleets 


CIVIL     HISTORY 


171 


of  boats  were  continually  floating  them  clown  the  Ohio.  The  settlements 
diverged  from  Marietta  on  the  one  hand,  and  Cincinnati  on  the  other, 
towards  the  height  of  land  between  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes. 

Connecticut  Reserve  was  settled  chiefly  from  Connecticut.  The 
extraordinary  fertility  of  the  Scioto  valley,  early  attracted  inhabitants. 
The  country  on  the  Great  Miami,  from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton,  and  thence 
to  Urbana,  soon  became  populous;  and  the  great  outline  of  the  State 
of  Ohio  rapidly  filled  with  inhabitants,  and  the  noiseless  and  powerful 
march  of  industry  transformed  the  silence  of  the  forest  to  cultivation, 
farms,  villages  and  towns. 

The  first  territorial  legislature  met  at  Cincinnati  in  1799.  Represen- 
tatives from  Detroit  and  Kaskaskias,  eight  hundred  miles  apart,  were 
present.  The  act  of  Congress  admitting  Ohio  into  the  Union,  was  passed 
in  1801 ;  and  in  1803,  the  present  constitution  of  the  State  went  into 
operation. 

Tt  should  have  seemed,  that  this  vast  country  of  forests  and  prairies 
in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  so  recently  and  sparsely  settled,  ought 
to  have  avoided  the  horrors  of  war.  Such  has  not  been  its  fortune. 
Beside  its  constant  exposure,  in  all  directions,  to  the  covert  ambush  and 
the  fierce  assault  of  the  savages,  its  shores  have  been  abundantly  stained 
with  the  blood  of  men  of  our  own  race,  brought  here  by  the  cupidity  and 
revenge  of  corrupt  princes,  separated  from  it  by  an  ocean;  and  who 
received  and  inflicted  death  in  these  remote  regions,  for  causes  in  which 
they  had  no  personal  concern. 

We  shall  present  some  of  the  more  important  military  events,  that  have 
occurred  in  the  west,  in  the  unpretending  form  of  annals. 

War  existing  between  France  and  Spain,  Pensacola  was  invaded  by  a 
French  expedition,  aided  by  four  hundred  Indians,  in  1719.  Two  vessels 
of  war  invested  it  by  sea.  The  Spanish  governor  surrendered;  on  condi- 
tion that  the  garrison  should  be  transported  to  Havana.  It  was  re-taken 
the  same  year  by  a  Spanish  fleet. 

The  general  massacre  of  the  French  at  Natchez  by  the  Indians,  hap- 
pened November,  1729.  Never  was  vengeance  so  complete.  The  town 
was  crowded  with  people,  assembled  to  witness  a  great  savage  festival. 
The  garrison  was  filled  with  warriors,  introduced  without  suspicion.  At 
a  given  signal,  the  massacre  commenced.  Of  seven  hundred  people, 
scarcely  enough  were  left  to  carry  the  tidings.  The  settlements  on  the 
Yazoo  and  Washita,  shared  the  same  fate.  The  French  retaliated  this 
massacre,  by  nearly  extirpating  the  whole  nation  of  the  Natchez. 

A  remnant  of  this  people  took  shelter  with  the  Chickasaws,  and  were 
demanded  by  the  French.  The  Chickasaws,  in  alliance  with  the  English, 
refused  to  yield  them.     Bienville  led  a  French  expedition  from  Mobile 


172  Ml  SSI  8  SIT  PI     VALLBY. 

against  them,  which  was  aided  by  an  auxiliary  French  force  from 
Illinois.  Both  the  invading  forces  were  defeated  by  the  Chickasaws. 
Another  expedition  by  the  same  officer,  with  a  greater  force,  was  equally 
unsuccessful. 

In  pursuance  of  their  plan,  to  surround  the  English  colonies  on  the 
Atlantic  sea  board  by  a  line  of  posts,  connected  by  water  communica- 
tions, from  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  the  French, 
with  equal  energy  and  ingenuity,  had  arranged  a  chain  of  posts,  portages, 
roads  and  alliances  with  the  Indians,  which  kept  up  an  easy  and  unbroken 
connection  between  Canada  and  Louisiana.  It  was  drawn,  as  a  bow 
string,  directly  in  the  rear  of  the  whole  English  colonial  line  of  settle- 
ments. It  was  an  important  part  of  this  chain,  to  add  to  it  a  communi- 
cation between  lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio.  For  this  purpose,  the  French 
established  a  fort  on  a  water  of  the  Alleghany  river,  intermediate  between 
lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio.  The  connection  was  completed  by  the  erection 
of  fort  Duquesne  at  the  point  where  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and 
Monongahela  forms  the  Ohio,  the  present  site  of  Pittsburgh. 

General  Braddock,  with  a  considerable  body  of  regular  troops,  aided 
by  a  force  of  provincials  under  General  Washington,  was  ordered  to  cross 
the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  attack  this  fort.  Obstinately  attached  to 
the  regularity  of  European  tactics,  against  the  advice  of  men  experienced 
in  Indian  warfare,  the  British  general  marched  in  the  depth  of  the  forest 
into  an  ambush  of  French  and  Indians,  concealed  among  the  trees.  A 
masked  and  murderous  fire  was  opened  upon  them  from  behind  the  trees. 
In  vain  he  charged  an  invisible  enemy  with  the  bayonet.  He  was  mortal- 
ly wounded,  his  force  defeated,  and  the  greater  portion  slain.  Here 
General  Washington  developed  the  first  traits  of  his  military  character. 
Two  horses  were  killed  under  him,  and  four  balls  passed  through  his  coat. 
Calm  and  self  possessed,  the  shield  of  providence  seemed  to  be  cast  over 
him.  It  was  owing  to  his  skill  and  management,  that  any  part  of  Brad- 
dock's  force  was  saved. 

At  this  time,  the  eventful  victory  of  Wolfe,  upon  the  heights  of  Abraham, 
settled  the  momentous  question,  which  of  the  nations,  France  or  England, 
should  have  the  ascendency  in  the  future  destinies  of  this  continent. 
Never  were  more  eventful  consequences  decided  by  the  issue  of  one 
combat. 

But  the  French,  though  subdued  in  Canada,  still  retained  the  ascend- 
ency of  their  influence  over  the  savages.  Instigated  by  them,  the  Chero- 
kees  slaughtered  the  English  settlers  and  traders  upon  the  frontiers  of 
the  Carolinas.  The  provincials,  to  (he  number  of  twelve  hundred, 
marched  into  the  country  of  the  Cherokees,  and  inflicted  an  ample 
vengeance. 


CIVIL      HISTORY. 


175 


The  Indians,  in  their  turn,  attacked  Fort  Loudon  in  Tennessee.  It 
surrendered  to  them;  and  they  violated  the  convention,  by  a  ruthless  and 
indiscriminate  murder  of  men,  women  and  children.  Some  of  the  males 
were  burned  at  a  slow  fire,  into  which  their  children  were  thrown;  and 
the  mothers  were  carried  into  a  captivity  worse  than  death. 

The  war  between  Great  Britain,  France  and  Spain,  closed  in  1763. 
Canada  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  and  Louisiana  to  Spain.  The  Span- 
ish commenced  their  rule  in  that  country  by  an  act  of  wanton  and  gratu- 
itous cruelty,  executing  six  distinguished  Louisianians,  who  had  opposed 
the  Spanish  occupation  of  the  government,  and  sending  six  others  to  the 
dungeons  of  Havana. 

By  this  treaty,  Florida  had  been  ceded  by  Spain  to  the  English.  A 
British  regiment,  descending  the  Mississippi  to  take  possession  of  the 
ceded  territory,  was  attacked  by  the  Tunica  Indians,  near  the  site  of 
Fort  Adams;  Major  Loftus,  the  commander,  was  killed,  and  most  of  the 
regiment  slain.  This  disaster  is  commemorated  by  giving  his  name  to 
the  conspicuous  heights  on  the  Mississippi,  where  lie  fell. 

An  interval  of  nine  years  of  peace,  as  regarded  the  quarrels  of  the 
different  European  colonists,  succeeded.  During  this  peace  the  western 
Indians,  if  they  did  not  share  it,  were  in  some  degree  restrained  in  the 
extent  of  their  assaults  and  ravages;  and  the  western  forests  and  prairies 
were  peopling  in  silence  by  Europeans,  or  their  descendants. 

At  the  close  of  this  interval  commenced  the  war  of  the  American  rev- 
olution. The  French  and  Spanish  in  these  remote  colonies,  were  soon 
drawn  into  the  contest.  The  Spanish,  as  the  allies  of  the  French,  made 
their  first  effort  against  the  British  colony  of  Florida,  their  ancient  pos- 
session. 

Galvez,  the  Spanish  governor  of  Louisiana,  assailed  Baton  Rouge 
with  2,300  men,  aided  by  battering  cannon.  The  British  garrison  of 
500  men  was  obliged  to  surrender.  Flushed  by  this  success,  in  1780 
he  fitted  out  a  naval  expedition  against  Mobile,  which  also  surrendered 
to  his  forces. 

A  formidable  Spanish  fleet,  with  12,000  troops  on  board,  soon  after 
sailed  from  Cuba,  to  attempt  the  re-capture  of  the  whole  province  of 
Florida;  and  although  the  fleet  experienced  the  most  signal  disasters, 
from  sickness  and  slorms,  Pensacola  was  taken  from  the  British,  and  the 
whole  pro\ince  was  conquered. 

Upper  Louisiana  was  little  affected  by  this  war,  until  near  its  close. — 
In  17S0  an  expedition  of  English  and  Indians,  from  Canada,  by  way  of 
the  lakes,  assailed  the  peaceful  French  establishments  in  Missouri. — 
St.  Louis  was  taken,  00  of  the  inhabitants  slain,  and  30  made  prisoners. 


174 


M  I  S  S  I  8  S  I  F  P  I     VALLEY. 


Tl)e  French  of  that  vicinity  still  distinguish  that  disastrous  event  by  the 
era  of  Vannee  du  coup. 

They  were  delivered  from  their  invaders  by  a  respectable  force,  under 
the  command  of  the  gallant  American,  General  Clark.  The  expedition 
under  this  veteran  commander  had  been  fitted  out  chiefly  by  Virginia, 
and  ordered  into  these  distant  regions  to  repel  the  invasion  of  the  English 
and  Indians,  as  far  as  possible  from  her  frontiers,  which  were  supposed 
to  be  the  whole  western  country.  General  Clark  descended  the  Ohio 
with  a  regiment  of  infantry,  and  a  troop  of  cavalry.  Part  of  his  force 
marched  by  land  from  Louisville,  and  in  the  endurance  of  incredible 
hardships,  advanced  through  the  swamps  and  ices  of  the  drowned  lands 
of  the  Wabash,  and  met  the  other  part  of  the  force,  that  had  made  its 
way  down  the  Ohio,  and  up  the  Wabash  by  water,  before  Vincennes, 
which  was  in  possession  of  a  considerable  British  force.  That  force, 
completely  surprised,  surrendered  at  discretion,  and  suffered  a  severe 
retaliation  for  their  cruelties.  General  Clark  unkennelled  the  savages 
from  their  lurking  places  in  these  quarters,  and  earned  the  American 
standard  in  triumph  to  the  Mississippi.  The  invading  forces  sent  from 
Canada  against  St.  Louis,  shrunk  from  conflict  with  the  American  gen- 
eral, dispersed  and  made  their  way  back  as  they  could,  to  Canada. 

In  1780,  on  the  mountains  that  separate  N.  Carolina  from  Tennessee, 
was  fought  the  gallant  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  in  which  the  backwoods 
men  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  had  so  glorious  a  share.  Few  actions 
on  record  have  been  more  fiercely  contested.  The  British  repeatedly 
charged  the  mountaineers  with  fixed  bayonets.  Ferguson,  the  British 
commander,  was  slain.  The  enemy  left  150  on  the  field;  610  were  made 
prisoners,  and  1500  stand  of  arms  were  taken.  Only  440  of  the  foe 
escaped.  Colonels  McDowell,  Campbell,  Shelby,  Sevier,  in  a  word, 
every  soldier  and  officer  gained,  in  that  battle,  imperishable  honor.  No 
victory  could  have  had  a  more  auspicious  influence  upon  the  incipient 
settlements  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  The  peace  of  1783  left  the 
country  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  free  from  all  other  conflicts,  but  the 
unremitting  hostility  of  the  savages. 

Relieved  from  one  form  of  apprehension,  the  western  settlers  soon  met 
another.  The  right  to  navigate  the  Mississippi,  the  great  western  canal 
of  export  and  import,  was  refused  to  the  Americans  by  the  Spanish  au- 
thorities of  Louisiana.  This  became  a  fruitful  source  of  dispute  and 
re-crimination.  The  inhabitants  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  jealous  of 
their  rights,  and  not  satisfied  with  the  efforts  of  Congress  to  procure  them 
redress,  seemed  strongly  disposed  to  take  justice  into  their  own  hands. 
There  appears  to  have  been  no  less  than  five  distinct  parties  among  them 
at  Ihis  time. 


CIVIL     HIS  TORT.  I75 

The  first  advocated  an  independent  government  in  the  west,  and  a  com- 
mercial treaty  with  Spain.  The  second  proposed  to  annex  Kentucky  to 
Louisiana.  This  party  was  fostered  by  Spanish  intrigue  and  gold.  The 
third  proposed  to  make  war  with  Spain,  and  seize  Louisiana.  A  fourth 
party  sustained  the  American  confederation,  and  proposed  to  extort  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  by  the  menace  of  an  invasion  of  Lou- 
isiana. The  fifth  wished  Louisiana  to  return  under  French  sway,  and 
that  Kentucky  should  make  part  of  it. 

The  fires  of  discord  between  these  parties  were  fanned  by  the  English, 
Spanish,  and  French,  according  to  their  respective  views.  But  a  new 
element  of  political  influence  was  beginning  to  be  felt.  It  was  the 
course,  alike  wise,  firm,  and  conciliating,  of  the  Federal  Government, 
which  shortly  merged  all  these  interests  in  the  overwhelming  preponder- 
ance of  genuine  American  loyalty.  The  Spanish  treaty  of  1795  was  the 
result  which,  after  a  series  of  altercations  and  difficulties  by  the  Spanish 
commissioner,  went  into  quiet  effect,  in  1798. 

The  western  Indians  had  generally  taken  part  with  Great  Britain  in  the 
war  of  the  revolution.  Alarmed  at  the  flood  of  immigration,  which  pour- 
ed into  the  western  country  on  the  return  of  peace,  they  still  kept  up  the 
war  on  their  own  account.  The  southern  Indians,  under  McGillivray, 
were  quieted  by  a  treaty,  but  the  northern  Indians  stubbornly  resisted  all 
efforts  at  pacification.  General  Harmer  was  sent  against  them  with  a 
considerable  force.  Some  hard  fighting,  with  doubtful  success,  suc- 
ceeded. 

Next  year  General  St.  Clair  was  sent  against  them  with  a  still  larger 
force.  The  Indians  attacked  him,  in  November,  1792,  not  far  from  the 
Miami  villages.  A  severe  and  fatal  battle  for  the  Americans  ensued. — 
They  were  completely  routed,  and  more  than  600  men,  including  38 
officers,  slain.  The  wounded,  many  of  whom  died,  exceeded  260.  It 
was  the  severest  disaster  which  had  befallen  the  American  arms  in  the 
West.  It  gave  new  extent  and  energy  to  the  scalping-knife.  In  the 
investigation  of  this  bloody  affair,  which  took  place  before  Congress,  it 
was  proved,  that  between  17b3  and  1790,  1,500  inhabitants  of  Kentucky 
had  been  massacred,  or  made  prisoners,  by  the  Indians;  and  an  equal 
number  on  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia;  and  that  120 
persons  had  been  killed  or  made  prisoners,  a  number  of  whom  had  been 
burned  at  the  stake,  during  thirty  days  in  which  the  Indians  were  pro- 
posing to  make  a  treaty. 

This  disaster,  and  these  representations,  effectually  aroused  the  people. 
Gen.  Wayne  was  sent  against  the  Indians.  Hi*  collected  force  exceeded 
3,000  men.  He  attacked  the  combined  Indians,  and  gained  a  memorable 
and  complete  victory.      The  fugitives  took  shelter  under  the  guns  of  a 


176 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


British  fort.  General  Wayne  justly  treated  the  commander  of  the  fort, 
and  the  traders  sheltered  in  it,  who  had  obviously  supplied  the  Indians 
with  arms,  provisions  and  ammunition,  with  very  little  ceremony,  burn- 
ing their  stores  and  their  corn,  and  driving  them  to  the  security  of  the 
range  of  their  own  guns.  In  August,  1792,  a  general  treaty  with  the 
Indians  was  concluded,  and  the  desolating  horrors  of  Indian  warfare 
were  brought  to  an  end. 

This  peace,  so  auspicious  to  the  progress  of  the  west,  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  internal  dissentions.  The  first  extention  of  the  federal  sway 
was  regarded  with  suspicion  in  various  parts  of  the  Union.  Congress 
had  passed  a  law  imposing  duties  on  spirits  distilled  in  the  United  States. 
This  law  was  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  people  of  West  Pennsylvania. 
A  decided  and  systematic  opposition  to  government  was  organized. — 
Civil  processes  instituded  under  that  government  were  resisted.  The 
marshal  at  Pittsburgh,  and  General  Neville,  in  whose  house  he  took  shel- 
ter, were  seized,  and  otherwise  treated  with  violence,  to  escape  which, 
they  made  their  retreat  down  the  Ohio. 

The  government  conducted  with  deliberate  firmness.  After  all  efforts 
at  conciliation  had  been  exhausted,  a  strong  force  was  sent  over  the 
mountains,  commanded  by  the  Governors  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Jersey.  The  unanimity  of  the  nation,  and  the  greatness  of  the 
force  prevented  the  effusion  of  blood.  The  insurgents  submitted  with- 
out resistance.  A  few  were  arrested,  and  one  person,  who  had  rendered 
himself  peculiarly  obnoxious  by  his  violence,  escaped. 

The  western  country  meanwhile  continued  to  fill  with  immigrants  with 
a  rapidity  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  any  other  country.  The  wood- 
man's axe  was  heard  in  innumerable  places  in  the  forest.  Commencing 
towns  and  villages  sprung  up  among  the  deadened  trees  on  every  side. 
The  surplus  produce  of  the  west  began  to  descend  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi, in  all  the  whimsical  varieties  of  boats,  that  float  on  those  streams. 
At  frequent  intervals,  occasional  murders  of  the  people  on  the  frontiers 
continued  to  occur,  and  keep  alive  the  smothered  feelings  of  hatred  and 
revenge,  which  existed  between  the  two  races.  But  the  flood  of  immi- 
gration still  continued  to  flow  on,  unchecked  by  these  local  causes  of 
alarm. 

War  raged  again  in  Europe.  France,  Spain  and  England  preyed  upon 
our  commerce.  Spain,  beside  joining  in  the  general  plunder,  shut  the 
port  of  New  Orleans  against  us.  Twelve  regiments  were  added  to  our 
army.  Three  of  the  old  regiments  were  ordered  to  a  point  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio,  and  other  "demonstrations  of  a  purpose  to  redress  our  wrongs 
by  force,  were  made. 


CIVIL     HISTORY.  177 

Early  in  the  administration  of  Jefferson,  Spain  restored  us  the  right  of 
deposit  at  New  Orleans,  and  informed  us  at  the  same  time,  that  she  had, 
by  a  treaty  of  1801,  ceded  Louisiana  to  the  government  of  France, 
which  had  become  a  republic.  A  French  army  which  had  been  appoint- 
ed avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  occupying  Louisiana,  was  blockaded  in  a 
Dutch  port  by  a  British  squadron.  Fiance  wanted  money,  more  than 
colonies,  which  she  had  no  navy  to  occupy  or  defend;  and  by  the  treaty 
of  April,  1803,  in  consideration  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  she  ceded 
Louisiana  to  ihe  United  States.  The  immense  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
in  its  whole  extent,  became  ours,  opening  a  new  era  to  the  west,  which 
we  trust,  will  be  dear  to  freedom,  as  long  as  the  Mississippi  shall  roll  to 
the  sea. 

The  famous  expedition  of  Burr  occured  in  1SC6-7.  He  descended 
the  Mississippi  early  in  January  of  the  latter  year  with  fourteen  boats, 
and  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  men.  Being  apprised,  that  his  move- 
ments were  viewed  with  suspicion,  he  gave  bonds  to  the  authorities  of 
the  Mississippi  territory,  which,  however,  he  soon  leftj  and  a  reward  of 
two  thousand  dollars  was  offered  for  his  apprehension.  The  professed 
object  of  this  mad  expedition  was  to  occupy  and  settle  a  large  purchase 
of  lands  on  the  Washita, 

His  real  purpose,  founded  on  erroneous  views  of  the  disloyalty  of  the 
west,  was  propably,  to  detach  it  from  the  confederacy,  and  establish  an 
empire  for  himself.  Some  persons  were  arrested,  as  accomplices  with 
Burr,  among  whom  were  Bollman  and  Ogden.  Burr  himself  was  after- 
wards tried,  and  acquitted. 

The  year  1812  was  memorable,  as  the  era  of  the  first  successful  use 
of  steam  boats  on  the  western  waters.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
winter,  the  steam  boat  New  Orleans,  carrying  between  three  and  four 
hundred  tons,  descended  from  Pittsburgh  to  New  Orleans  in  two  hundred 
and  fifty-nine  hours.  The  first  experiment  was  extremely  fortunate,  and, 
comparing  this  passage  with  that  of  seventy-five  days  for  the  descent  of 
a  flat  boat  from  the  same  place,  presented  the  advantages  of  steam  navi- 
gation in  strong  contrast.  Every  reflecting  person  could  easily  divine, 
what  an  immense  bearing  this  wonderful  invention  of  steam  boats  would 
have  upon  the  future  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  west.  The  census  of 
1810  gave  the  west  nearly  a  million  of  inhabitants,  about  eight  times 
the  number  of  1799. 

It  has  been  seen,  that  our  commerce  had  been  plundered  by  England, 
France  and  Spain  Our  political  relations  with  the  two  former  powers 
had  been  for  some  time  on  a  precarious  footing.-  It  was  a  question  dis- 
cussed in  Congress  with  no  little  asperity,  on  which  of  these  powers  we 
should  make  war,  to  redress  our  wrongs.     It  was  ultimately  determined 

23 


178  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

to  select  England,  as  having  inflicted  the  most  palpable  injuries,  and  as 
being  most  accessible  in  her  colonial  possessions.  For  some  time  her 
ancient  influence  with  the  Indians  on  our  northern  and  western  frontiers, 
had  been  gathering  strength  against  us.  The  long  suppressed  flame  burst 
forth  at  length  in  the  battle  of  Tippicanoe.  At  the  close  of  1811,  the 
former  scenes  of  savage  assault  and  murder  along  the  frontier  settlements 
were  renewed  with  incessant  incursions,  and  the  murder  of  whole  fami- 
lies. Besides  the  usual  instigation  and  influence  of  British  traders,  the 
famous  Shawnese  prophet  appealed  to  their  bloody  superstitions  to  incite 
them  to  general  league  against  us.  Generals  Harrison  and  Boyd  marched 
against  them  with  some  militia  and  a  regiment  of  regular  troops.  In 
thirty  days  they  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  prophet's  town.  Soon  af- 
terwards, they  were  attacked  in  the  night  by  the  Indians.  It  was  a  scene 
of  confusion  and  blood.  But  the  prompt  and  judicious  movements  of 
General  Harrison  and  the  gallant  charge  of  the  regular  troops,  soon 
cleared  the  camp  of  the  assailants.  In  this  hurried  and  bloody  affair, 
the  Americans  lost  188  men  killed  and  wounded.  Among  the  slain 
were  some  officers  of  great  bravery  and  merit.  The  Indian  loss  wassup" 
posed  to  have  been  equal. 

In  June,  1812,  war  was  declared  by  the  United  States  against  Great 
Britain.  An  army  of  2500  men,  consisting  of  regulars  and  Ohio  volun- 
teers collected  at  Detroit  under  the  command  of  General  Hull.  After 
a  series  of  skirmishes  honorable  to  Colonels  Cass  and  Miller,  General 
Hull  surrendered  his  whole  force,  Detroit  and  the  Territory  of  Michigan 
to  the  British  General  Brock.  Never  was  event  more  prolific  of  shame, 
disgrace  and  disaster. 

The  Indians  were  at  once  on  the  alert  in  hostility  to  our  country  from 
the  lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Colonel  Newman  of  the  Georgia  vol- 
unteers distinguished  himself  in  a  desperate  and  gallant  struggle  with 
the  Seminole  Indians  on  the  Georgia  frontier. 

About  this  time  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles  assaulted  and  took  Fort 
Mimms  on  the  Tensa,  in  Mississippi.  It  was  commanded  by  Major 
Beasly  with  150  men.  Three  hundred  persons,  more  than  half  women 
and  children  were  massacred.  Never  was  savage  cruelty  more  atrocious 
and  unsparing.  But  seventeen  persons  escaped.  General  Jackson,  nobly 
sustained  by  Generals  Coffee  and  Carroll,  was  ordered  into  the  Creek 
country.  Encountering  disaffection,  desertion,  want  of  provisions,  and 
innumerable  difficulties  of  every  sort,  he  succeeded  in  defeating  and 
humbling  them  to  the  sure  submission  of  fear  and  inability  of  further 
annoyance.  The  victories  over  the  Creeks  were  named  from  the  places 
where  the  battles  were  fought: — Tallushatchee,  Talladega,  Emuckfaw, 
and  Tahopeka.    The  last  victory  was  most  terribly  decisive.    The  Indians 


TIVIL     HISTORY.  17y 

left  557  dead;  and  only  four  men,  along  with  three  hundred  women  and 
children  were  taken  prisoners.  Humanity  recoils  from  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  misery  and  ruin  inflicted  upon  this  fierce  and  deluded  people. 
But  it  must  he  rememhered,  that  they  had  been  incurring  this  severe 
reckoning  by  cruelties  and  murders  for  twenty  years>  crowned  with  the 
horrors  of  Fort  Minims.  The  meed  of  unshrinking  perseverance,  the 
most  cool  and  determined  bravery,  unflinching  patriotism,  and  able  man 
agement  in  the  prosecution  of  this  war,  must  be  awarded  to  General 
Jackson. 

Meanwhile,  after  the  fall  of  Detroit,  savage  vengeance  raged  with  un- 
relenting fury  along  the  whole  lake  frontier.  Various  successful  incur- 
sions were  made  in  retaliation,  in  which  the  Indians  in  their  turn  expe- 
rienced deserved  chastisement.  But  the  united  forces  of  the  British 
and  Indians,  were  successful  in  defeating  General  Winchester,  who  was 
captured  with  some  of  his  officers  in  the  early  part  of  the  action.  After 
a  severe  engagement,  the  remainder  of  the  American  troops,  between 
five  and  six  hundred,  surrendered.  The  Indians  violated  the  terms  of 
the  surrender,  and  a  general  and  horrible  massacre  ensued,  to  the  per- 
petual infamy  of  General  Proctor,  and  his  forces,  who  conducted  on  this 
occasion,  with  little  more  humanity  and  good  faith,  than  the  savages 
themselves.  This  bloody  affair  is  known  in  the  west  by  the  name  of  the 
'massacre  of  the  Raisin.1 

During  the  memorable  siege  of  Fort  Meigs  by  the  British  and  Indians, 
the  besiegers  were  assailed  by  Colonel  Dudley,  who  arrived,  command- 
ing a  brigade  of  Kentucky  recruits.  The  enemy  fled,  and  the  ardor  of 
these  brave  men  carried  them  too  far  in  the  pursuit.  They  fell  into  an 
ambuscade,  and  suffered  severely.  A  sortie  from  the  Fort,  intended  as 
a  diversion,  in  favor  of  the  Kentucky  force,  was  assailed  by  four  times 
its  number-  and  would  have  been  cut  off,  but  for  the  gallantry  of  Lieu- 
tenant Gwynne,  who  opportunely  charged  the  Indians,  and  saved  the  de- 
tachment. The  siege  was  soon  after  raised.  The  American  loss,  during 
the  thirteen  days,  which  it  lasted,  was  270  killed  and  wounded. 

At  this  time  Major  Croghan  gained  imperishable  honor  by  his  intrepid 
defence  of  Fort  Stephenson.  With  only  160  men  he  was  besieged  by 
500  regulars  and  700  Indians  under  the  command  of  General  Proctor. 
After  an  unavailing  attempt  to  storm  the  fort,  the  besiegers  decamped, 
having  lost  150  men  in  the  attempt. 

The  brilliant  and  complete  victory  of  the  gallant  Perry  over  the  British 
fleet  on  Lake  Erie  ensued,  and  gave  the  American  cause  the  inestima- 
ble advantage  of  the  complete  command  of  the  lake.  The  striking  array 
of  a  British  and  American  fleet  was  seen  from  the  shores  of  Ohio,  round- 
ing to  the  shore  to  transport  the  American  troops  to  the  invasion  of  the 


180  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

Canadian  shore.  These  troops  were  landed  from  sixteen  vessels  and 
one  thousand  boats  in  perfect  order,  a  league  below  Maiden.  It  was  an 
incident  equally  novel,  cheering  and  impressive.  Maiden  and  Amhersts- 
burg  were  successively  occupied.  The  savages  were  unkennelled  from 
their  dens,  where  they  had  been  retained,  and  unleashed ;  and  where  they 
had  returned  and  treasured  their  horrid  trophies  of  human  scalps. 
Scarcely  a  volunteer  entered  these  odious  places,  but  had  suffered  in  his 
person,  property,  relations  or  friends  by  the  aasaults  and  massacres  here 
instigated.  To  show  the  strongest  possible  contrast  of  the  deportment  of 
the  enemy  at  the  Raisin,  private  property,  houses  and  persons  were  spared, 
not  excepting  the  house  of  the  renegado,  Colonel  Elliott. 

An  engagement  followed  between  the  American  army  commanded  by 
General  Harrison,  and  the  British  and  Indians  under  General  Proctor 
and  Tecumseh.  The  American  mounted  troops  dashed  through  the  ene-< 
my's  centre,  producing  the  immediate  surrender  of  472  men  and  their 
officers.     General  Proctor  escaped  by  the  speed  of  his  horse. 

The  Indians  contested  the  battle  with  much  more  pertinacity,  than 
their  British  allies.  The  renowned  Tecumseh  put  forth  all  his  powers ; 
but  after  a  fierce  contest,  the  savages  were  defeated;  and  Tecumseh 
was  slain,  it  is  commonly  reported,  by  Colonel  Johnson,  in  personal 
contest. 

Among  the  singular  trophies  of  this  victory  were  several  pieces  of  brass 
cannon,  which  had  been  taken  from  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga,  surrendered 
by  General  Hull  with  Detroit,  and  now  returned  to  the  Americans  again. 
No  event  in  this  war  had  been  so  directly  auspicious  to  the  western 
country,  as  this  victory.  Michigan  was  recovered;  and  the  British  force 
in  Upper  Canada  broken  down.  The  spirit  and  confidence  of  the  north- 
ern savages  were  quelled;  and  the  people  along  the  wide  western  frontier 
were  relieved  from  their  apprehensions,  and  returned  in  security  and 
peace  to  their  accustomed  habitations. 

Scarcely  had  the  Creeks  been  brought  to  terms  in  the  south,  before 
the  southern  people  were  alarmed  with  the  more  formidable  apprehensions 
of  British  invasion,  General  Jackson  marched  with  his  forces  to  Pensa- 
cola,  which  was  already  in  the  occupation  of  tlie  British.  The  British 
failed  in  an  obstinate  naval  attack  upon  Fort  Bowyer  in  Mobile  Bay,  and 
were  defeated  with  the  loss  of  230  men  killed  and  wounded. 

The  British  forces  then  retired  to  Pensacola.  That  town  and  Barran- 
cas were  asaulled,  and  taken,  and  the  British  completely  dislodged  from 
all  the  posts  upon  that  shore.  From  these  achievements  General  Jackson 
inarched  to  New  Orleans,  and  put  forth  all  his  enegery  and  decision  in 
collecting  forces,  and  placing  Louisiana  in  the  best  possible  state  of  de- 
fence. 


*CIV1L     HISTORY.  jgj 

A  well  contested  engagement  took  place  between  an  attack  of  British 
barge?,  and  the  small  American  naval  force  of  gun  boats  near  the  Rigo* 
let  or  pass  from  Lake  Borgne  into  Lake  Ponchartrain.  The  bravery  of 
the  Americans  was  never  more  honorably  conspicuous;  though  the 
American  gun  boats  were  captured  by  an  overwhelming  force.  The 
British  loss  in  the  action  far  exceeded  ours. 

The  British  army,  which  had  been  hovering  on  the  gulf  shore,  debark- 
ed safely  at  Bayou  Bienvenu,  fifteen  miles  southeast  of  New  Orleans. 
General  Jackson  resolved  to  give  them  battle.  His  recent  recruits  from 
the  upper  country  were  promptly  on  the  field  of  battle.  Commodore 
Patterson,  in  the  schooner  Caroline  opened  a  destructive  fire  upon  them. 
After  a  warm  action,  necessarily  involved  in  much  coufusion  from  the 
late  hour,  in  which  it  was  commenced,  and  from  the  ignorance  of  both 
forces  of  the  ground,  and  of  each  other's  positions,  the  British  thrice 
assailed,  and  beaten,  retired  a  mile.  Satisfied  with  the  omen,  and  this 
first  result  of  what  the  British  bad  to  expect  from  us,  and  aware  that  the 
British  were  double  our  numbers,  General  Jackson  recalled  his  troops  to 
their  position.  Our  loss  was  139  killed  and  wounded,  and  74  pris- 
oners. The  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners  of  the  enemy  amounted  to 
400,  Soon  after  we  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  the  schooner,  which  had 
so  severely  annoyed  the  British. 

Fortunately  before  the  great  battle  of  the  eighth  of  January,  the  long 
expected  reinforcement  from  Kentucky,  amounting  to  2250  men,  arrived 
at  our  camp.  The  eighth  of  January  dawned,  and  the  British  commenced 
upon  our  line  one  of  the  most  obstinate  attacks  on  military  record.  They 
were  defeated  with  prodigious  slaughter.  Tbeir  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners  exceeded  2600  men.  Although  the  British  bad  been  success- 
ful in  an  attack  upon  the  American  troops  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
river,  compelling  the  American  force,  under  General  Morgan,  to  retreat, 
having  lost  their  Generals  Packenham,  Gibbs  and  Keane,  they  felt  no 
disposition  longer  to  contest  the  possession  of  a  soil  that  had  been  so  fatal 
to  them,  and  soon  after  embarked  in  their  fleet. 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  a  scene  of  exultation,  past  the  power  of 
words  to  describe,  ensued  in  the  camp,  and  in  New  Orleans.  The  brave 
troops  of  tl.e  west  returned  to  their  homes  covered  with  imperishable 
honors,  to  hand  down  the  story  of  their  achievements  to  their  children. 

In  making  this  glorious  defence  of  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexcio, 
and  in  gaining  these  victories,  General  Jackson  was  obliged  to  resort  to 
the  strong  measures  of  military  decision  and  promptness.  We  have  not 
space,  in  which  to  array  the  innumerable  difficulties  he  had  to  encounter 
from  a  country  but  recently  accustomed  to  American  rule,  peopled  to 
a  considerable  degree  with  inhabitants  of  another  language  and  nation. 


jg2  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

the  want  of  arms,  the  numerical  weakness  of  his  force,  and  his  great 
distance  from  adequate  reinforcements  and  supplies.  The  brevity  of 
our  sketch  accords  with  our  inclination  in  excluding  us  from  any  dis- 
cussion of  the  necessity  of  many  of  the  measures,  to  which  he  had 
resorted;  and  from  questioning  the  grounds  of  a  reaction  of  public  feel- 
ing, which  occurred  on  the  return  of  tranquility.  His  conduct  in  pro- 
claiming martial  law,  and  suspending  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus, 
removing  some  suspected  citizens,  and  punishing  some  deserters  with  the 
last  rigor  of  martial  law,  underwent  a  severe  investigation,  at  the  time, 
an  investigation  which  subsequent  circumstances  have  renewed  with  in- 
creased asperity. 

At  this  day,  however  different  may  be  the  estimate  of  the  political 
character  of  General  Jackson,  no  one  can  fail  to  do  justice  to  his  wisdom, 
bravery  and  good  conduct  in  the  prosecution  of  this  campaign.  No  one 
can  fail  to  admit,  that  the  emergencies  of  the  case  called  for  such  a 
general,  and  that  weak  and  vacillating  measures  could  scarcely  have  failed 
to  have  lost  the  country.  On  the  13th  of  the  month,  peace  was  officially 
announced  in  the  camp.  On  the  24th,  General  Jackson  was  prosecuted 
for  contempt  of  court  at  the  suit  of  Judge  Hall,  and  was  cast  in  a  fine  of  a 
thousaand  dollars.  General  feeling  in  view  of  the  sentence  was  mani- 
fested by  the  citizens.  It  was  proposed  to  give  publicity  to  that  feeling 
by  paying  the  fine  by  voluntary  contribution.  It  was  no  sooner  medita- 
tated  than  done.  So  numerous  were  the  citizens,  who  desired  to  contrib- 
ute, that  the  entire  sum  was  raised  in  a  few  minutes.  The  general,  un- 
derstanding what  was  agitated  sought  the  marshal,  paid  the  fine,  and 
avoided  an  obligation,  which  his  feelings  would  not  allow  him  to  incur. 
Previous  to  breaking  up  his  camp,  he  isssued  an  impressive  and  affec- 
tionate address  to  his  brave  companions  in  arms,  and  was  soon  on  his 
way  to  his  home.  Grateful  and  affectionate  honors  awaited  him  every 
where,  and  most  of  all  at  home,  where  he  was  welcomed  by  a  reception 
from  his  fellow  citizens,  that  must  have  been  more  delightful,  than  all  his 
previous  triumphs. 

The  close  of  the  war,  as  might  be  expected,  produced  a  general  pacifi- 
cation of  the  savages  on  our  whole  frontier.  It  was  obvious  to  intellects 
less  vigorous  than  theirs,  that  if  th  ;y  had  the  worst  of  the  contest,  when 
aided  by  all  the  power  of  Britain,  and  the  countenance  of  the  Spanish, 
they  could  have  little  hope,  of  continuing  the  contest  with  us  single 
handed.  Profound  peace  was  soon  restored  to  all  our  borders,  from  the 
northeast  to  the  southwest  frontier  The  tide  of  immigration  which  had 
been  arrested  during  the*  war,  set  more  strongly  towards  the  western 
country  for  having  been  so  long  kept  back.  Shoals  of  immigrants  were 
i    ii  on  all  the  great  roads  leading  in  that  direction.     Oleanne,    Pitts- 


CIVIL     HISTORY.  jyj 

burgh,  Brownsville,  Wheeling,  Nashville,  Cincinnati,  and  St.  Louis  over- 
flowed with  them.  Ohio  and  Indiana  beheld  thousands  of  new  cabins 
spring  up  in  their  forests.  On  the  borders  of  the  solitary  prairies  of 
Illinois  and  Missouri,  smokes  were  seen  streaming  aloft  from  the  dwell- 
ings of  recent  settlers.  The  settlements  which  had  been  broken  up 
during  the  war,  were  re-peopled,  and  many  immigrants  returned  again  to 
the  very  cabins,  which  they  had  occupied  before  the  war.  Boon's-lick 
and  Salt  River,  in  Missouri,  were  the  grand  points  of  immigration,  as 
were  the  Sangama  and  the  upper  sources  of  the  Kaskaskias,  in  Illinois. 
In  the  south,  Alabama  filled  with  new  habitations,  and  the  current,  not 
arrested  by  the  Mississippi,  set  over  its  banks,  to  White  River,  Arkansas, 
and  Louisiana,  west  of  that  river.  The  wandering  propensity  of  the 
American  people  carried  hundreds  even  beyond  our  territorial  limits  into 
the  Spanish  country. — Waggons,  servants,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  horses, 
and  dogs,  were  seen  passing  with  the  settlers,  bound  to  immense  distan- 
ces up  the  long  rivers.  To  fix  an  hundred  miles  from  another  settler 
was  deemed  no  inconvenience. 

This  flood  of  immigrants  of  course  increased  the  amount  of  transport, 
and  gave  new  impulse  to  enterprize  of  every  sort.  Lands  rose  above 
their  value,  and  speculation  in  them  became  a  raging  epidemic.  Money, 
put  in  circulation  by  the  sale  of  lands,  abounded  in  the  country.  Town 
making,  steam  boat  building, — in  short,  every  species  of  speculation  was 
carried  to  a  ruinous  excess.  Mercantile  importations  filled  the  country 
with  foreign  goods.  There  were  no  reasonable  foundations  to  the 
schemes,  and  no  limits  to  the  extravagance  of  the  people.  To  give  a 
more  fatal  extension  and  efficacy  to  the  mania  of  speculation,  banks  were 
multiplied  in  all  the  little  towns  and  villages  of  the  West,  whose  spurious 
paper,  not  predicated  on  banking  principles,  nor  based  upon  capital,  an- 
swered the  turn  of  speculation,  as  long  as  the  excitement  of  confidence 
lasted.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was,  that  lands  rose  to  double  and 
triple  their  natural  value,  and  were  bought  up  by  speculators.  One  good 
effect  resulted  from  the  general  mischief.  Improvements,  which  would 
never  have  been  contemplated  in  another  state  of  things,  multiplied. — 
Towns  were  built  up  with  good  and  permanent  houses.  In  three  years 
from  the  close  of  the  war,  things  had  received  a  new  face  along  the  great 
water  courses,  and  in  all  the  favorable  points  of  the  interior. 

New  States  and  Territories  grew  out  of  this  order  of  things,  like  the 
prophet's  gourd.  In  building  up  legislation  and  municipal  order,  the 
scramble  of  strangers,  recently  brought  in  contiguity,  for  the  new  offices, 
introduced  much  bustle  and  quarrelling.  All  the  legislators  were  not 
Solons.  A  great  many  forward  and  plunging  young  men,  whose  only 
qualifications  for  their  great  work,  were  vanity  and  confidence,  composed 


|84  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY, 

the  legislatures.  Of  course  a  thousand  monstrous  projects  were  hatched. 
The  teaching  of  tile  post  history  and  experience  were  not  the  guides  of 
these  confident  legislators.  The  evils  that  soon  resulted  from  such  legis- 
lation, gradually  worked  their  own  cure.  The  people  were  slow  to  learn; 
hut  in  most  of  the  States  and  Territories,  after  taking  lessons  for  two  or 
three  years,  they  did  learn;  and  returned  to  the  safe  and  ancient  track  of 
history,  example  and  experience. 

Meanwhile,  this  unnatural  state  of  things  could  not  last  long.  The 
tide  hegan  to  ebb,  and  things  to  settle  io  their  natural  level.  The  first 
indication  of  this  change  was,  the  failure  of  the  banks,  at  first  as  rare 
occurrences;  but  these  failures  soon  became  so  numerous  and  common, 
that  the  paper,  except  of  the  hanks  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  a  very 
few  of  the  interior  banks,  became  as  useless  as  any  other  wrapping  paper. 
We  have  not  the  data  for  calculating  the  amount  of  loss  in  the  Western 
country;  and  patience  and  moderation  of  feeling  would  fail  us,  in  con- 
templating the  enormous  mischiefs  of  legislative  swindling.  An  incon- 
ceivable quantity  of  paper  perished,  not  in  the  hands  of  the  speculators 
and  those,  who  had  been  efficient  in  generating  it;  for  they  foresaw  the 
approaching  ruin,  and  passed  the  spurious  paper  away,  before  the  bubble 
of  confidence,  on  which  it  was  predicated,  burst.  It  finally  rested,  and 
perished  in  the  hands  of  farmers  and  mechanics, — the  honest  and  the  use- 
ful members  of  the  community,  who  had  fairly  earned  the  value  of  the 
money.  May  it  be  a  perpetual  warning  to  the  legislatures  of  the  West, 
not  to  allow  demagogues  to  trifle  with  their  interests,  in  the  introduction 
of  banking  schemes  based  upon  any  other  foundation  than  solid  capital. 
A  more  enormous  engine  of  mischief  and  dishonesty  never  was  introduc- 
ed into  a  community. 

Lands  experienced  almost  a  perpendicular  fall.  Immigration  was  sus- 
pended. Money  ceased  to  flow  into  the  country  from  that  source.  The 
depreciated  money  of  the  country  banks  was  no  longer  received  in  pay- 
ment. The  merchants  had  sold  out,  on  credit,  the  immense  amount  of 
goods,  which  they  had  brought  into  the  country,  and  the  debtors  had  no 
means  of  payment  left  to  enable  them  to  make  remittances.  All  the  spe- 
cie of  the  country  made  its  way  to  the  Atlantic  country,  to  pay  for  the 
goods,  imported  thence.  Credit  was  at  an  end,  and  universal  distress 
prevailed.  In  some  of  the  states,  after  some  experiments  of  quackery, 
the  legislatures  began  to  consult  experience,  and  desisted  from  violent 
political  remedies,  which,  in  the  end,  are  sure  to  aggravate  the  disease. 
In  other  legislatures,  where  they  had  not  yet  learned,  that  bills  made  by 
an  engraver,  and  signed  by  a  president  and  cashier  of  a  bank  with  a 
name,  are  not  necessarily  moiley,  they  passed  laws,  whimsically  called, 
relief  lawg,  apparently  from  the  misery  aud  confusion,  they  created- 


CIVIL     HISTORY  Jg5 

And  there  was  a  new  deluge  of  bank  paper  in  a  new  form  to  remedy  the 
distress,  occasioned  by  the  failure  of  the  old.  In  Kentucky,  Illinois,  and 
Missouri,  the  legislatures  plunged  deepest  into  the  abyss  of  relief  laws. 
Loan  offices  emitted  money  on  the  faith  of  the  State,  pledged  for  its  re- 
demption. It  was  soon  in  the  hands  of  speculators,  purchased  at  a  fourth 
of  its  nominal  value.  It  was  directly  ascertained  that  the  remedy  was 
worse  than  the  disease.  This  evil  was  longest  persisted  in  where  it  would 
have  been  supposed  it  would  be  relinquished  first — in  Kentucky,  the 
common  mother  of  the  Western  States,  opulent,  enlightened,  and  teem- 
ing with  men  of  education  and  intelligence.  So  it  will  ever  be,  when 
the  rash  and  presuming  legislate,  and  predicate  their  schemes  on  wild 
theory,  and  not  on  the  sure  teaching  of  age,  tried  wisdom,  experience, 
and  the  analogy  of  the  past. 

Were  we  to  descend  to  the  details  of  State  events,  and  the  character 
of  State  legislation,  volumes  would  be  necessary.  Mercantile,  mineral, 
and  fur  associations  were  formed  and  pursued  with  spirit.  Different  ex- 
ploring expeditions,  ordered  by  the  government,  added  to  the  general  and 
topographical  knowledge  of  the  country.  An  hundred  new  towns  have 
grown  to  consequence,  and  the  catalogue  of  proper  names  has  been  ran- 
sacked to  find  names  for  them.  Steam  boats  have  been  increased  to  such 
numbers,  that  there  are  now  more  than  200  on  our  waters.  Our  militia 
is  gradually  acquiring  efficiency  and  organization.  It  is,  probably,  as 
numerous  in  proportion  to  our  population,  as  that  of  the  Atlantic  states. 
In  some  of  the  States  the  system  is  lax,  or  the  laws  badly  enforced;  for 
the  militia  is  neither  regularly  organized,  trained  or  armed.  A  levy,  en 
masse,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  would  probably  bring  to  the  field  more  fight- 
ing men,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  than  in  any  other  of  the  United 
States.  Owing  to  its  recent  settlement,  few  of  the  inhabitants  are  past 
the  age  for  bearing  arms.  Males  immigrate  in  greater  numbers  than 
females;  and  from  these  circumstances,  there  is  a  large  proportion  of  men 
capable  of  bearing  arms. 

In  furnishing  a  remedy  for  the  incalcuable  mischief  and  misery  occa- 
sioned by  universal  want  of  confidence  in  the  local  banks  and  bank  paper, 
the  only  currency  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  West,  no  influence  was  felt 
to  be  so  prompt  and  salutary,  as  the  establishment  of  branches  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  among  us.  It  would  be  easy  to  show,  that 
local  and  stale  banks,  however  they  may  meet  the  necessities  of  commerce, 
when  established  in  large  commercial  towns,  with  extensive  capital  al- 
ways promptly  convertible  into  specie,  and  however  they  may  be  adequate 
to  furnish  a  sound  currency  for  a  narrow  circle  in  their  immediate  vicin- 
ity, are  not  suited  to  the  position,  and  the  extensive  distant  commercial 
relations  of  the  West.     Although  this  country  abundantly  possessed  that, 

24 


183 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


for  which  money  and  hank  paper  stand  as  the  representatives,  our  dis 
tance  from  the  emporiums  of  commerce  on  the  sea  board,  and  their  dear 
boucrht  experience  of  the  firmer  worthlessness  of  our  banks,  forbade  rea- 
sonable expectation,  that  our  local  p^per  could  be  received  as  a  sound 
currency,  beyond  the  immediate  vicinity  of  its  issue.  In  this  establish- 
ment was  provided  a  banking  system,  much  better  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  an  interior  country,  than  of  the  maritime  capitals,  enabling  the  people 
to  obtain  loans  commensurate  with  their  established  credit,,  and  to  find 
in  the  post  office  the  medium  of  sure  and  prompt  remittance  of  a  circu- 
lation everywhere  uniform,  and  enabling  the  remotest  western  dealer  to 
remit  to  the  most  distant  Atlantic  town,  and  to  receive  remittances  at  his 
writing  desk.  Western  travellers,  too,  rapidly  increasing  in  numbers, 
passing  to  the  remotest  points,  were  relieved  from  the  intolerable  annoy- 
ance of  dealing  with  a  broker  at  the  interval  of  every  hundred  miles,  and 
continual  altercations  at  taverns  and  stage  offices,  as  often  reminded,  that 
a  citizen  in  one  district  was  a  stranger  in  another  of  the  same  country. 

Between  the  general  failure  of  the  Western  banks,  and  the  operation 
of  this  system,  western  dealers  were  driven  to  the  extremely  burdensome 
and  precarious  resource  of  specie  in  their  foreign  transactions.  Busi- 
ness and  trade  were  brought  to  a  dead  pause.  Words  would  be  unavail- 
ing to  convey  an  idea  of  the  embarrassment  and  distress  occasioned  by 
this  order  of  things.  The  evils  were  spread  along  a  course  of  2,000 
miles;  and  were  experienced  in  the  remote  cabins,  as  well  as  the  towns 
and  villages  on  the  rivers.  Though  of  an  efficacy  to  create  much  mis- 
ery, they  were  so  concealed  from  the  public  eye  and  ear,  as  to  create  lit- 
tle sympathy  or  commiseration  for  the  sufferers.  It  will  be  well  if  his- 
tory and  remembrance  preserve  these  salutary  lessons,  as  solemn  warn- 
ings to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  a  similar  bank  mania  for  the  future. 

The  result  of  a  sound  and  uniform  currency  was  seen  in  the  restora- 
tion of  business  and  credit;  and  commerce  sprung  up,  like  a  phoenix, 
from  its  ashes.  Shapeless  and  mean  looking  villages  became  towns; 
and  the  towns  in  neatness  and  beauty  began  to  compare  with  those  in  the 
Atlantic  country.  The  best  evidence  of  the  change,  wrought  by  this 
order  of  things  is,  that  produce  and  every  species  of  vendible  property 
rose  to  double  and  triple  its  value,  during  the  season  of  general  embar- 
rassment. Since  then,  the  progress  of  the  west  in  improvement  and 
prosperity  has  been  as  rapid,  as  her  citizens  could  reasonably  desire. 

Immigration.  Before  entering  upon  a  topographical  description  of 
the  states  and  territories,  we  deem  it  right  to  dwell  a  little  on  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  emigration.  In  a  country,  an  immense  proportion 
of  which  is  yet  wilderness,  containing  a  hundred  thousand  log  cabins, 


IMMIGRANTS. 


1S7 


and  annually  receiving  twice  that  number  of  immigrants,  a  sketch  of  the 
circumstances,  under  which  they  remove,  and  make  their  beginnings  in 
the  forest,  cann  >t  be  without  its  interest  or  utility.  This  work,  having 
for  its  chief  ol  ject  the  physical  features  and  circumstances  of  the  west, 
seems  to  call  for  such  an  outline,  which  we  dra.v  entirely  from  our  own 
observation  and  experience.  Nor  will  an  intelligent  enquirer  turn  away 
from  a  view  of  these  rustic  touches,  when  calling  to  mind,  that  all,  which 
any  part  of  our  country  can  show  of  elegance,  power  and  improvement, 
was  cradled  in  similar  beginnings;  and  that  it  was  by  these  arts,  that  our 
whole  country  became  what  it  is;  that  the  transition  from  cabins  to  man- 
sions, and  from  settlements  to  cities  has  taken  place  under  our  own  ob 
servation ;  and  that  the  germs,  which  we  are  describing,  promise  to  evolve 
a  vast  and  flourishing  empire,  to  which  imagination  may  hardly  assign 
bounds.  Still  less  will  they  be  indifferent  to  the  patriot  and  philanthro- 
pist, if  we  furnish  evidence,  that  no  human  condition  is  more  susceptible 
of  plenty,  independence,  and  the  best  enjoyments,  which  the  earth  can 
offer,  than  that  of  the  tenants  of  log  cabins,  who  turn  the  soil  which  share 
never  furrowed  before. 

To  the  aibin  dwellers  themselves,  who  live  amidst  what  we  describe, 
such  sketches  may  be  gratuitous.  But  we  hope,  ihey  will  have  interest 
with  another  class  of  readers,  who  have  ideas  as  indistinct  of  the  modes 
and  contrivances  of  a  settler  on  the  virgin  soil,  as  those  of  the  colonists 
of  the  Greeks  in  Asia  Minor,  or  the  Romans  in  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Africa. 
With  what  intense  interest  should  we  now  read  the  diary  of  one  of  the 
first  settlers  at  Plymouth,  Jamestown,  or  Mexico,  giving  the  diurnal 
details  of  his  progress  in  building,  enclosing,  and  advancing,  from  the 
first  necessity  of  a  shelter  from  the  elements,  to  comfort,  convenience 
and  elegance!  The  mind  delights  to  trace  mighty  streams  to  their  foun- 
tains; and  the  power,  improvement  and  splendour  of  stales,  to  the  germ 
of  their  inception.  How  few  traces,  by  which  to  gratify  this  interest,  re- 
main! To  the  greater  number  of  even  western  readers,  a  faithful  pic- 
ture of  the  primitive  habitations  of  the  country,  and  the  result  of  the 
first  efforts  of  agriculture  presents  a  view  of  things  already  gone  by. — 
Our  ideas  of  the  first  cabins  of  the  Puritans  at  Plymouth,  their  first  plant- 
ing and  gardening,  their  first  social  intercourse  and  festivities,  by  which 
they  solaced  their  solitude  and  privations,  are  but  dim  and  uncertain 
imaginings.  Even  the  mamorials  of  the  beginnings  of  the  French 
in  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  are  fast  perishing,  unrecorded  from  vision  and 
memory. 

But  the  chief  utility,  which  we  hope  from  the  following  sketch,  is  to 
enable  the  reacter,  who  contemplates  becoming  an  immigrant,  to  acquaint 
himself  in  advance,  with  some  of  the  circumstances  of  his  undertaking, 
and  to  anticipaterwhat  he  maybe  called  to  do, enjoy,  or  suffer. 


158  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

We  would  be  glad  to  furnish  him  with  some  elements,  on  which  to 
settle  ihe  expediency  of  immigration  in  advance;  by  showing  him  in 
contrast,  some  of  its  intrinsic  advantages  and  disadvantages.  If  a  just 
balance  could  be  struck  between  the  actual  enjoyment  of  those,  who  live 
and  die,  in  the  old  settled  portions  of  the  country,  and  those  who  emi- 
grate, and  settle  in  the  wilderness,  every  actual  immigrant  will  admit, 
that  it  would  be  far  from  being  an  abstract  discussion  of  the  nature  and 
chances  of  happiness. 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  emigration  in  the  abstract,  are 
partly  physical,  partly  moral.  The  inducements  to  it  arise,  with  most  of 
our  actions,  from  mixed  motives.  The  greater  part  of  the  European 
emigrants,  particularly  the  Germans,  flying  from  poverty  and  oppression, 
come  to  the  west  with  Ihe  unmixed  motives  to  become  free  land  holders, 
and  to  purchase  cheap  and  rich  lands.  But  the  case  is  otherwise  with 
the  far  greater  portion  of  those,  who  emigrate  from  the  old  states  of  our 
own  country.  Imagination  exercises  more  influence  even  upon  minds 
the  most  uneducated,  than  we  are  ready  to  suppose.  There  is  no  person, 
about  to  place  himself  in  a  remote  and  untried  position,  but  will  find  on 
examination,  that  the  new  scene,  viewed  in  anticipation,  is  invested 
with  a  coloring  of  the  imagination,  that  has  a  powerful  bearing  upon  his 
thoughts  and  determinations.  What  mind  ever  contemplated  the  project 
of  moving  from  the  old  settlements  over  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and 
selecting  a  home  in  the  west,  without  forming  pictures  of  new  woods  and 
streams,  new  animals  and  vegetables,  new  configurations  of  scenery, 
new  aspects  of  men  and  new  forms  of  society,  novelty  in  the  most  set- 
tled mental  associations  with  the  phenomena  of  nature,  winds,  clouds, 
rains,  snows,  thunder,  and  all  the  accidents  of  climate;  new  hopes,  in  a 
word,  of  chasing  down,  in  a  new  and  far  country,  that  phantom  of  our 
desires,  always  pursued  in  things  without  us,  and  never  found,  except 
within  us,  happiness? 

After  the  long  vexed  question  whether  to  remove  or  not,  is  settled,  by 
consulting  friends,  travellers  and  books,  the  next  step  is  to  select  the 
route,  and  arrange  the  preparations  for  it.  The  universality  and  cheap- 
ness of  steam  boat  and  canal  passage  and  transport,  have  caused,  that 
more  than  half  the  whole  number  of  immigrants  now  arrive  in  the  west 
by  water.  This  remark  applies  to  nine  tenths  of  those  that  come  from 
Europe  and  the  northern  states.  They  thus  escape  much  of  the  expense, 
slowness,  inconvenience,  and  danger  of  the  ancient,  cumbrous  and  tire- 
some journey  in  wagons.  They  no  longer  experience  the  former  vexa- 
ations  of  incessant  altercation  with  landlords,  mutual  charges  of  dishones- 
ty, discomfort  from  new  modes  of  speech  and  reckoning  money,  from 
breaking  down  carriages  and  wearing  out  horses. 


IMMIGRANTS.  J.$g 

But  the  steam  boats  and  canal  boats  have  their  disadvantages.  Cast 
perhaps,  for  (lie  first  time  among  a  mixed  company  of  strangers,  the  bash- 
ful mother  and  (he  uneasy  and  curious  children,  present  an  ample  speci. 
men  of  their  domestic  training;  and  how  much  they  have  profited  by 
that  universal  education,  about  which  every  one  talks.  But  though  they 
may  mutually  annoy,  and  be  annoyed,  their  curiosity  is  constantly  excited, 
and  gratified;  their  hunger  abundantly  appeased;  and  they  occasionally 
form  pleasant  intimacies  with  their  fellow  travellers.  If  travelling  be  a 
mode  of  enjoyment,  these  unsated  and  unhackneyed  travellers  probably 
find,  on  the  whole,  a  balance  of  enjoyment  in  favor  of  the  journey  of 
immigration. 

The  chances  are  still  more  favorable  for  the  immigrants  from  Virginia, 
the  two  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  whoy  from  their  habits  and  relative  posi- 
tion, still  immigrate,  after  the  ancient  fashion,  in  the  southern  wagon. 
This  is  a  vehicle  almost  unknown  at  the  north,  strong,  comfortable,  com- 
modious, containing  not  only  a  moveable  kitchen,  but  provisions  and 
beds.  Drawn  by  four  or  six  horses,  it  subserves  all  the  various  inten- 
tions of  house,  shelter  and  transport;  and  is,  in  fact,  the  southern  ship 
of  the  forests  and  prairies.  The  horses,  that  convey  the  wagon,  are  large 
and  powerful  animals,  followed  by  servants,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  dogs, 
the  whole  forming  a  primitive  caravan  not  unworthy  of  ancient  days,  and 
the  plains  of  Mam  re.  The  procession  moves  on  with  power  in  its  dust, 
putting  to  shame  and  uncomfortable  feelings  of  comparison  the  northern 
family  with  their  slight  wagon,  jaded  horses,  and  subdued,  though  jealous 
countenances.  Their  vehicle  stops;  and  they  scan  the  strong  southern 
hulk,  with  its  chimes  of  bells,  its  fat  black  drivers  and  its  long  train  of 
concomitants,  until  they  have  swept  by. 

.  Perhaps  more  than  half  the  northern  immigrants  arrive  at  present  by 
way  of  the  New  York  canal  and  Lake  Erie.  If  their  destination  be  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Wabash,  they  debark  at  Sandusky,  and  continue 
their  route  without  approaching  the  Ohio.  The  greater  number  make 
their  way  from  the  lake  to  the  Ohio,  either  by  the  Erie  and  Ohio,  or  the 
Dayton  canal.  From  all  points,  expect  those  west  of  the  Guyandotte 
route  and  the  national  road,  when  they  arrive  at  the  Ohio,  or  its  naviga- 
ble waters,  ihe  greater  number  of  the  families  'take  water.'  Emigrants 
from  Pennsylvania  will  henceforward  reach  the  Ohio  on' the  great  Penn- 
sylvania canal,  and  will  'take  water'  at  Pittsburgh.  If  bound  to  Indiana, 
Illinois  or  Missouri,  they  build  or  purchase  a  family  boat.  Many  of  these 
boats  are  comfortably  fitted  up,  and  are  neither  inconvenient,  nor  unpleas- 
ant floating  houses.  Two  or  ihree  families  sometimes  fit  up  a  large  boat 
in  partnership,  purchase  an  'Ohio  Pilot,'  a  book  that  professes  to  instruct 
them  in  the  mysteries  of  navigating  the  Ohio;  and  if  the  Ohio  be  mode- 


190  MISSISSIPPI      VALLEY. 

rately  high,  and  the  weather  pleasant,  this  voyage,  unattended  with  either 
difficulty  or  danger,  is  ordinarily  a  trip  of  pleasure.  We  need  hardly  add, 
that  a  great  number  of  the  wealthier  emigrant  families  take  passage  in  a 
steam  boat. 

While  the  southener  finds  the  autumnal  and  vernal  season  on  the  Ohio 
too  cool,  to  the  northerner  it  is  temperate  and  delightful.  When  the  first 
wreaths  of  morning  mist  are  rolled  away  from  the  stream  by  the  bright 
sun,  disclosing  the  ancient  woods,  the  hoary  bluffs,  and  the  graceful 
curves  and  windings  of  the  long  line  of  channel  above  and  below,  the 
rich  alluvial  belt  and  the  fine  orchards  on  its  shores,  the  descending  voy- 
agers must  be  destitute  of  the  common  perceptions  of  the  beautiful,  if 
they  do  not  enjoy  the  voyage,  and  find  the  Ohio,  in  the  French  phrase, 
La  belle  riviere. 

After  the  immigrants  have  arrived  at  Cincinnati,  Lexington,  Nashville, 
St.  Louis,  or  St.  Charles,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  points  where  they  had 
anticipated  to  fix  themselves,  a  preliminary  difficulty,  and  one  of  difficult 
solution  is,  to  determine  to  what  quarter  to  repair.  All  the  towns  swarm 
with  speculating  companies  and  land  agents;  and  the  chance  is,  that  the 
first  inquiries  for  information  in  this  perplexity  will  be  addressed  to  them, 
or  to  persons  who  have  a  common  understanding  and  interest  with  them. 
The  published  information,  too,  comes  directly  or  indirectly  from  them, 
in  furtherance  of  their  views.  One  advises  to  the  Wabash,  and  points  on 
the  map  to  the  rich  lands,  fine  mill  seats,  navigable  streams  and  growing 
towns  in  their  vicinity.  Another  presents  a  still  more  alluring  picture  of 
the  lands  in  some  part  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  the  region  west,  of  the  lakes, 
and  the  lead  mines.  Another  tempts  him  with  White  River,  Arkansas, 
Red  River,  Opclousas,  and  Attakapas,  the  rich  crops  of  cotton  and  sugar, 
and  the  escape  from  winter,  which  they  offer.  Still  another  company  has 
its  nets  set  in  all  the  points,  where  immigrants  congregate,  blazoning  all 
the  advantages  of  Texas,  and  the  Mexican  country.  In  Cincinnati, 
more  than  in  any  other  town,  there  are  generally  precursors  from  all  points 
of  the  compass,  to  select  lands  for  companies,  to  follow.  There  were 
such  here  both  from  Europe  and  New  England;  and  we  lately  read  ad- 
vertisements, that  a  ihousand  persons  were  shortly  to  meet  at  St.  Louis, 
to  form  a  company  to  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with  a  view  to  select 
settlements  on  the  Oregon. 

When  this  slow  and  perplexing  process  of  balancing,  comparing  and 
fluctuating  between  the  choice  of  rivers,  districts,  climates,  and  advan- 
tages, is  fixed,  after  determination  has  vibrated  backwards  and  forwards, 
according  to  the  persuasion  and  eloquence  of  the  last  adviser,  until  the 
purpose  of  the  immigrant  is  fixed,  the  northern  settler  is  generally  borne 
to  the  point  of  debarkation,  nearest  his  selected  spot,  by  water.      He 


IMMIGRANTS.  HJ\ 

thence  hires  the  transport  of  his  family  and  moveables  to  the  spot;  though 
not  a  few  northern  emigrants  move  all  the  distance  in  wagons.  The 
whole  number  from  the  north  far  exceeds  that  from  the  south.  But  they 
drop,  in  noiseless  quietness,  into  their  position,  and  the  rapidity  of  their 
progress  in  settling  a  country  is  only  presented  by  the  startling  results  of 
the  census. 

The  southern  settlers  who  immigrate  to  Missouri  and  the  country  south 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  by  their  show  of  wagons,  flocks  and  numbers 
create  observation,  and  are  counted  quite  as  numerous,  as  they  are.  Ten 
wagons  are  often  seen  in  company.  It  is  a  fair  allowance,  that  a  hundred 
cattle,  beside  swine,  horses  and  sheep,  and  six  negroes  accompany  each. 
The  train,  with  the  tinkling  of  an  hundred  bells,  and  the  negroes> 
wearing  the  delighted  expression  of  a  holiday  suspension  from  labor  in 
their  countenances,  forming  one  group;  and  the  family  slowly  moving 
forward,  forming  another,  as  the  whole  is  seen  advancing  along  the 
plains,  presents  a  pleasing  and  picturesque  spectacle. 

They  make  arrangements  at  nightfall  to  halt  at  a  spring,  where  there 
is  wood  and  water,  and  a  green  sward  for  encampment.  The  dogs  raise 
their  accustomed  domestic  baying.  The  teams  are  unharnessed,  and  the 
cattle  and  horses  turned  loose  into  the  grass.  The  blacks  are  busy  in 
spreading  the  cheerful  table  in  the  wilderness,  and  preparing  the  supper, 
to  which  the  appetite  of  fatigue  gives  zest.  They  talk  over  the  incidents 
of  the  past  day.  and  anticipate  those  of  the  morrow.  If  wolves  and 
owls  are  heard  in  the  distance,  these  desert  sounds  serve  to  render  the 
contrast  of  their  society  and  security  more  sensible.  In  this  order  they 
plunge  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  forest  or  prairie,  until  they  have  found 
the  place  of  their  rest. 

The  position  for  a  cabin  generally  selected  by  the  western  settlers  is 
a  gentle  eminence  near  a  spring,  or  what  is  called  a  branch,  central  to  a 
spacious  tract  of  fertile  land.  Such  spots  are  generally  occupied  by 
tulip  and  black  walnut  trees,  intermixed  with  the  beautiful  cornus  florida 
and  red  bud,  the  most  striking  flowering  shrubs  of  the  western  forests. 

Springs  burst  forth  in  the  intervals  between  the  high  and  low  grounds 
The  brilliant  red  bird  seen  flitting  among  the  shrubs,  or  perched  on  a 
tree,  in  its  mellow  whistle  seems  welcoming  the  immigrant  to  his  new 
abode.  Flocks  of  paroquets  are  glittering  among  the  trees,  and  gray 
squirrels  are  skipping  from  branch  to  branch.  The  chanticleer  rings  his 
echoing  note  among  the  woods,  and  the  domestic  sounds  and  the  bayin^ 
of  the  dogs  produce  a  strange  cheerfulness,  as  heard  in  the  midst  of  trees, 
where  no  habitation  is  seen.  Pleasing  reflections  and  happy  associations 
are  naturally  connected  with  the  contemplation  of  these  beginnings  of 
social  toil  in  the  wilderness. 


192 


MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 


In  the  midst  of  ihese  solitary  and  primeval  scenes  the  patient  and  labori- 
ous father  fixes  his  family.  In  a  few  days  a  comfortable  cabin  and  olher 
out  buildings  are  erected.  The  first  year  gives  a  plentiful  crop  of  corn, 
and  common  and  sweet  polatoes,  melons,  squashes,  turnips,  and  other 
garden  vegetables.  The  next  year  a  field  of  wheat  is  added,  and  lines  of 
thrifty  apple  trees  show  among  the  deadened  trees.  If  the  immigrant 
possess  any  touch  of  horticultural  taste,  the  finer  kinds  of  pear,  plum, 
cherry,  peach,  nectarine  and  apricot  trees  are  found  in  the  garden.  In 
ten  years  the  log  buildings  will  all  have  disappeared.  The  shrub  and 
forest  trees  will  be  gone.  The  arcadian  aspect  of  humble  and  retired 
abundance  and  comfort  will  have  given  place  to  a  brick  house,  or  a  painted 
frame  house,  with  fences  and  out  buildings  very  like  those,  that  surround 
abodes  in  the  olden  countries. 

It  is  a  wise  arrangement  of  providence,  that  different  minds  are  endowed 
with  different  tastes  and  predilections,  that  lead  some  to  choose  the  town, 
others  manufactures,  and  the  village  callings.  It  seems  to  us  that  no 
condition,  in  itself  considered,  promises  more  comfort,  and  tends  more 
to  virtue  and  independence,  than  that  of  these  western  yeomen,  with 
their  numerous,  healthy  and  happy  children  about  them;  with  the  ample 
abundance  of  their  granaries;  their  habitation  surrounded  by  orchards, 
the  branches  of  which  must  he  propped  to  sustain  their  fruit,  beside  their 
beautiful  streams  and  cool  beach  woods,  and  the  prospect  of  settling 
each  of  their  children  on  similar  farms  directly  around  them.  Their 
manners  may  have  something  of  the  roughness  imparted  by  living  in 
solitude  among  the  trees;  but  it  is  kindly,  hospitable,  frank,  and  associa- 
ted witlr  the  traits,  that  constitute  the  stability  of  our  republic.  We 
apprehend,  such  farmers  would  hardly  be  willing  to  exchange  this  plenty, 
and  this  range  of  their  simple  domains,  their  well  filled  granaries,  and 
their  droves  of  domestic  animals  for  any  mode  of  life,  that  a  town  can 
offer. 

No  order  of  things  presents  so  palpable  a  view  of  the  onward  march 
of  American  institutions  as  this.  The  greater  portion  of  these  immigrants, 
beside  their  wives,  a  few  benches  and  chairs,  a  bible  and  a  gun,  com- 
menced with  little  more  than  their  hands.  Their  education  for  the  most 
part,  extended' no  farther  than  reading  and  writing,  anu  their  aspirations 
had  never  strayed  beyond  t he  desire  of  making  a  farm.  But  a  sense  of 
relative  consequence  is  fostered  by  their  growing  possessions,  and  by 
perceiving  towns,  counties,  offices  and  candidates  springing  up  around 
them.  One  becomes  m  justice  of  the  peace,  another  a  county  judge  and 
another  a  member  of  (lie  legislative  assembly.  Each  one  assumes  some 
rflunicipal  function,  pertaining  to  schools,  the  settlement  of  a  minister, 
the  making  of  roads,  bridges,  and  public  works.     A  sense  of  reeponsi- 


1MMIUUATIO.X.  •     193 

biliiy  to  public  opinion,  self  respect,  und  a  due  estimation  of  character 
and  correct  deportment  are  the  consequence. 

This  pleasant  view  of  the  commencement  and  progress  of  an  immi- 
grant is  the  external  one.  Unhappily  there  is  another  point  of  view, 
from  which  we  may  learn  something  what  has  been  passing  in  his  mind, 
during  this  physical  onward  progress. 

All  the  members  of  the  establishment  have  been  a  hundred  times 
afflicted  with  diat  gloomy  train  of  feeling,  for  which  we  have  no  better 
name  than  home  sickness.  All  the  vivid  perceptions  of  enjoyment  of 
the  forsaken  place  are  keenly  remembered,  the  sorrows  overlooked,  or 
forgotten.  The  distant  birth  place,  the  remembrance  of  years  that  are 
gone,  returning  to  memory  amidst  the  actual  struggles  of  forming  a  new 
establishment,  an  effort  full  of  severe  labor,  living  in  a  new  world, 
making  acquaintance  with  a  new  nature,  competing  with  strangers, 
always  seeming  to  uneducated  people,  as  they  did  to  the  ancients,  as 
enemies,  these  contrasts  of  the  present  with  the  mellowed  visions  of 
memory,  all  tend  to  bitterness.  We  never  understand  how  many  invisi- 
ble ties  of  habit  we  sever  in  leaving  our  country,  until  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  strange  land.  The  old  pursuits  and  ways  of  passing  time,  of  which 
we  took  little  note  as  they  passed,  where  there  are  new  forms  of  society, 
new  institutions,  new  ways  of  managing  every  thing  that  belongs  to 
the  social  edifice,  in  a  word,  a  complete  change  of  the  whole  circle  of 
associations,  feelings,  and  habits,  come  over  the  mind,  like  a  cloud. 

The  immigrant, in  the  pride  of  his  remembrances,  begins  to  extol  the 
country  he  has  left,  its  inhabitants,  laws,  institutions.  The  listner  has 
an  equal  stock  of  opposite  prejudices.  The  pride  of  the  one  wounds 
the  pride  of  the  other.  The  weakness  of  human  nature  is  never  more 
obvious,  than  in  these  meetings  of  neighbors  in  a  new  country,  each 
fierce  and  loud  in  extolling  his  own  country,  and  detracting  from  all 
others  in  comparison.  These  narrow  and  vile  prejudices  spread  from 
family  to  family,  and  create  little  clans  political,  social,  religious,  hating 
and  hated.  No  generous  project  for  a  school,  church,  library,  or  public 
institution,  on  a  broad  and  equal  scale,  can  prosper,  amidst  such  an  order 
of  tilings.  It  is  a  sufficient  reason,  that  one  clan  proposes  it  for  another 
to  oppose  it.  All  this  springs  from  one  of  the  deepest  instincts  of  our 
nature,  a  love  of  country,  which,  like  a  transplanted  tree,  in  removing 
has  too  many  fibres  broken  oft',  to  flourish  at  once  in  a  new  soil.  The 
immigrant  meets  with  sickness,  misfortune,  disaster.  There  are  peculiar 
strings  in  the  constitution  of  human  nature,  which  incline  him  to  repine, 
and  imagine  that  the  same  things  would  not  have  befallen  him  in  his 
former  abode.  He  even  finds  the  vegetables,  fruits,  and  meats,  though 
apparently  finer,  less  savory  and  nutritive,  than  those  of  the  old  country. 

25 


194      *  -MISSISSIPPI     VALLEV. 

Under  the  pressure  of  such  illusions,  many  an  immigrant  has  forsaken 
his  cabin,  returned  to  his  parent  country,  found  this  mockery  of  his  fan- 
cies plaj'ing  at  cross  purposes  with  him,  and  showing  him  an  abandoned 
paradise  in  the  western  woods,  and  father  land  the  country  of  penury 
and  disaster.  A  second  removal,  perhaps,  instructs  him  that  most  of  the 
causes  of  our  dissatisfaction  and  disgust,  that  we  imagine  have  their 
origin  in  external  things,  really  exist  in  the  mind. 

To  the  emigrants  from  towns  and  villages  in  the  Atlantic  country, 
though  they  may  have  thought  little  of  religious  institutions  at  home,  the 
absence  of  the  church,  with  its  spire,  and  its  sounds  of  the  church-going 
bell,  of  the  village  bustle,  and  the  prating  of  the  village  tavern,  are  felt 
as  serious  privations.  The  religious  discourses  so  boisterous  and  vehe- 
ment, and  in  a  tone  and  phrase  so  different  from  the  calm  tenor  of  what 
he  used  to  hear,  at  first  produce  a  painful  revulsion  not  wholly  unmixed 
with  disgust.  He  finds  no  longer  those  little  circles  of  company,  into 
which  he  used  to  drop,  to  relax  a  leisure  hour,  which,  it  may  be,  were 
not  much  prized  in  the  enjoyment,  but  are  now  felt  as  a  serious  want. 
Nothing  shocks  him  so  much,  as  to  see  his  neighbor  sicken  and  die, 
unsolaced  by  the  voice  of  religious  instruction  and  prayer,  and  carried 
to  his  long  home  without  funeral  service*.  These  are  some  of  the  cir- 
cumstances, that,  in  the  new  settlements,  call  up  the  tender  recollections 
of  a  forsaken  home  to  embitter  the  present. 

These  are  the  dark  sides  of  the  picture  of  immigration.  But  there  is, 
perhaps,  less  romance  in  the  American  character,  than  in  that  of  any 
other  people ;  and  every  thing  in  our  institutions  tends  to  banish  the 
little  that  remains.  We  are  a  people  to  estimate  vendible  and  tangible 
realities.  Imaginary  and  unreal  sorrows  and  disgusts  gradually  yield 
before  an  estimate  of  the  value  of  abundance  and  independence.  More 
than  half  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  country  still  dwell  in  cabins ; 
and  to  those  who  know  how  much  general  contentment  with  their  lot, 
moral  and  sturdy  hardihood,  guileless  honesty,  and  blithcness  of  heart 
these  humble  establishments  generally  cuntain,  they  bring  associations  of 
repose  and  abstraction  from  ambitious  and  artificial  wants,  and  present 
on  the  whole,  a  balance  of  real  and  homefelt  comfort  and  enjoyment. 

The  first  business  is  to  clear  away  the  trees  from  the  spot  where  the 
house  is  to  stand.  The  general  construction  of  a  west  country  cabin  is 
after  the  following  fashion.  Straight  trees  arc  felled,  of  a  size  that  a 
common  team  can  draw, or  as  the  phrase  is,  'snake'  them  to  the  intended 
spot.  The  common  form  of  a  larger  cabin  is  that,  called  a  'double 
cabin ;'  that  is,  two  square  pens  with  an  open  space  between,  connected 
by  a  roof  above  and  a  floor  below,  so  as  to  form  a  parallelogram  of  nearly 
triple  the  longth  of  its  depth.     In  the  open  space  the  family  take  their 


IMMIGRATION.  196 

meals  during  the  pleasant  weather ;  and  it  serves  the  threefold  purpose 
of  kitchen,  lumber  room,  and  dining  room.  The  logs,  of  which  it  is 
composed,  are  notched  on  to  one  another,  in  the  form  of  a  square.  The 
roof  is  covered  with  thin  splits  of  oak,  not  unlike  staves.  Sometimes 
thev  are  made  of  ash,  and  in  the  lower  country  of  cypress,  and  they 
are  called  clap  boards.  Instead  of  being  nailed,  they  are  generally 
confined  in  their  place  by  heavy  timbers,  laid  at  right  angles  across 
them.  This  gives  the  roof  of  a  log  house  an  unique  and  shaggy  appear- 
ance. But  if  the  clap  boards  have  been  carefully  prepared  from  good 
timber,  they  form  a  roof  sufficiently  impervious  to  common  rains.  The 
floors  are  made  from  short  and  thick  plank,  split  from  yellow  poplar, 
cotton  wood,  black  walnut,  and  sometimes  oak.  They  are  confined  with 
wooden  pins,  and  are  technically  called  'puncheons.' 

The  southern  people,  and  generally  the  more  wealthy  immigrants, 
advance  in  the  first  instance  to  the  luxury  of  having  the  logs  hewed  on 
the  inside,  and  the  puncheon  floor  hewed,  and  planed,  in  which  case  it 
becomes  a  very  comfortable  and  neat  floor.  The  next  step  is  to  build 
the  chimney,  which  is  constructed  after  the  French  or  American  fashion. 
The  French  mode  is  a  smaller  quadrangular  chimney,  laid  up  with 
smaller  splits.  The  American  fashion  is  to  make  a  much  larger  aper- 
ture, laid  up  with  splits  of  great  size  and  weight.  In  both  forms  it  tapers 
upwards,  like  a  pyramid.  The  interstices  are  filled  with  a  thick  coating 
of  clay,  and  the  outside  plastered  with  clay  mortar,  prepared  with  chop- 
ped straw  or  hay,  and  in  the  lower  country  with  long  moss.  The  hearth 
is  made  with  clay  mortar,  or,  where  it  can  be  found,  sand  stones,  as  the 
common  lime  stone  does  not  stand  the  fire.  The  interstices  of  the  logs 
in  the  room  are  first  'chincked;'  that  is  to  say,  small  blocks  and  pieces 
of  wood  in  regular  forms  are  driven  between  the  intervals,  made  by 
laying  the  logs  over  each  other,  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  a  coarse  lathing 
to  hold  the  mortar. 

The  doors  are  made  of  plank,  split  in  the  manner  mentioned  before, 
from  fresh  cut  timber;  and  they  are  hung  after  an  ingenious  fashion,  on 
large  wooden  hinges,  and  fastened  with  a  substantial  wooden  latch. 
The  windows  are  square  apertures,  cut  through  the  logs,  and  are  closed 
during  the  cooler  nights  and  the  inclement  weather,  by  wooden  shutters. 
The  kitchen  and  the  negro  quarters,  if  the  establishment  have  slaves, 
are  separate  buildings,  prepared  after  the  same  fashion;  but  with  less 
care,  except  in  the  article  of  the  closeness  of  their  roofs.  The  grange, 
stable,  and  corn  houses  are  all  of  similar  materials,  varied  in  their  con- 
struction to  answer  their  appropriate,  purposes.  About  ten  buildings  of 
this  sort  make  up  the  establishment  of  a  farmer  with  three  or  four  free 
hands,  or  half  a  dozen  slaves. 


196  MISSISSIPPI     VALLEY. 

The  field,  in  which  the  cabin  is  built,  is  generally  a  square  or  oblong 
enclosure,  of  which  the  buildings  are  the  centre,  if  the  owner  be  from 
the  south;  or  in  the  centre  of  one  side  of  the  square,  if  from  the  north. 
If  the  soil  be  not  alluvial,  a  table  area  of  rich  upland,  indicated  to  be 
such  by  its  peculiar  growth  of  timber,  is  selected  for  the  spot.  Nine 
tenths  of  the  habitations  in  the  upper  western  states  are  placed  near 
springs,  which  supply  the  family  with  water.  The  settlers  on  the  prairies 
for  the  most  part,  fix  their  habitations  in  the  edges  of  the  wood,  that  skirts 
the  prairie,  and  generally  obtain  their  water  from  wells.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  lower  country,  on  the  contrary,  except  in  the  state  of  Mississippi, 
where  springs  are  common,  chiefly  supply  themselves  with  water  from 
cisterns  filled  by  rain.  If  the  settlers  have  slaves,  the  trees  are  carefully 
cleared  away,  by  cutting  them  down  near  the  ground.  The  part  of  the 
timber,  which  connot  be  used  either  for  rails,  or  the  construction  of  the 
buildings,  is  burned,  and  a  clearing  is  thus  made  for  a  considerable  space 
round  the  cabin.  In  the  remaining  portion  of  the  field,  the  trees  undergo 
an  operation,  called  by  the  northern  people  '  girdling,'  and  by  the  southern 
'  deadening.'  That  is,  a  circle  is  cut,  two  or  three  feet  from  the  ground, 
quite  through  the  bark  of  the  tree,  so  as  completely  to  divide  the  vessels 
which  carry  on  the  progress  of  circulation.  Some  species  of  trees  are 
so  tenacious  of  life,  as  to  throw  out  leaves  after  having  suffered  this 
operation.  But  they  seldom  have  foilage  after  the  first  year.  The 
smaller  trees  are  all  cut  down ;  and  the  accumulated  spoils  of  vegetable 
decay  are  burned  together;  and  the  ashes  contribute  to  the  great  fertility 
of  the  virgin  soil.  If  the  field  contain  timber  for  rails,  the  object  is  to 
cut  as  much  as  possible  on  the  clearing;  thus  advancing  the  double  pur- 
pose of  clearing  away  the  trees,  and  preparing  the  rails,  so  as  to  require 
the  least  possible  distance  of  removal.  An  experienced  hand  will  split 
from  an  hundred  to  an  hundred  and  fifty  rails  in  a  day.  Such-i«  the 
convenience  of  finding  them  on  the  ground  to  be  fenced,  that  Kentucky 
planters  and  the  southern  people  generally  prefer  timbered  land  to  prairie, 
notwithstanding  the  circumstance,  so  unsightly  and  inconvenient  to  a 
northern  man,  of  dead  trees,  stumps,  and  roots,  which,  strewed  in  every 
direction  over  his  field,  even  the  southern  planter  finds  a  great  prelimi- 
nary impediment  in  the  way  of  cultivation.  The  northern  people  prefer 
to  settle  on  the  prairie  land,  where  it  can  be  had  in  convenient  positions. 

The  rails  are  laid  zigzag,  one  length  running  nearly  at  right  angles 
to  the  other.  This,  in  west  country  phrase,  is  'worm  fence,'  and  in  the 
northern  dialect  'Virginia  fence.'  The  rails  are  large  arid  heavy,  and 
to  turn  the  wild  cattle  and  horses  of  the  country,  require  to  be  laid  ten 
rails  or  six  feet  in  height.  The  smaller  roots'  and  the  underbrush  arc 
cleared  from  the  ground  by  a  sharp  hoc,  known  by  the  name  'grubbing 


IMMIGRATION.  197 

hoe.''  This  implement,  with  a  cross  cut  saw,  a  whip  sau;  a  hand  saw, 
axes,  a  broad  axe,  an  adze,  an  auger,  a  hammer,  nuils,  and  an  iron  tool 
to  split  clap  boards,  constitute  the  indispensable  apparatus  for  a  back- 
woodsman. The  smoke  house,  spring  house,  and  other  common  appen- 
dages of  such  an  establishment,  it  is  unnecessary  to  describe ;  for  they 
are  the  same  as  in  the  establishment  of  the  farmers  in  the  middle  and 
southern  Atlantic  states. 

A  peach  orchard  is  generally  the  first  object  in  raising  fruit;  because 
it  is  easily  made,  and  begins  to  bear  the  second  or  third  year.  Apple 
orchards,  with  aH  good  farmers,  are  early  objects  of  attention.  The 
cultivation  of  the  more  delicate  garden  fruits  is  generally  an  object  of 
after  attention,  if  at  all.  Maize  is  planted  the  first  year  without  plough- 
ing. Afterwards  the  plough  becomes  necessary.  Turnips,  sweet  pota- 
toes, pumpkins,  and  melons  flourish  remarkably  on  the  virgin  soil.  It  is 
a  pleasant  spectacle,  to  see  with  what  luxuriance  the  apple  tree  advances. 
South  of  33Q  the  fig  tree  is  substituted  for  the  apple  tree.  If  the  log 
buildings  were  made  of  good  and  durable  materials,  they  remain  com- 
fortable dwellings  seven  or  eight  years.  By  this  time,  in  the  ordinary 
progress  of  successful  farming,  the  owner  replaces  them  by  a  house  of 
stone,  brick,  or  frame  work;  and  the  object  is  to  have  the  second  house 
as  large  and  showy,  as  the  first  was  rustic  and  rude.  A  volume  of 
details,  touching  the  progress  of  such  establishments,  might  be  added. 
But  this  brief,  though  faithful  outline  of  commencing  establishments  in 
the  woods,  aims  to  record  an  order  of  things  that  is  passing  away  under 
our  eyes,  and  which  will  soon  be  found  only  in  history. 

It  is  impossible  to  satisfy  the  inquiries,  that  are  constantly  making, 
particularly  by  European  emigrants,  touching  the  exact  cost  of  these 
improvements,  and  the  requisite  provisions,  cattle  and  horses,  necessary 
for  a  commencement.  All  these  things  vary,  not  only  according  to 
quality  as  elsewhere,  but  according  to  nearness  or  remoteness  from  set- 
tlements, according  to  the  abundance  or  scarceness  of  the  article ;  in 
fact,  are  liable  to  greater  irregularities  of  price,  than  in  the  old  settle- 
ments. Labor  has  found  its  level,  and  costs  nearly  the  same  in  the  new 
as  in  the  old  states.  The  average  expense  of  log  houses  may,  perhaps, 
be  rated  at  fifty  dollars,  when  built  on  contract.  Clearing,  grubbing,  and 
enclosing  timbered  land,  so  as  to  prepare  it  for  a  crop,  costs  from  six  to 
twelve  dollars  an  acre,  according  to  the  heaviness  and  hardness  of  the 
timber,  and  the  ease  of  splitting  rails.  The  prairie  land  has  a  very 
tough  green  sward,  and  costs  three  dollars  an  acre  to  be  well  ploughed 
the  first  time.  Lands  under  good  improvement  are  generally  worth  from 
six  to  ten  dollars  an  acre;  and  all  are  aware,  that  the  government  price 
of  wild  lands,  after  the  first  auction  sales,  is  one  dollar  and  twenty  five 
cents  an  acre. 


198  MISSISSIPPI    VALLEY. 

The  most  affectionate  counsel  we  would  give  an  immigrant,  after  an 
acquaintance  with  all  districts  of  the  western  country  of  sixteen  years, 
and  after  having  seen,  and  felt  no  small  part  of  all  we  have  attempted 
to  record,  would  be  to  regard  the  salubrity  of  the  spot  selected,  as  a 
consideration  of  more  importance  than  its  fertility,  or  vicinity  to  a  market; 
to  supply  himself  with  a  good  manual  of  domestic  medicine,  if  such  a 
manual  is  to  be  found ;  still  more,  to  obtain  simple  and  precise  notions 
of  the  more  obvious  aspects  of  disease,  an  acquisition  worth  a  hundred 
times  its  cost,  and  more  than  all  to  a  backwoodsman ;  to  have  a  lancet, 
and  sufficient  experience  and  firmness  of  hand  to  open  a  vein ;  to  have 
a  small,  but  well  labelled  and  well  supplied  medicine  chest;  and  to  be, 
after  all,  very  cautious  about  either  taking,  or  administering  its  contents, 
reserving  them  for  emergencies,  and  for  a  choice  of  evils ;  to  depend  for 
health  on  temperance,  moderation  in  all  things,  a  careful  conformity  in 
food  and  dress  to  circumstances  and  the  climate ;  and  above  all,  let  him 
observe  a  rigid  and  undeviating  abstinence  from  that  loathsome  and  mur- 
derous western  poison,  whiskey,  which  may  be  pronounced  the  prevalent 
miasm  of  the  country.  Let  every  immigrant  learn  the  mystery,  and 
provide  the  materials  to  make  good  beer.  Let  every  immigrant,  during 
the  season  of  acclimation,  especially  the  sultry  months,  take  medicine 
by  way  of  prevention,  twice  or  thrice,  with  abstinence  from  labor  a  day 
or  two  afterwards.  Let  him  have  a  Bible  for  a  constant  counsellor,  and 
a  few  good  books  for  instruction  and  amusement.  Let  him  have  the 
dignity  and  good  sense  to  train  his  family  religiously;  and  not  to  be 
blown  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine  in  religion,  politics,  or  opinions. 
Let  his  rifle  rust,  and  let  the  game,  unless  it  come  in  his  way,  live  on. 
Let  him  cultivate  a  garden  of  choice  fruit,  as  well  as  a  fine  orchard. 
Let  him  keep  bees ;  for  their  management  unites  pleasure  and  profit. 
Let  him  prepare  for  silk  making  on  a  small  and  gradual  scale.  Let  him 
cultivate  grapes  by  way  of  experiment.  Let  him  banish  unreal  wants ; 
and  learn  the  master  secret  of  self  possession,  and  be  content  with 
such  things  as  he  has ;  aware  that  every  position  in  life  has  advantages 
and  trials.  Let  him  assure  himself  that  if  an  independent  farmer  cannot 
be  happy  no  man  can.  Let  him  magnify  his  calling,  respect  himself, 
envy  no  one,  and  raise  to  the  Author  of  all  good  constant  aspirations  of 
thankfulness,  as  he  cats  the  bread  of  peace  and  privacy. 


FLORIDA. 


Length  550  miles.  Mean  breadth  120  miles.  Between  25  and  31° 
N.  latitude,  and  80  and  92°  W.  longitude  from  London.  Under  its 
former  owners,  it  was  separated  into  two  political  divisions,  whose  geo- 
graphical limits  were  strongly  marked  by  nature ;  to  wit,  East  and  West 
Florida.  At  the  southern  extent  of  East  Florida,  there  is  a  long  and 
narrow  peninsula,  running  a  great  distance  into  the  sea,  and  marking 
the  eastern  boundary  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico.  It  extends  northwardly  to 
Alabama  and  Georgia,  east  to  Georgia,  south  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
west  to  the  river*Appalachicola,  between  80  and  85°  W.  longitude  from 
London,  and  25  and  31°  N.  latitude.  West  Florida  extends  from  the 
limits  of  East  Florida,  with  the  same  northern  boundaries  to  the  river 
Perdido,  which  divides  it  on  the  west  from  Alabama. — This  division  has 
ceased  to  exist,  and  the  two  Floridas  constitute  one  government.  By 
the  treaty  of  cession  from  Spain,  it  has  become  an  integral  part  of  the 
American  republic,  and  will  soon  have  a  sufficient  population  to  claim 
admission  into  the  union  of  the  states. 

CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 

Alachua,  Dell;  Duval,  Jacksonville;  Escambia,  Pensacola;  Hamil- 
ton, Miccotown;  Jackson,  Marianna;  Jefferson,  Monticello;  Leon,  Tal- 
lahassee, 896  miles  south-west  from  Washington ;  Madison,  HicJestown; 
Monro,  Key  West;  Moschetto,  Tomoka;  Nassau,  Ferdinanda;  St. 
Johns,  St.  Avgustine,  841  miles  south-west  from  Washington,  292  south- 
east from  Tallahassee ;  Walton,  Aliqua;  Washington,  Holme's  Valley; 
Gadsden, Fayette, 

Climate.  This  may  be  considered  in  some  respects  a  tropical  cli- 
mate. The  northern  belt,  indeed,  which  lies  along  the  southern  limits  of 
Georgia  and  Alabama,  partakes  of  the  cooler  temperature  of  those  states, 
and  seems  to  be  beyond  the  range  of  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  Ota- 


200  FLORIDA. 

heite  and  African  sugar  cane.  The  ribband  cane  will,  probably  flourish 
in  this  division.  The  regular  range  of  the  thermometer  throughout  the 
Floridas,  from  June  to  the  autumnal  equinox,  is  between  84  and  88° 
Fahrenheit.  It  sometimes  rises  above  100°;  but  this  range  occurs  as 
seldom,  as  in  the  adjoining  states.  The  mercury,  probably,  ranges  low- 
er through  the  summer,  than  in  the  interior  of  Alabama  and  Georgia. 
Even  in  winter,  the  influence  of  the  unclouded  and  vertical  sun  is  al- 
ways uncomfortable.  In  the  peninsular  parts,  there  are  sometimes  slight 
frosts,  but  water  never  freezes.  The  most  delicate  orange  trees  bear 
fjuit  in  full  perfection,  and  the  fruit  is  remarkably  delicious.  There 
is  generally  a  sky  of  mild  azure,  southern  breezes,  and  an  air  of  great 
purity.  But  the  evening  air  is  particularly  humid,  and  the  dews  exces- 
sive. Early  in  winter  the  rainy  season  commences.  In  February  and 
March,  there  are  thunder  storms  by  night,  followed  by  clear  and  beauti- 
ful days.  In  June,  the  sultry  season  commences,  and  terminates  with 
the  autumnal  equinox.  But,  take  the  climate  altogether,  there  is  not, 
perhaps,  on  the  globe  a  more  delightful  one,  between  the  months  of 
October  and  June.  The  peninsular  parts,  being  near  the  tropics,  have 
a  higher  temperature  than  West  Florida,  which  is  occasionally  fanned 
by  Canadian  breezes,  that  sweep  the  Mississippi  valley.  The$>eninsula 
is  subject  to  tornadoes,  like  the  West  Indies.  On  the  Atlantic  side  of 
Florida,  the  eastern,  and  in  West  Florida  the  western  trade  winds  prevail. 
But  in  West  Florida,  after  severe  thunder  storms,  northern  breezes  alter- 
nate through  the  summer.  About  the  time  of  the  autumnal  equinox, 
hurricanes  and  destructive  gales  sometimes  occur.  In  the  northern  parts 
the  influence  of  the  cold  breezes  from  the  northern  regions,  which  are 
covered  with  snow,  are  sensibly  felt  j  and*  then  ice  forms  on  the  northern 
exposures  of  buildings.  There  are,  in  particular  seasons,  indications  of 
considerable  humidity  over  all  the  country.  Though  there  are  never 
heats  and  humidity  to  cause  sugar  and  salt  to  melt,  as  some  writers  have 
asserted.  Perhaps  there  is  no  point  in  the  Floridas,  where  humidity  is 
more  manifest  than  about  St.  Augustine;  yet  in  Spanish  times,  the  citi- 
zens of  Havana  used  to  resort  there,  during  the  sickly  months  for  health, 
as  a  kind  of  Montpclier,  and  perhaps  no  southern  place  at  present  is 
found  more  congenial  to  the  constitution  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  same  sudden  variations  of  temperature  are  felt  here, 
especially  in  the  winter,  that  constitute  so  distinct  a  feature  in  the  climate 
of  all  the  south-western  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  thermometer 
ranges  30°  in  a  single  winter  day.  Northern  people  would  never  con- 
ceive, except  by  inspection,  how  long  fires  arc  comfortable,  and  how 
great  a  portion  of  the  year  requires  them,  in  a  climate  where  rivers 
never  skim  with  ice.     From  June  to  October,  the  frequent  rains,  and 


FLORIDA  401 

the  unremitting  heat  are  apt  to  generate  the  fevers  of  southern  climates, 
especially  in  the  vicinity  of  ponds  and  marshes.  Where  fields  are  flooded 
for  rice,  and  indigo  plantations  are  made,  it  is  invariably  sickly.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  may  be  safely  asserted,  that  the  districts  of  Florida, 
remote  from  marshes,  swamps,  and  stagnant  waters,  are  healthy.  The 
ever  verdant  pine  forests  cover  a  great  extent  of  this  country ;  and  these, 
in  the  mind  of  an  inhabitant  of  the  south,  are  ever  associated  with  the 
idea  of  health.  At  least  two  thirds  of  this  country  are  covered  with 
this  timber. 

Productions.  The  vegetable  kingdom  in  Florida  has  a  greater  variety 
than  any  other  part  of  the  United  States.  In  the  comparatively  richer 
soils,  in  the  hammock  lands,  on  the  river  courses,  and  the  richer  swamps, 
nothing  can  exceed  the  luxuriance  and  grandeur  of  the  shrubs  and  trees. 
The  pine  forest  is  almost  boundless  and  inexhaustible ;  and  the  pines  are 
of  an  extraordinary  height  and  beauty.  What  is  called  white  cedar 
and  cypress,  abound  in  the  vast  swamps,  and  this  timber  grows  of  great 
size.  Live  oaks  are  frequent,  and  the  tree  develops  itself  here  in  full 
perfection. 

Our  government  commenced  a  plantation  of  this  invaluable  species  of 
tree  at  Deer  point,  in  which,  in  the  year  1820,  upwards  of  76,000  were 
growing  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  secretary  of  the  navy  proposed 
to  abandon  the  cultivation,  thinking  that  the  country  could  never  want 
live  oak,  when  it  is  indigenous  from  St.  Marys  to  the  Sabine.  But  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  that  the  amount  of  live  oak  in  Florida  and  Louisiana 
has  been  much  overrated.  Experience  has  proved,  that  they  are  easily 
cultivated.  Groves  of  these  majestic  trees  are  often  seen  in  different 
parts  of  Florida,  open  and  arranged  in  regular  forms,  surpassing  the 
beauty  of  the  famous  parks  of  the  English  mansions ;  probably  the  plan- 
tations of  a  former  generation,  of  whose  civilization  and  taste  these  trees 
are  noble  memorials.  A  large,  detached  live  oak,  seen  at  a  distance  on 
the  verge  of  a  savanna,  or  on  the  shore  of  a  river,  spreading  like  an 
immense  umbrella,  its  head  of  such  perfect  verdure,  and  so  beautifully 
rounded,  is  a  splendid  object  on  the  landscape.  The  cabbage  palm, 
chaemar ops  palmetto,  is  common.  This  superb  tree  sometimes  raises  a 
clear  shaft  eighty  feet  high.  The  timber  resists  the  gulf  worm.  Hats, 
baskets,  and  mats  are  manufactured  from  the  leaves.  The  young  head 
at  the  stem  is  edible  and  nutritive.  Wild  animals  feed  on  the  berries. 
It  is  not  seen  west  of  St.  Andrews  bay.  The  deep  swamps  present  the 
customary  spectacle  of  innumerable  cypress  columns,  rising  from  im- 
mense buttresses,  with  interlaced  arms  at  their  summit,  showing  the 
aspect  of  a  canopy  of  verdure  reared  upon  pillars.  On  the  hammock 
lands,  the  beautiful  dog  wood  trees  spread  their  horizontal  branche*,  and 

26 


202  FLORIDA. 

interweaving  them  with  each  other,  form  a  fine  deep  shade,  which  com- 
pletely excludes  the  sun,  and  suppresses  the  growth  of  all  kinds  of  vege- 
tation under  them;  presenting  in  some  places,  for  miles  together,  a 
smooth  shaven  lawn,  and  an  impervious  shade.  Here  is  the  beautiful 
pawpaw,  with  a  stem  perfectly  straight,  smooth,  and  silver  colored,  and 
with  a  conical  top  of  splendid  foliage,  always  green,  and  fruit  of  the 
richest  appearance.  Titi  is  a  shrub  filling  the  southern  swamps,  as  the 
elder  does  at  the  north.  It  flowers  in  masses  of  white  ornamental  blos- 
soms, and  singular  strings  of  covered  seeds,  that  hang  on  the  bushes  till 
winter.  Five  or  six  species  of  pine  are  found  here.  The  southern 
extremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Florida  is  very  rocky.  Instead  of  the 
trees  and  shrubs,  which  are  found  in  the  rest  of  the  country,  it  is  covered 
with  mastic,  lignumvitae,  gum  elemy,  ovino,  wild  fig,  and  mangrove. 

There  are  many  traces  of  ruined  towers,  desolated  Indian  villages, 
indications  of  former  habitancy,  and  much  more  cultivation,  than  is  now 
seen  in  the  country.  Wherever  these  traces  of  former  population  are 
observed,  are  those  groves  of  lime,  orange,  peach  and  fig  trees,  that  are 
spoken  of  by  travellers,  as  having  been  found  here  indigenous  to  the  soil. 
Wild  grape  vines  abound.  Myrica  odorata,  or  candle  berry  laurel  is 
common.  From  the  berries  of  this  shrub,  is  prepared  an  excellent  kind 
of  wax  for  candles.  It  is  not  unlike  the  bay  berry  of  the  north,  except 
that  the  shrub  is  taller,  and  the  berries  larger.  Among  the  flowers  is  the 
magnificent  Hybiscus,  which,  though  an  herbaceous  and  annual  plant, 
grows  to  the  height  of  ten  feet,  branching  regularly  in  the  form  of  a  sharp 
cone,  and  is  covered  with  large,  expanded  and  crimson  flowers,  which 
unfold  in  succession,  during  all  the  summer  months.  Tillandsia  usnco- 
ides,  long  moss,  or  Spanish  beard  is  common  here,  and  has  the  same 
appearance  as  will  be  hereafter  described  in  Louisiana.  It  hangs  down 
in  festoons,  sometimes  ten  or  fifteen  feet  in  length,  like  the  pendent  stems 
of  the  weeping  willow.  Waved  by  the  wind,  it  catches  from  branch  to 
branch,  and  sometimes  fills  the  interval  between  the  trees,  as  a  curtain. 
It  has  a  long  trumpet  shaped  flower,  and  seeds  so  fine  as  to  be  hardly 
visible.  These  seeds  undoubtedly  fix  in  the  bark  of  the  trees;  and  this 
parasitic  plant  there  finds  its  appropriate  soil.  It  will  not  grow  on  a 
dead  tree.  Cattle,  deer  and  horses  feed  on  it,  while  it  is  fresh.  When 
properly  rotted  and  prepared,  which  is  done  much  after  the  manner  in 
which  hemp  is  prepared,  it  is  an  admirable  article  for  mattresses,  and 
stuffing  for  cushions,  saddles,  coach  seats,  and  the  like.  The  fibre,  when 
properly  prepared,  is  clastic  and  incorruptible,  and  in  many  respects 
resembles  horse  hair,  both  in  appearance  and  use.  The  Spanish  and 
natives  use  it  for  horse  collars,  coarse  harnessing,  and  ropes. 

The  low  aavannas  arc  covered,  like  the  prairies  of  the  upper  country, 


FLORIDA.  '-103 

\ 

with  a  prodigious  growth  of  grass  and  flowers.  In  the  swamps,  the  cane 
brakes  are  of  great  height  and  thickness,  and  the  rushes  and  other  meadow 
plants  grow  to  an  uncommon  size.  Some  of  the  reed  canes  are  seen 
from  thirty  to  forty  feet  in  height.  The  lakes  and  creeping  bayous, 
especially  in  summer,  are  covered  with  a  most  curious  growth  of  aquatic 
plants,  called  by  botanists,  pistia  stratiotcs.  They  somewhat  resemble 
The  vegetable  commonly  called  house  leek,  and  have  a  beautiful  elliptical 
leaf.  It  is  commonly,  but  not  correctly  reported  to  vegetate  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  When  the  roots  of  thousands  of  these  plants  have 
twined  together,  so  as  to  form  a  large  and  compact  surface,  the  mass  is 
often  drifted  by  the  wind,  or  current,  to  a  considerable  distance.  This  is 
the  appearance,  no  doubt,  which  has  given  origin  to  the  story  of  floating 
islands  in  the  waters  of  this  country.  This  singular  and  beautiful  vegeta- 
tion, spreads  a  verdant  plain  over  the  waters,  for  a  great  extent.  Under 
it  the  fishes  dart,  and  the  alligators  pursue  their  unwieldy  gambols,  and 
multitudes  of  water  fowls  are  seen  pattering  their  bills  among  the  leaves. 
The  herbarium,  though  exceedingly  rich  and  diversified,  is  not  materially 
different  from  that  to  be  described  hereafter. 

The  cultivated  vegetables  are  maize,  beans,  potatoes,  especially  sweet 
potatoes,  it  being  an  admirable  country  for  that  fine  vegetable,  pumpkins, 
melons,  rice,  and  a  variety  of  esculent  roots,  particularly  a  species  of 
arum,  which  is  much  cultivated  in  the  maritime  parts,  and  has  a  large 
turnip  shaped  root,  resembling,  when  roasted  or  boiled,  a  yam  in  taste. 

The  pistache  is  a  kind  of  nut  in  pods,  growing  in  the  ground,  abundant- 
ly in  sandy  land,  much  cultivated  both  by  the  Seminoles  and  Americans. 
It  is  baked  or  roasted  in  the  shell,  and  is  used  by  confectioners,  as  a  sweet 
meat. 

Tobacco,  cotton,  indigo,  rice,  and  the  sugar  cane  will  be  the  principal 
articles  of  culture.  The  African  and  Otaheite  cane  flourish  remarkably 
well  in  the  southern  parts,  on  the  hammock  and  rich  lands,  and  planters 
are  beginning  to  turn  their  attention  very  much  to  the  cultivation  of  this 
article.  The  coffee  tree  has  been  tried  on  the  peninsula,-  and  coffee  can 
unquestionably  be  raised  there;  but  whether  of  a  kind,  or  in  quantities 
to  justify  cultivation,  has  not  yet  been  sufficiently  experimented.  The 
olive  has  been  sufficiently  tried,  to  prove  that  it  flourishes  and  bears  well. 
A  species  of  cactus  is  common,  on  which  the  cochineal  fly  feeds ;  and  this 
will  probably  become  an  important  article  of  manufacture.  A  species 
of  cabinet  wood  of  great  beauty  grows  here,  which  they  call  bastard 
mahogany.     It  is  probably  the  Laurus  Borbonict. 

Minerals.  The  country  is  not  rich  in  this  department,  although  it  is 
affirmed  that  several  kinds  of  precious  stones  have  been  found  here,  as 
amethysts,  turquoises,  and  lapis  lazuli.     Ochres  of  different  colors,  pit 


204  FLORIDA. 

coal  and  iron  ore  are  abundant.  We  have  seen  beautiful  aggregations 
of  little  circular  nodules  of  marine  petrifactions,  and  splendid  specimens 
of  coral  and  marine  shells  found  on  the  shores  of  the  gulf.  On  Mosquito 
xiver,  there  is  a  warm  mineral  spring,  pouring  out,  like  many  other  springs 
of  the  country,  a  vast  volume  of  water  sufficiently  large  to  fill  a  basin,  in 
which  large  boats  may  float.  The  water  is  sulphureous,  and  is  esteemed 
efficacious  in  rheumatic,  and  other  affections.  It  is  remarkably  pellucid, 
and  filled  with  fishes. 

Animals.  There  ai'e  prairie  and  common  wolves,  wild  cats,  panthers, 
foxes,  rabbits,  many  beautiful  kinds  of  squirrels,  raccoons,  Mexican 
opossums,  and  woodchucks.  The  common  brown  bear  is  yet  seen  in 
the  swamps.  It  is  a  fine  grazing  country,  and  grass  abounds  in  the  open 
pine  woods  and  savannas,  and  the  swamps  furnish  inexhaustible  supplies 
of  winter  range.  Thus  it  is  an  admirable  country  for  raising  stock.  The 
rearing  of  cattle  and  horses,  in  times  past,  has  been  the  chief  employ- 
ment of  the  small  planters.  They  number  their  cattle  by  hundreds,  and 
sometimes  by  thousands.  There  are  immense  droves  of  deer,  and  this 
is  the  paradise  of  hunters,  though  in  many  places  the  Indians  complain 
of  the  scarcity  of  game.  Wolves  sometimes  assemble  in  great  numbers, 
and  when  united  or  single,  are  always  formidable  enemies  to  the  folds 
and  vacheries  of  the  planters.  Bears  have  been  killed  here  of  six 
hundred  pounds  weight.  The  inhabitants  esteem  their  flesh  a  great 
luxury. 

Birds.  The  ornithology  of  Florida  is  probably  the  richest  in  North 
America.  There  are  here  immense  numbers  and  varieties  of  water 
fowls,  especially  during  the  winter,  and  in  the  sleeping  inlets  on  the  shores 
of  the  gulf,  on  the  bayous  and  creeks.  In  the  woods,  and  stationary  through 
the  winter,  are  vultures,  hawks,  rooks,  jays,  parroquets,  woodpeckers, 
pigeons,  turkeys,  herons,  cranes,  curlews,  cormorants,  pelicans,  plovers, 
blue  birds,  mocking  birds,  red  birds,  and  a  great  variety  of  the  sparrow 
tribe.  The  dog  wood  groves  are  the  resort  of  vast  numbers  of  the  small 
and  singing  birds.  Among  the  remarkable  birds  are  the  snake  birds,  a 
species  of  cormorant  of  great  beauty. 

The  robin  red  breast  stays  the  whole  year  in  Florida.  The  red  sparrow 
is  a  beautiful  variety  of  the  species  found  here.  The  crane,  grus  praten- 
sis,  is  found  here  in  immense  numbers.  By  some,  their  flesh  is  valued  as 
much  as  that  of  the  turkey.  The  crying  bird  is  a  pelican,  remarkable  for 
singular  plumage,  and  its  harsh  cry.  The  wood  pelican  is  nearly  three 
feet  high,  and  is  seen  stalking  along  the  marshes,  with  his  long,  crooked 
beak  resting,  like  a  scythe,  upon  his  breast.  The  painted  vulture  is  one 
of  the  curious  birds  seen  on  the  savannas,  gorging  on  the  serpents,  frogs, 
and  lizards,  roasted  by  the  periodical  burning  of  the  grass  plains.     The 


FLORIDA.  205 

great  savanna  crane,  when  standing  erect,  is  nearly  five  feet  high.     Thcy 
fly  in  squadrons,  and  have  ;i  singular  uniformity  of  flying  and  alighting. 

A  striking  lea tu re  of  this  country  is  the  number,  variety,  and  splendor  of 
the  birds,  especially  those  of  the  aquatic  species. 

Fish.  The  coasts,  sounds,  and  inlets  abound  in  excellent,  fish;  and  the 
inland  lakes  and  rivers  are  stored  with  such  multitudes  of  them,  as  cannot 
be  adequately  conceived,  except  by  those  who  have  seen  them.  They 
are  generally  of  the  same  kinds  that  we  have  named  under  this  head,  in 
our  previous  remarks  upon  the  Mississippi  valley. 

We  may  observe  in  general,  that  the  fish  of  this  region,  especiallv  on 
the  sea  coast,  are  fine.  The  fish,  here  called  the  sun  fish,  is  the  same 
with  the  trout  of  Louisiana.  It  is  an  excellent  fish,  and  no  angling  can 
exceed  it.  It  takes  the  bait  with  a  spring.  What  is  a  matter  of  curiosity 
to  all  the  recent  settlers  in  the  country,  is  the  multitudes  of  fish  that  are 
seen  at  the  mouths  of  the  immense  springs,  that  burst  forth  from  the 
ground,  of  a  size  at  once  to  form  considerable  rivers.  When  the  channel 
of  these  subterranean  streams  is  struck,  by  perforating  the  earth  at  any 
distance  from  the  fountain,  the  hook,  thrown  in  at  the  perforation,  is 
eagerly  taken  by  the  fish,  and  fine  angling  may  be  had,  as  if  fishing  in  a 
well.  The  most  common  kinds  are  the  sun  fish,  cat  fish,  silver  or  white 
bream,  and  the  black  or  blue  bream,  stingray,  scale  flounders,  spotted 
bass,  sheep's  head,  drum,  shad,  &,c.  Oysters,  and  other  shell  fish  are 
excellent  and  abundant.  Alligators  and  alligator  gars,  are  the  common 
enemies  of  the  finny  tribes,  and  they  here  feed  and  fatten  on  the  fish. 
The  swamps,  lakes,  and  inlets  so  abundantly  stored  with  fish,  frogs, 
insects,  and  every  kind  of  small  animals,  that  constitute  the  natural  food 
of  alligators,  would  lead  us  to  expect  to  find  this  animal  in  great  numbers. 
There  are  all  the  varieties  of  lizards,  that  we  have  enumerated,  as 
belonging  to  the  western  country  in  general.  The  lakes  and  rivers 
abound  in  tortoises.  The  great  soft  shelled  fresh  water  tortoise,  when  of 
a  large  size,  has  been  found  weighing  fifty  pounds,  and  is  esteemed  by 
epicures,  delicious  food.  The  gopher  is  a  curious  kind  of  land  tortoise, 
and  is  by  many  prized  for  the  table.  There  are  vast  numbers  and  varie- 
ties of  frogs,  and  the  music  of  the  Rana  boans,  or  bull  frog,  is  heard  in 
concert  with  the  cry  of  the  Spanish  whip-poor-will,  the  croaking  of  tortoises, 
and  the  innumerable  peepings  and  gruntings  of  the  amphibious  animals 
and  reptiles  of  the  lakes  and  marshes. 

Serpents.  They  are  for  the  most  part  the  same  as  have  been  described 
already  under  tins  head.  Here  is  seen  the  riband  snake,  of  a  clear 
vermilion  color,  variegated  with  transverse  zones  of  dark  brown.  It  is 
found  about  old  buildings,  and  is  harmless.  Here,  also,  is  the  chicken 
snake,  swift,  slender,  long,  and  harmless.     Its  prey  is  chickens.     The 


•JOt)  FLORIDA. 

mud  asp  is  a  serpent  that  lives  in  the  muddy  creeks,  of  a  livid  color,  and 
easily  mistaken  for  an  eel.  Persons  incautiously  wading  in  the  mud 
have  been  bitten,  and  the  bite  has  proved  mortal.  The  coach  whip  snake 
inhabits  the  pine  barrens.  It  exactly  resembles  a  coach  whip  with  a 
black  handle,  but  is  perfectly  harmless.  The  bull  snake  is  common  on 
the  savannas.  It  is  a  large,  fierce,  and  venomous  looking  snake,  uttering, 
when  irritated,  a  loud,  hissing  noise ;  but  its  bite  is  harmless.  The  coach 
whip  snake  is  common.  It  is  an  animal  of  beautiful  colors,  six  feet  long, 
and  as  slender  as  a  walking  stick.  The  glass  snake,  which  we  have 
described  elsewhere,  is  seen  here.  Red  and  black  toads  are  common. 
The  house  frog  indicates  rain,  by  being  uncommonly  noisy  before  it 
happens.  The  little  gi'een  garden  frog  changes  color,  like  the  camelion; 
and  its  note  exactly  imitates  the  barking  of  a  puppy.  Indeed,  so  great  is 
the  number  and  variety  of  these  reptiles,  thai  it  is  the  standing  jest,  when 
speaking  of  Florida,  to  say,  that  every  acre  will  yield  forty  bushels  of 
frogs,  and  alligators  enough  to  fence  it. 

Insects.  Incredible  numbers  of  the  small  insects,  called  ephemerae, 
cover  the  surfaces  of  the  lakes  and  rivers,  supplying  abundant  food  for 
the  birds,  frogs,  and  fishes.  Clouds  of  the  gaudiest  butterflies  hover 
among  the  shrubs  and  flowers.  Gnats  and  mosquitos,  as  might  be 
expected  in  such  a  country,  are  extremely  frequent  and  annoying,  espe- 
cially about  the  rice  and  indigo  plantations,  being  ordinarily  found  in 
greatest  numbers,  where  it  is  most  unhealthy.  On  the  open,  dry  savan- 
nas they  are  neither  so  frequent  nor  troublesome;  and  they  decrease  in 
numbers  as  cultivation  advances.  The  jigger,  red  bug,  and  mosquito 
are  most  annoying. 

Bays,  Inlets,  and  Sounds.  From  the  uncommon  lcvclness  of  the 
country  on  the  sea  slun-c,  and  from  the  numerous  rivers  that  intersect  it, 
there  is  no  part  of  the  world,  that  for  the  same  extent,  has  so  many  inlets, 
sounds,  narrow  passes  of  water  between  islands,  and  communications  of 
one  point  of  the  shore  with  another,  by  an  inland  channel.  The  whole 
coast  is  almost  a  continued  line  of  these  sounds;  and  it  is  beyond  a  doubt, 
that  at  a  comparatively  smull  expense,  a  canal  communicating  with  the 
sea,  in  an  hundred  places,  might  be  made  from  New  Orleans  to  the  river 
St.  Mary's.  From  this  river  to  the  Sabine,  and  we  may  add,  through 
Texas,  almost  every  river  that  enters  the  gulf,  just  before  its  entrance, 
spreads  into  a  broad  lake,  communicating  with  the  sea,  and  the  water  is 
partially  salt.  From  one  of  these  lakes  to  another,  there  is  often  a  wide 
natural  canal,  with  from  four  to  six  feet  water.  Those  on  the  shores  of 
Florida,  arc  too  numerous  to  mention  with  particularity.  Perdido  bay. 
dividing  Alabama  from  Florida,  is  thirty  miles  long,  and  from  two  to  six 
broad.     Pensaeota  bay  is  thirty  miles  lon£,  and  From  four  to  seven  wide- 


F  L  0 11 1 1)  A  .  201 

Jt  receives  the  rivers  Escambia,  Yellow,  Cold  Water,  Black  Water,  and 
Cedar  creek.  The  bay  of  Pensacola  affords  the  best  harbor  on  the  whole 
gulf  shore.  Bayou  Texas  enters  from  the  north,  a  mile  above  Pensacola, 
and  is  four  miles  long,  and  a  fourth  of  a  mile  wide.  Bayou  Mulatto  enters 
the  east  side  of  Escambia  bay.  St.  Rosa  Sound  connects  the  bays  of 
Pensacola  and  Chactawhatch.ee.  This  is  a  charming  sheet  of  water,  forty 
miles  long,  and  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  miles  wide.  A  narrow  penin- 
sula divides  Pensacola  bay  from  this  sound,  for  thirty  miles.  It  yields 
five  feet  water  in  its  whole  length.  Chactawhatchee  bay  is  forty  miles 
long,  and  from  seven  to  fifteen  wide.  It  receives  a  number  of  creeks,  is 
much  affected  by  storms,  and  was  formerly  the  seat  of  a  profitable  fishery. 
St.  Andrews'  bay  is  protected  by  a  number  of  small  islands,  receives 
some  navigable  creeks,  has  deep  water,  is  twelve  miles  long,  and  five 
miles  wide.  St.  Joseph's  bay  is  twenty  miles  long,  and  seven  miles 
wide.  Appalachicola  is  twelve  miles  long,  and  from  four  to  six  miles 
wide.  Ocklockney  is  twelve  miles  long,  and  two  broad:  Appalachy 
bay  is  a  circular  indentation,  in  which  is  the  port  of  St.  Marks,  the  nearest 
point  to  Tallahassee,  the  seat  of  government.  Histahatchee  offers  a  safe 
harbor  for  small  vessels.  Vacassa  bay  is  the  eastern-most  bay  in  West 
Florida. 

Rivers*  The  rivers  that  have  courses  of  considerable  length,  rise  in 
the  highlands  of  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi.  St.  Marys  is  a 
very  considerable  stream,  that  falls  into  the  Atlantic,  by  a  broad  mouth. 
It  is  for  a  long  way  the  separating  line  between  Florida  and  Georgia. 

St.  Johns,  a  very  considerable  river,  rises  in  the  centre  of  the  peninsula, 
and  flowing  with  a  gentle  current  northwardly,  broadens  to  a  wide  chan- 
nel, and  passes  through  several  lakes,  the  largest  of  which  is  St.  George, 
twenty  miles  long,  and  twelve  broad,  and  falls  into  the  sea  forty  miles 
south  of  St.  George.  It  has  been  navigated  by  the  steam  boat  George 
Washington,  the  first  that  ever  floated  on  the  waters  of  Florida.  She 
took  the  inland  passage  from  Savannah,  and  arrived  at  Jacksonville,  on 
the  St.  Johns,  in  thirty  four  hours.  Indian  river  has  a  course  from  north 
to  south,  and  empties  into  the  gulf.  Most  of  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the 
gulf  have  their  sources  in  Georgia.  The  most  important  of  these  is 
Appalachicola,  which  divides  East  from  West  Florida.  It  is  formed  by 
the  junction  of  two  considerable  rivers,  that  rise  in  the  subsiding  Appala- 
chian ridges  in  Georgia,  the  Flint  and  the  Chattahochy.  It  is  the  longest, 
largest,  and  most  important  river  in  Florida,  and  falls  into  Appalachy  bay. 
The  small  river  St.  Marks  empties  into  the  same  bay.  Escambia  is  a 
considerable  river,  and  empties  into  Pensacola  bay.  Perdido,  which 
forms  the  boundary  between  Florida  and  Alabama,  falls  into  the  gulf  four 
leagues  west  of  Pensacola  bay.     There  are,  also,  the  Nassau,  St.  Nicholas. 


208  FLORIDA. 

Ocklockney,  Coreiia,  St.  Pedro,  Charlotte,  Hillsborough,  Suwaney,- 
Vilchees,  Conecuh,  Alaqua,  Chactawhatchee,  Econfina,  Oscilla,  Achee- 
nahatchee,  Chatahatchee,  Histahatchee,  and  various  others,  which  rise 
in  Florida,  and  at  different  points,  fall  into  the  gulf.  There  are  a  great 
number  of  rivers  not  here  enumerated,. that  rise  in  the  pine  forests,  have 
considerable  courses,  and  fall  into  arms  and  inlets  of  the  gulf.  The 
country  is  as  yet  scarcely  susceptible  of  accurate  topographical  informa- 
tion, and  is  so  intersected  with  rivers,  and  accommodated  with  inlets,  and 
the  soil  is  so  level,  and  the  communications  from  one  point  to  another  by 
water  so  easy,  that  there  is  no  place  in  the  territory  at  any  considerable 
distance  from  water  communication.  The  entrances  to  most  of  the  rivers 
have  a  bar,  that  unfits  them  for  the  navigation  of  vessels  drawing  much 
water.  Most  of  these  rivers  are  susceptible  of  considerable  extent  of 
schooner  navigation,  and  they  arc  generally  capable  of  steam  boat 
navigation. 

Islands.  The  sea  islands  on  the  Florida  shore  are  not  of  much  im- 
portance. St.  Rosa  island  is  a  long  and  narrow  slip,  parallel  to  the  coast, 
between  St.  Rosa  bay  and  Pensacola.  The  Tortugas  are  a  group  of 
islands,  opposite  the  southern-most  point  of  East  Florida.  They  are 
covered  with  mangrove  bushes,  and  extend  from  north-east  to  south-west. 
Anastatia  is  opposite  to  St.  Augustine,  and  divided  from  the  main  land  by 
a  narrow  channel,  and  is  twenty-five  miles  in  length.  They  are  covered 
with  pine  trees  and  sand  banks,  and  have  a  sterile  soil.  On  the  West 
Florida  shore  are  Hummoch,  Crooked,  St.  Vincent's,  St.  George's,  Dog, 
and  James'  islands. 

Curiosities.  These  consist  in  a  great  many  natural  caverns,  sinking 
rivers,  great  springs,  and  natural  bridges.  Among  the  caverns,  the  most 
remarkable  are  Arch  Cave  and  Ladies  Cave.  The  first  descends  under 
a  vast  lime  stone  rock.  At  a  considerable  depth  in  the  earth,  a  cavern 
opens,  one  hundred  feet  widc,#  and  fifty  feet  high.  From  this,  leads  off  a 
kind  of  gothic  arch,  for  a  long  distance,  at  the  end  of  which  is  a  running 
stream,  twenty  feet  wide,  and  five  feet  deep.  Beyond  this,  is  a  hall  one 
hundred  feet  long,  with  columns  and  stalactites.  This  cave  has  been 
explored  four  hundred  yards.  It  abounds  in  sparry  crystallizations.  The 
Ladies  Cave  is  still  more  spacious.  This,  too,  has  its  galleries,  chambers, 
domes,  sparry  columns,  and  its  cold  and  deep  river,  winding  through  its 
dark  passages.  Two  miles  from  this  cave,  is  the  natural  bridge  over 
Chapola  river.  The  Econfina  river  passes  under  a  natural  bridge.  The 
antiquities  of  West  Florida,  as  great  roads,  causeways,  lorts,  and  other 
indications  of  former  habitancy,  are  striking  and  inexplicable  curiosities. 
None  arc  more  so  than  the  regular  and  noble  plantations  and  avenues  of 
live  oaks. 


FLORIDA.  209 

in  the  vicinity  of  Tallahassee,  a  small  pond  was  recently  formed  by 
the  sinking  of  the  earth,  which  fell,  with  all  its  trees,  with  a  tremendous 
crash.  The  sink  is  perpendicular,  and  fifty  feet  deep  before  we  arrive 
at  (he  water,  the  depth  of  which  is  not  ascertained. 

Fountains,  Lakes,  and  Springs.  There  seems  to  be,  over  all  this 
country,  a  substratum  of  soft  stones  at  equal  depths,  which  is  cavernous, 
and  admits  numberless  subterranean  brooks  and  streams  to  have  their 
courses  far  under  the  ground.  In  places  they  burst  out  in  the  form  of 
those  vast  boiling  springs,  which  form  rivers  at  a  short  distance  from 
their  outlets,  and  by  their  frequency,  their  singular  forms,  the  transpa- 
rency of  their  waters,  and  the  multitude  of  their  fishes,  constitute  one  of 
the  most  striking  curiosities  of  the  country.  Among  an  hundred  which 
might  be  named,  and  which  have  created  the  vulgar  impression  that  there 
is  every  where  a  prodigious  cavern  beneath  the  surface  of  the  whole 
country,  the  most  remarkable  is  that,  twelve  miles  from  Tallahasse,  which 
is  the  source  of  Wakulla  river.  It  is  of  a  size  to  be  boatable  immediately 
below  the  fountain.  A  mile  below  its  source,  the  channel  becomes  so 
impeded  with  flags,  rushes,  and  river  weeds,  that  a  boat  can  scarcely  be 
propelled  through  them.  Suddenly  this  immense  spring  breaks  upon  the 
eye,  of  a  circular  form,  and  in  extent  like  a  little  lake.  The  water  is 
almost  as  pellucid  as  air.  It  has  been  sounded  with  a  line  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  fathoms,  before  bottom  was  found.  From  its  almost 
unfathomable  depth,  from  the  serial  transparency  of  its  waters,  and  per- 
haps, also,  from  the  admixture  of  sulphuret  of  lime,  which  it  holds  in 
solution,  it  has  a  cerulean  tinge,  like  that  which  every  voyager  has 
admired  in  the  waters  of  the  gulf.  To  a  person  placed  in  a  skiff,  in  the 
centre  of  this  splendid  fountain  basin,  the  appearance  of  the  mild  azure 
vault  above,  and  the  transparent  depth  below,  on  which  the  floating  clouds 
and  the  blue  concave  above  are  painted  and  repeated  with  an  indescriba- 
ble softness',  create  a  kind  of  pleasing  dizziness,  and  a  novel  train  of 
sensations,  among  which  the  most  distinguishable  is  a  feeling  as  if  sus- 
pended between  two  firmaments.  The  impression  only  ceases,  when  the 
boat  approaches  the  edge  of  the  basin  near  enough  to  enable  you  to 
perceive  the  outlines  of  the  neighboring  trees  pictured  on  the  margin  of 
the  basin.  It  has  been  asserted,  that  lime  stone  water,  in  its  utmost 
purity,  has  less  refractive  powers  for  fight  than  free  stone  water.  The 
water,  probably  from  the  presence  of  the  sulphuret  of  lime,  is  slightly 
nauseous  to  the  taste.  Beautiful  hammock  lands  rise  from  the  northern 
acclivity  of  this  basin.  It  was  the  site  of  the  English  factory  in  former 
days.  Here  resided  the  famous  Ambrister.  The  force  which  throws 
up  this  vast  mass  of  waters  from  its  subterranean  fountains,  may  be 
imagined,  when  we  see  this  pellucid  water  swelling  up  from  the  depths 

27 


210  FLORIDA. 

as  though  it  were  a  cauldron  of  boiling  water.  It  is  twelve  miles  from 
St.  Marks,  and  twenty  from  the  ocean.  Mickasucke  lake,  fifteen  miles 
north-east  from  Tallahassee,  is  twelve  miles  long.  On  its  shores,  many 
of  the  old  Indian  fields  are  covered  with  peach  trees.  Lake  Jackson, 
north-west  from  Tallahassee,  is  eight  miles  long,  and  three  broad.  The 
richest  lands  in  the  country  are  on  its  borders.  Lake  Iamony,  fourteen 
miles  north  of  Tallahassee,  is  eight  miles  long,  and  three  broad.  It  is 
noted  for  the  abundance  of  its  fish.  Old  Tallahassee  lake  is  near  the  seat 
of  government.  Chcfixico's  old  town  was  on  its  south  shore.  Inundation 
lake  is  newly  formed  by  the  inundation  of  the  Chapola.  Though  deep, 
the  forests  are  still  standing  in  it,  and  it  is  twenty  miles  long,  and  seven 
broad. 

The  Big  Spring  of  Chapola  throws  out  a  considerable  river  from 
between  the  high  rocks  on  its  shores.  The  Chapola  river  is  almost 
wholly  formed  from  large  springs.  The  Big  Spring  of  Chactawhatchee 
is  the  chief  source  of  that  river.  The  Waucissa  spring  discharges  a  very 
considerable  stream. 

Savages.  The  Seminoles  were  once  a  numerous  and  powerful  tribe, 
as  were  also  the  Baton  Rouges,  or  Red  Sticks.  Their  numbers  were 
much  reduced  by  the  terrible,  but  deserved  chastisement  which  they 
received  during  the  late  war.  Numerous  small  tribes*  and  divisions  of 
tribes,  and  congregated  bodies  of  refugees,  from  different  foreign  tribes, 
are  dispersed  in  the  forests  and  savannas  of  this  country.  They  used 
to  find,  in  the  spontaneous  production  of  the  soil,  and  in  the  abundance  of 
fish  and  game,  a  superfluity  of  subsistence. 

The  Indians  of  this  region  arc  an  alert,  active,  and  athletic  people ; 
fond  of  war;  of  gay,  volatile,  and  joyous  dispositions,  and  the  merriest  of 
savages.  They  have  the  common  propensity  for  intoxication  and  gam- 
bling. They  are  active  and  expert  hunters ;  and  by  the  sale  of  bear, 
deer,  panther,  and  wolf  skins,  horses  and  cattle,  bees  wax,  honey, 
venison,  and  such  articles  generally  as  are  the  fruit  of  the  chase,  they 
procure  their  clothing,  and  such  things  as  are  called  for  by  their  habits 
of  life. 

Civil  Divisions.  Since  the  cession  of  this  country  to  the  United  States, 
the  immigration  to  the  country  has  been  very  considerable.  The  country 
has  been  divided  into  counties,  judicial  and  military  districts;  and  all  the 
benefits  of  American  institutions  arc  peaceably  diffused  over  its  whole 
surface.  The  present  number  of  inhabitants  in  both  Floridas  is  34,725. 
They  are  as  thoroughly  mixed  as  any  community  in  the  United  States, 
comprising  emigrants  from  all  foreign  countries,  and  from  every  Ameri- 
can state;  and  among  the  Creoles,  there  arc  all  possible  admixtures  of 
African  and  Indian  blood.     The  greater  proportion  of  the  inhabitants 


FLORIDA.  '211 

arc  very  poor,  and  too  great  a  part  of  the  recent  immigrants  are  merely 
adventurers.  The  greater  number  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  lead  a  kind 
of  pastoral  life,  and  subsist  by  rearing  cattle.  A  few  of  the  planters  are 
opulent,  and  have  good  houses  with  piazzas,  and  every  addition  that  can 
easily  be  devised  to  court  the  breeze.  They  live  a  solitary  life,  in  remote 
forests  or  savannas.  But  abounding  in  fish,  cattle,  and  game,  they  have 
all  the  necessaries  of  life  without  labor  or  difficulty ;  and  the  unbounded 
hospitality  which  they  practise,  is  at  once  an  easy  and  delightful  virtue. 
Nothing  can  be  more  grateful  to  the  summer  traveller,  oppressed  with 
hunger,  thirst,  and  heat,  and  wearied  with  the  sad  uniformity  of  the  wide 
pine  forests  and  savannas,  than  the  cordial,  though  rude  welcome,  the 
patriarchal  simplicity,  the  frank  hospitality,  and  the  surrender  of  time, 
slaves,  and  every  tiling  that  the  house  affords,  to  his  comfort,  than  he 
receives  here.  Some  portions  of  this  region  have  interest  with  the 
thinking  traveller  from  another  circumstance.  The  many  mounds,  that 
are  memorials  of  ages  and  races  forever  lost  to  tradition  and  history,  are 
here  mixed  with  the  melancholy  ruins  of  considerable  villages,  that  rise 
among  the  orange  groves,  and  manifest  that  there  was  once,  even  here,  a 
numerous  population  of  civilized  beings. 

The  amusements  of  the  people  are  a  compound  of  Spanish,  French, 
and  American  manners. 

Comparative  advantages  of  immigration  to  Florida.  This  country 
was,  in  some  points  of  view,  an  invaluable  acquisition  to  the  United 
States.  It  was  necessary  to  the  rounding  and  completing  the  area  of  our 
surface,  that  no  foreign  power  should  possess  a  territory  surrounded  by 
our  own.  It  was  necessary  for  the  possession  of  its  harbors,  and  its  im- 
mense line  of  coast.  It  was  invaluable  for  its  inexhaustible  supplies  of 
ship  timber.  As  an  agricultural  country,  it  must  be  confessed,  a  great 
part  of  it  is  sterile.  The  level  pine  forest  lands  will  bring  one  or  two 
crops  of  corn  without  manure ;  and  will  probably  be  cultivated,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  with  indigo.  The  drier  lands  of  this  sort  are  admirable  for 
sweet  potatoes,  and  on  the  whole,  better,  with  the  requisite  cultivation 
and  manuring,  for  gardens,  than  soils  naturally  more  fertile.  There 
are  considerable  bodies  of  excellent  land  distributed  at  wide  intervals 
over  all  the  country.  But  a  small  proportion  of  these  are  what  are 
denominated  first  rate.  Some  parts,  probably,  offer  equal  advantages 
for  the  cultivation  of  sugar,  with  the  sugar  lands  of  Louisiana.  Cochineal, 
it  is  supposed,  will  be  made  to  advantage,  and  it  may  be,  coffee.  It  offers 
superior  maritime  advantages  of  every  sort ;  abounds  in  the  materials  of 
ship  building ;  and  in  its  rich  and  inexhaustible  fisheries,  and  its  supply 
of  oysters  and  sea  fowl,  has  its  own  peculiar  advantages.  The  immi- 
grant who  sought  to  enrich  himself  by  cultivation  alone,  would  probably 


212  FLORIDA, 

make  his  way  to  the  richer  soils  west  of  the  Mississippi.  But,  ii'  taken 
as  a  whole,  it  is  more  sterile  than  the  country  along  the  Mississippi ;  it 
feels  the  refreshing  coolness  of  the  sea  breeze  and  the  trade  winds,  and 
it  is,  beyond  a  doubt,  more  healthy.  Nature  has  her  own  way  of  balanc- 
ing advantages  and  disadvantages,  over  the  globe ;  and  a  Florida  planter 
finds  sufficient  reasons,  on  comparing  his  country  with  others,  to  be  satis- 
fied with  his  lot. 

Chief  Towns.  St.  Augustine  is  the  chief  town  of  East  Florida,  and 
the  most  populous  in  the  country.  It  is  situated  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
thirty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  St.  Johns,  about  two  miles  within  the 
bar  opposite  the  inlet,  and  at  the  neck  of  a  peninsula,  in  north  latitude 
29°  45'.  The  bars  at  the  entrance  of  the  inlet  have  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  water.  The  town  is  built  of  an  oblong  form,  divided  by  four  streets 
that  cut  each  other  at  right  angles,  fortified  by  bastions,  and  surrounded 
by  a  ditch,  and  is  defended  by  a  castle  called  Fort  St.  John.-*  The  river 
St.  Marks  flows  through  the  harbor,  and  divides  the  town  from  the  island. 
The  streets  are  generally  so  narrow  as  scarcely  to  permit  two  carriages 
to  pass  each  other.  To  balance  this  inconvenience,  the  houses  have  a 
terrace  foundation,  which,  being  shaded,  renders  walking  in  the  sultry 
days  agreeable.  The  houses  are  generally  built  of  a  free  stone  peculiar 
to  the  count*y.  This  rock  is  obtained  from  the  adjacent  island,  and  is 
formed  of  concrete  sea  shells.  The  external  walls  are  plastered,  and 
have  a  handsome  and  durable  appearance.  They  are  not  more  than  two 
stories  high,  with  thick  walls,  spacious  entries,  large  doors,  windows, 
and  balconies,  and  commonly  a  large  and  beautiful  garden  attached  to 
them. 

On  entering  this  ancient  looking  town  from  the  sea,  the  castle  of  Fort 
St.  Mark  has  an  imposing  effect  upon  the  eye.  It  is  a  fort  forty  feet 
high,  and  in  the  modern  style  of  military  architecture.  It  commands  the 
entrance  of  the  harbor,  and  is  of  a  regular  quadrangular  form,  with  four 
bastions,  a  wide  ditch,  and  sixty  heavy  cannon,  and  is  capable  of  contain- 
ing one  thousand  men.  It  is  on  a  point  of  land  between  the  conflux  of 
Matanzas  creek  and  St.  ScbasiianV,  and  forms  a  landscape  of  great 
picturesque  beauty,  with  its  interspersed  groves  of  orange  trees,  and 
flower  and  kitchen  gardens.  Although  the  soil  about  St.  Augustine  is  so 
sandy  as  io  give  it  the  appearance  of  being  sterile,  yet  it  is  far  from  being 
unproductive.  It  brings  two  crops  of  maize  in  a  year;  and  garden  vege- 
tables grow  in  great  perfection.  The  orange  and  lemon  grow  as  if  they 
were  indigenous,  of  a  greater  size,  it  is  affirmed,  than  in  Spain  or  Portu- 
gal. One  tree  has  been  found  to  produce  four  thousand  oranges.  The 
harbor  would  be  one.  of  the  best,  were  it  not  for  the  bar  at  ite  entrance, 
which  prevents  the  approach  of  large  vessels.     There  is  a  light  bouse  <<n 


flu  mi)  a  .  213 

the  island,  and  some  gardens,  and  orange  and  date  t  rees.  From  i  his  island 
are  taken  the  stones  of  which  the  town  is  built,  and  here  commences  the 
northern  limit  of  that  remarkable  quarry  of  stone  that  skirts  the  southern 
shore  of  Florida.  The  population  of  St.  Augustine  now  consists  of  be- 
tween four  and  five  thousand  inhabitants.  Near  this  town  grows  the 
palm  or  date  tree.  Its  branches  attract  notice  from  their  singular  beauty 
and  constant  rustling,  like  aspen  leaves,  as  well  as  the  peculiarity  of  the 
under  branches,  which  serve  for  ladders  by  which  to  ascend  the  tree. 
The  fruit,  inform,  resembles  the  largest  acorn,  and  is  covered  with  a  thin, 
transparent,  yellowish  membrane,  containing  a  soft  sacharine  pulp,  of  a 
somewhat  vinous  flavor,  in  which  is  enclosed  an  oblong,  hard  kernel. 
When  ripe,  it  affords  an  agreeable  nourishment.  The  olive  has  already 
become  naturalized  to  the  soil.  Some  have  asserted,  that  cocoa  trees 
would  succeed  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  peninsula. 

Pensacola,  fifty  miles  from  Mobile,  is  the  capital  of  West  Florida.     It 
is  situated  on  a  bay  of  the  same  name,  in  north  latitude  33°  32',  and  in 
longitude  10°  18'  from  Washington.     The  shore  is  low  and  sandy;  but 
the  town  is  built  on  a  gentle  ascent.     It  is,  like  St.  Augustine,  built  in  an 
oblong  form,  and  is  nearly  a  mile  in  length.     Small  vessels  only,  can 
come  quite  to  the  town.     But  the  bay  affords  one  of  the  most  safe  and 
capacious  harbors  in  all  the  gulf  of  Mexico.     It  has  been  selected  by  our 
government,  as  a  naval  station  and  depot,  for  which  its  harbor,  and  the 
advantage  of  fine  ship  timber  in  the  neighborhood,  and  its  relative  posi- 
tion, admirably, fit  it.     A  stream  of  fresh  water  runs  through  the  town, 
and  its  market  is  well  supplied  with  beef,  garden  vegetables,  and  fish. 
Oyster?,  turtles,  and  gophers  are  important  items  in  the  supplies  of  food, 
and  especially  sea  fowls.     Ii  was  an  old  and  decaying  town  when  it  came 
under  the  American  government.      At  diat  period  it  received  that  impulse 
of  increase  and  prosperity,  which  has  uniformly  been  the  result  of  coming 
under  the  American  government.     A  number  of  new  and  handsome  brick 
houses  were  built.     Numerous  adventurers  flocked  to  the  place,  drawn 
thither  by  its  natural  advantages  and  its  reputation  for  uncommon  salu- 
brity.    In  the  fatal  autumn  of  1822,  the  yellow  fever  visited  this  place 
in  common  with  many  other  towns  on  the  guif.     Extreme  negligence  in 
the  police  of  the  town,  is  supposed  to  have  caused  it.     Confidence  in  its 
fancied  exemption  from  that  terrible  malady  was  destroyed,  and  it  again 
declined.     It  is,  unquestionably,  a  salubrious  position,  and  it  is  believed 
that  its  natural  advantages,  added  to  those  which  resulffrom  its  being  a 
naval  position,  will  restore  its  proper  degree  of  estimation  and  importance. 
Its  supplies  are  now  in  a  considerable  degree  from  New  Orleans.     Of 
course,  it  is  a  place  something  more  expensive  than  that  city.     One  of 
its  inconveniences  is  a  "very  sandy  position;  and  the  inhabitants  are  said 


214  FLORIDA. 

to  acquire  a  general  gait,  as  if  continually  walking  in  a  sand  that  gave 
way  under  their  feet.  At  present,  it  "Contains  a  very  respectable  society, 
though  the  aspect  of  the  town  is  rather  unpleasant.  It  contains  nearly 
three  thousand  inhabitants. 

St.  Marks  is  an  inconsiderable  sea  port,  nine  miles  from  Tallahassee, 
and  is  the  nearest  navigable  point  to  that  place. 

Tallahassee  has  been  selected  as  the  scat  of  government  for  the  terri- 
tory of  Florida.  The  reasons  which  determined  the  governor  and  com- 
missioners to  fix  on  this  place  as  the  metropolis,  were  its  central  position, 
fertility  of  soil,  and  the  reputation  it  had  acquired  among  the  Spanish 
and  Indians,  of  being  uncommonly  salubrious.  The  position  was  fixed 
upon  for  the  seat  of  government  in  1824.  It  was  divided  into  lots,  and 
sold  in  1825.  Five  squares  have  been  reserved  for  die  purpose  of  public 
buildings.  The  precincts  of  the  town  encircle  a  beautiful  undulating 
country.  It  was  immediately  incorporated  as  a  city.  In  two  years 
from  the  first  building,  the  number  of  whites  and  blacks  were  supposed 
to  amount  to  800.  Some  respectable  houses  were  built,  but  the  principal 
part  of  the  habitations  are  temporary  log  buildings.  The  forest  is  falling 
on  all  sides,  and  it  is  daily  acquiring  more  and  more  the  appearance  of 
a  town.  The  amount  of  the  sales  of  the  lots  was  24,000  dollars.  That 
sum  was  appropriated  for  the  erection  of  a  territorial  capital .  The  ma- 
terials for  building  are  good  and  abundant.  There  are  already  a  number 
of  stores,  taverns,  and  shops  of  all  the  customary  mechanics,  with  a  full 
proportion  of  lawyers  and  doctors,  and  200  houses.  A  printing  press 
has  been  established,  from  which  issues  the  '  Florida  Intelligencer.'  The 
Florida  mahogany  that  grows  in  the  vicinity,  is  scarcely  inferior  to  that 
brought  from  Honduras.  There  arc  tine  situations  for  mill  seats  in  the 
vicinity,  and  great  scone  for  industry  and  enterprise  of  every  sort.  Post 
roads  have  been  opened  to  Georgia,  St.  Marks,  St.  Augustine,  and  Pen- 
sacola;  and  bridges  and  ferries  so  established,  that  travelling  is  compara- 
tively safe  and  easy.  Immigrants  may  now  arrive  at  this  place  from 
any  direction  without  being  obliged  to  sleep  out  of  a  house.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  sudden  influx,  articles  at  first  were  veiy  high.  Yet  the 
neighborhood  abounds  in  game,  fish,  and  water  fowl.  Venison  and  wild 
turkeys  arc  constantly  offered  for  sale  by  the  Indians.  Trout  and  sun  fish 
arc  taken  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  At  St.  Marks,  in  the  neighboring 
tide  waters,  sheep's  head  and  other  son  fish,  and  oysters  abound.  The 
country  around  fs  high  and  rolling.  This  place  is  only  three  miles  north 
of  the  elevated  chain  of  rolling  hills,  which,  for  a  great  distance,  bound 
the  shores  of  the  Mexican  gulf.  Thence  to  the.  sea,  the  land  is  low  and 
level,  and  abounds  in  the  long  leafed  pine.  There  arc  many  lakes  not 
far  distant.     The  most  important  among  them  ;irc  Bradford's  and  Jack- 


•  FLORIDA.  215 

son's*.  The  latter  is  a  clear  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  fifteen  miles 
long,  and  one  and  a  half  wide.  This  lake  has  risen,  within  the  last  year, 
six  or  seven  feet.  It  must  have  had  a  subterranean  outlet,  which  seems 
now  partially  stopped.  It  was  but  a  small  and  shallow  pond  in  the  timo 
of  General  Jackson's  campaign.  The  soil  about  this  town  is  a  mixture 
of  loam,  sand,  and  clay.  The  growth  in  the  dry  grounds  is  oak,  hickory, 
and  pine.  But  wild  cherry,  gum,  ash,  dog  wood,  mahogany,  and  magnolia 
abound.  The  climate,  a<  far  as  experience  goes,  is  very  healthy.  The 
common  summer  elevation  of  the  mercury  is  not  high.  The*  range  is 
between  88°  in  summer  and  24°  in  winter.  The  heat  is  moderated  by 
a  sea  breeze.  The  dews  arc  heavy.  Where  the  soil  is  sufficiently  rich, 
the  climate  is  adapted  to  the  sugar  cane,  and  it  will  be  a  country  for  the 
growing  of  sugar.  Vessels  come  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Marks  in 
three  or  four  days.  The  remarkable  'big spring'  of  the  river  Wakulla, 
is  twelve  miles  distant. 

When  the  contemplated  canal  shall  have  been  completed,  and  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  developed,  few  places  present  more  attractions  to 
immigrants.     Quincy  and  Magnolia  are  thriving  villages. 

History.  The  English  aver  that  Florida  was  discovered  in  1497,  by 
Sebastian  Cabot.  In  1524,  the  first  effectual  settlement  was  made  in 
the  country.  In  1528,  an  expedition  was  undertaken  to  the  country  by 
Pamphilo  de  Narvaez,  with  400  men,  from  the  island  of  Cuba.  He  at- 
tempted to  penetrate  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  was  never  heard  of 
more.  In  1538,  the  country  was  entirely  subdued  by  Ferdinand  de  Soto, 
one  of  the  bravest  officers  in  the  Spanish  service.  But  the  savages  were 
numerous,  fierce,  and  brave ;  and  it  cost  the  Spanish  a  long  and  bloody 
struggle  before  they  were  able  to  establish  themselves  in  the  country. 
In  1564,  the  French  began  to  establish  themselves,  and  to  form  little 
settlements  along  the  shore,  and  from  the  facility  with  which  they  have 
always  gained  the  good  will  of  the  savages,  they  became  at  once  power- 
ful and  troublesome  to  the  Spaniards.  Their  settlements  were  seldom 
of  an  agricultural  character.  They  generally  took  part  with  the  natives, 
and  addicted  themselves  to  hunting.  The  Spanish  sent  a  fleet  against 
them,  and  destroyed  their  settlements.  In  1597,  the  French  made 
severe  reprisals,  demolishing  all  the  forts  erected  by  the  Spaniards,  and 
murdering  all  the  colonists  whom  they  found  in  the  country.  From  this 
time,  the  French  neglected  their  establishments  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
and  the  Spanish  continued,  from  time  to  time,  to  make  petty  establish- 
ments here.  In  1586,  St.  Augustine  was  attacked  and  pillaged  by  Sir 
Francis  Drake.  In  1665,  ii  was  entered  and  plundered  by  Captain 
Davis,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  bucaneers.  In  1702,  Colonel  More,  at 
the  head  of  500  English  and  700  Indians,  marched  from  Carolina  to  the 


216  FLORIDA.  • 

walls  of  St.  Augustine,  and  laid  close  siege  to  it  for  three' months.  The 
Spaniards  having  sent  a  squadron  to  the  relief  of  the  garrison,  he  raised 
the  siege  and  made  a  precipitate  retreat.  When  the  British  established 
the  first  colony  in  Georgiarin  1733,  the  Spaniards  became  apprehensive 
of  a  new  attack  upon  Florida,  and  not  without  reason;  for  in  1740,  an 
expedition  was  fitted  out  against  St.  Augustine,  by  Oglethorpe.  But  the 
Spanish  commander,  having  received  timely  notice  of  the  intended  attack, 
made  such  additions  to  the  strength  of  the  garrison,  and  used  such  other 
artificial  defences;,  as  that  the  English  were  compelled,  after  sustaining 
considerable  loss,  to  abandon  the  siege.  In  1763,  Florida  was  ceded  to 
Great  Britain  in  exchange  for  Havana.  She  received  Florida  as  an 
equivalent  for  that  very  important  acquisition.  By  the  encouragement 
which  the  government  gave  to  agriculture,  numbers  of  colonists  poured 
in  from  every  part  of  the  British  islands,  and  from  all  the  countries  in 
Europe ;  and  this  may  be  considered  as  the  most  prosperous  period  of 
the  country,  as  regarded  its  future  prospects.  In  the  year  1781,  while 
Great  Britain  was  exerting  all  her  powers  to  reduce  her  revolted  colonies, 
a  well  concerted  attack  by  the  Spaniards  re-conquered  the  country,  and 
brought  it  under  its  ancient  regime,  and  it  was  guaranteed  to  them  by  the 
peace  of  1783.  It  remained  in  their  possession,  forming  one  of  the  three 
governments  which  composed  the  captain-generalship  of  the  island  of 
Cuba.  In  1810,  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  West  Florida  which  now 
composes  part  of  the  states  of  Alabama  and  Louisiana,  in  concert  with 
the  American  authorities,  renounced  the  government  of  Spain,  and  at- 
tached themselves  to  the  United  States.  The  revolution  was  effected 
without  bloodshed.  It  is  said  that  they  hesitated  about  the  propriety  of 
setting  up  an  independent  government,  and  that  they  sent  delegates  to 
our  government  to  treat  respecting  the  terms  of  reception.  The  country, 
so  seceding,  came  peaceably  under  our  government,  and  has  so  remained 
ever  since. 

We  know  little  of  the  interior  history  of  this  country,  while  under  the 
Spanish  regime.  St.  Augustine,  Pensacola,  and  St.  Marks  were  the  only 
places  of  much  importance.  The  country  supplied  Havana  with  cattle 
and  horses,  and  furnished  an  occasional  retreat  to  the  inhabitants  of  that 
city  during  the  sickly  season.  They  had  the  customary  Spanish  engines 
of  government,  a  priest,  a  calaboza,  a  commandant,  and  a  file  of  soldiers. 
History  redeems  but  little  from  the  silence  of  such  a  government,  as  it 
respects  knowledge  of  the  character  and  deportment  of  the  officers,  or  the 
condition  of  the  people.  The  materials  of  such  annals,  if  any  exist,  are 
in  the  archives  at  Havana.  Meantime,  our  government  had  heavy  and 
well  grounded  claims  on  the  Spanish  government,  for  spoliations  commit- 
ted on  our  commerce.     These  claims,  as  also  settling  definitely  the 


FLORIDA.  217 

territorial  line  of  jurisdiction  between  the  United  States  and  New  Mexico, 
made  the  basis  of  a  treaty,  by  which  the  Spanish  ceded  to  us  the  entire 
country.  The  treaty  was  made  a  law  in  1820;  and  it  then  became  a 
territory  of  the  United  States,  and  has  since  advanced  with  that  steady 
progress  in  population  and  prosperity,  which  has  marked  every  country 
that  has  thus  been  added  to  our  government. 

It  is  supposed  there  are  seven  millions  of  acres  in  the  coffee  region  of 
Florida,-  eight  millions  of  sugar  land ;  and  nine  millions  of  cotton  and 
grain  land;  making  twenty-four  million  acres  of  marketable  land. 


38 


ALABAMA. 


Length,  280  miles.  Breadth,  160  miles;  containing  46,000  square 
miles.  Between  30°  12'  and  35°  N.  latitude;  and  between  8°  and  11° 
30' W.  longitude  from  Washington.  Bounded  north  by  Tennessee;  east 
by  Georgia  j  south  by  Florida;  and  west  by  the  state  of  Mississippi. 

CIVIL  DIVISIONS. 

Counties.  Autauga,  Baldwin,  Blount,  Bibb,  Butler,  Clarke,  Conecuh, 
Covington,  Dallas,  Decatur,  Franklin,  Fayette,  Greene,  Henry,  Jackson, 
Jefferson,  Lauderdale,  Lawrence,  Limestone,  Lowndes,  Madison,  Maren- 
go, Marion,  Mobile,  Monroe,  Morgan,  Montgomery,  Perry,  Pickens,  Pike, 
Shelby,  St.  Clair,  Tuscaloosa,  Washington,  Wilcox,  and  Walker. 

Population.  No  part  of  the  western  country  has  had  a  more  rapid 
increase  of  population  than  this  state.  In  1800,  that  portion  of  Mississippi 
Territory  which  is  now  Alabama,  had  only  2,000  inhabitants.  In  1810, 
it  contained  10,000.  In  1820,  it  numbered  127,000.  By  the  census 
of  1830,  199,221  free  whites,  and  112,625  slaves.     Total,  311,846. 

This  state  rises  by  regular  belts  or  terraces  from  the  gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  lower  belt  is  low,  level,  and  has  many  swamps  and  savannas,  and 
the  prevailing  timber  is  pine.  The  northern  belt  is  pleasantly  undulating. 
Tennessee  valley,  though  a  deep  alluvial  country,  is  in  fact  high  table 
land,  and  there  are  few  table  countries  which  excel  this  part  of  the  state 
in  fertility,  mildness  of  climate,  and  pleasantness  of  position.  This  valley 
is  separated  from  that  of  the  Alabama  by  hills  of  such  lofty  and  precipi- 
tous character,  as  generally  to  merit  the  name  of  mountains.  Some  of 
these  peaks  tower  three  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  gulf.  One 
chain  runs  from  Ross,  on  Tennessee  river,  between  the  Coosa  and  Black 
Warrior,  giving  rise  to  the  head  waters  of  Cahawba.  Another  separates 
the  streams  of  the  gulf  from  those  that  fall  into  the  Tennessee.  Another 
range  divides  between  the  waters  of  the  Black  Warrior  and  Tombigbee 


ALABAMA.  210 

Rivers.  The  Chatahochy  separates  this  state  from  Georgia,  and  not 
far  below  the  limits  of  that  state,  unites  with  Flint  river  to  form  the  Appa- 
lachicola  of  Florida.  The  Tennessee  curves  from  the  north-east  to  tho 
north-west  comer  of  the  state,  near  its  northern  line.  A  line  of  hills, 
with  a  curve  corresponding  with  that  of  the  Tennessee,  runs  at  a  distance 
of  between  fifty  and  eighty  miles  from  that  river,  giving  rise  to  numerous 
streams  that  flow  from  one  declivity  north  to  the  Tennessee,  and  from 
I  he  other  south,  to  the  waters  of  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee.  Into 
Tennessee  flow  Watts'  river,  Turkey  creek,  Poplar  creek,  Occochapa, 
and  many  smaller  streams.  These  rivers  reach  the  Tennessee  either  at 
the  Muscle  Shoals,  or  near  them.  It  is  proposed  to  unite  the  waters  of 
the  Tennessee  with  the  upper  waters  of  the  Tombigbee  by  a  canal,  which 
shall  cross  Bear  creek,  of  the  Tennessee,  and  the  line  of  hills  that  sepa- 
rates the  waters  of  that  river  from  those  of  Tombigbee,  and  unite  the 
canal  with  an  upper  and  boatable  branch  of  that  river. 

Mobile  river  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  Alabama  and  Tombigbee, 
and  is  so  called  up  to  the  point  where  these  rivers  unite  at  Fort  Mimms. 
It  enters  Mobile  bay  by  two  mouths.  The  Alabama  is  the  eastern  branch 
of  the  Mobile,  and  is  itself  formed  from  the  junction  of  the  Coosa  and 
Tallapoosa  rivers.  The  Tallapoosa  rises  in  the  Alleghany  ridges  in 
Georgia,  where  it  is  called  Occafusky,  and  receives  a  number  of  tribu- 
taries in  the  Indian  country.  It  passes  over  considerable  falls  before  it 
gives  its  waters  to  the  Alabama.  The  Tallapoosa  rises  in  the  same 
ridges,  and  pursues  a  somewhat  longer  course  to  the  south-west.  Both 
are  rapid  streams,  run  through  the  Creek  country,  and  are  not  boatable 
to  any  considerable  distance  above  their  junction.  From  this  junction 
the  Alabama  receives  a  number  of  small  streams  from  the  east,  bends 
towards  the  west  and  receives  the  Cahawba.  It  is  navigable  by  sea  vessels 
to  Fort  Claiborne.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  rivers  of  the  southern  country, 
and  navigable  for  steam  boats  of  the  largest  class  for  a  great  distance. 
A  number  ply  constantly  on  it.  They  transport  130,000  bales  of  cotton 
to  Mobile.  When  the  title  of  the  lands  of  the  Creek  Indians  shall  have 
become  vested  in  the  United  States,  and  the  beautiful  country  on  the  head 
waters  of  this  river  settled  by  whites,  it  is  probable  that  Montgomery, 
situated  midway  between  Mobile  and  the  highest  points  of  steam  naviga- 
tion on  this  river,  will  become  one  of  the  most  important  towns  in  the 
state.  The  Tombigbee  rises  in  the  ridges  that  separate  between  its 
waters  and  those  of  the  Tennessee,  hi  the  northern  parts  of  the  state ;  and 
receives  some  of  its  western  branches  from  a  range  that  diverges  from 
the  Tennessee  hills,  and  runs  south  along  the  middle  of  the  state  of 
Mississippi.  It  receives,  in  its  progress,  many  considerable  streams 
from  the  suite  of  Mississippi  on  the  west.     It  meanders  through  the  Indian 


220  ALABAMA. 

country,  and  a  tract  purchased  by  French  immigrants.  Eighty  miles 
above  St.  Stephen's,  it  is  swelled  by  the  accession  of  the  Black  Warrior, 
to  which  place  small  sea  vessels  ascend.  In  moderate  stages  of  the  water, 
it  affords  steam  boat  navigation  to  Tuscaloosa.  Both  these  rivers  are 
extremely  favorable  to  boat  navigation ;  and  during  the  higher  stages  of 
water,  a  number  of  steam  boats  are  constantly  moving  through  the  dark 
forests  and  rich  alluvions  of  these  fine  rivers.  Yellow,  Chactaw,  and  Pea 
rivers  rise  in  this  state  and  pass  into  Florida,  as  does  also  the  Conecuh, 
a  considerable  river  that  rises  in  the  interior  and  finds  its  way  to  the  sea 
through  that  country.  The  Tensa  is  a  branch  or  enlargement  of  Mobile 
river,  before  it  enters  Mobile  bay.  The  Perdido  separates  this  state  from 
Florida,  as  the  Pascagoula  on  the  west  does  from  the  state  of  Mississippi. 
Escambia  rises  near  Fort  Claiborne,  and  running  a  southwardly  course, 
unites  with  the  Conecuh,  and  forms  Escambia  bay  above  Pensacola. 

Face  of  the  Country,  Soil,  <fyc,  The  following  was  considered  by  the 
purchasing  immigrants,  a  very  accurate  and  faithful  general  delineation 
of  the  qualities  of  the  soil.  It  is  chiefly  extracted  from  the  published 
accounts  of  the  United  States'  surveyor  in  that  district;  and  has  the 
advantage  of  having  been  the  result  of  actual  inspection.  The  general 
shape  of  the  state  is  that  of  a  well  defined  paralellogram.  The  only 
undefined  line  is  the  southern  one.  From  this  line  another  parallelogram 
is  formed,  extending  between  Florida  and  the  state  of  Mississippi.  It 
includes  Mobile  bay.  This  was  once  part  of  West  Florida,  and  was 
necessary  to  this  state,  to  enable  it  to  communicate  with  the  gulf  of 
Mexico.  Except  the  alluvions  on  Mobile  river,  the  soil  is  generally  a 
pine  barren.  In  Mobile  bay  are  the  islands  Dauphin,  Massacre,  and 
Petit  Bois.  Mobile  bay  is  a  deep  and  commodious  entrance  into  the 
interior.  Dauphin  island  is  of  a  triangular  shape,  and  five  miles  in 
length.  The  ship  channel  is  between  Dauphin  island  and  Mobile  point. 
There  is  another  pass,  called  Pass  au  Heron,  which  has  but  six  feet  water 
over  its  bar.  Taking  the  state  as  a  whole,  the  northern  parts,  near  Ten- 
nessee, are  generally  hilly  and  precipitous.  At  the  northern  commence- 
ment of  this  belt,  it  is  mountainous,  and  a  continuation  of  the  Alleghany 
hills.  The  central  interior  region  is  generally  waving  hills.  As  we 
approach  within  fifty  or  sixty  miles  of  Florida,  the  swamps  are  for  the 
most  part  timbered  with  cypress  and  gum  trees,  and  some  loblolly  pines ; 
and  the  uplands  with  long  leafed  pine.  These  pine  swells  and  levels 
have  a  very  thin  soil;  but  generally  having  a  substratum  of  clay,  contain 
within  themselves  a  principle  of  fertility,  which,  when  cultivation  shall 
be  advanced  and  population  sufficiently  compact,  will  not  fail  to  be  called 
forth.  At  present  I  hey  bear,  without  manuring,  two  or  three  crops  of 
maize,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  of  small  cotton.     But  in  the  present  order 


ALABAMA.  221 

of  things,  while  there  are  sufficient  extents  of  rich  lands,  the  pine  barrens 
will  be  held  in  little  estimation;  and  they  probably  include  more  than 
one  half  the  surface  of  the  state.  Among  the  pine  woods,  grows  rank 
grass,  furnishing  fine  and  inexhaustible  summer  range.  The  alluvions 
on  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbce  are  generally  wide,  and  for  the  most 
part,  first  rate  lands.  Some  affirm  that  they  are  equal  to  the  lands  on  the 
Mississippi.  When  these  lands  came  into  the  market  in  the  land  office, 
the  rash  and  grasping  spirit  of  land  speculation  raised  them  to  an  inordi- 
nate price,  which  proved,  in  many  instances,  ruinous  to  the  purchasers. 
In  some  cases,  these  lands,  in  a  state  of  nature,  sold  as  high  as  fifty  dollars 
an  acre.  The  alluvial  soils  on  the  margins  of  the  streams,  generally  are 
fertile  and  productive.  The  hammock  lands  rank  at  the  head  of  the 
second  rate  lands,  and  their  fertility  is  of  long  duration.  They  consti- 
tute an  intermediate  belt  between  the  bottoms  and  pine  ridges.  They 
generally  have  a  slope  like  a  glacis.  In  the  first  rate  lands,  no  pines  are 
to  be  seen.  In  second  rate  lands,  pines  are  intermixed  with  dog  wood, 
hickory,  and  oak.  Wherever  the  high  table  grounds  are  seen  covered 
with  oaks,  dog  wood  trees,  and  the  pawpaw  intermixed,  the  soil  is  sure 
to  be  fine.  The  French  immigrants  are  sanguine  in  the  belief  that  the 
slopes  and  hammocks  of  this  state  would  afford  eligible  soils  and  situa- 
tions for  vineyards.  It  will  be  an  omen  for  good  for  the  country  in  gen- 
eral, and  for  this  state  in  particular,  if  they  prosper  in  attempting  to  rear 
the  vine  and  the  olive.  Experience  has  abundantly  demonstrated  that 
the  great  bulk  of  American  farmers  are  little  disposed  to  speculative 
agriculture.  They  prefer  to  fix  their  attention  upon  corn,  cotton,  tobac- 
co, beef,  and  pork.  Along  the  southern  limits  of  the  state,  the  soil  is 
thin,  and  the  unvarying  verdure  of  the  pine,  tires  by  its  uniformity.  On 
the  head  waters  of  the  Escambia  and  Conecuh,  the  soil  and  climate  are 
favorable  to  the  sugar  cane ;  and  here  are  seen  those  groves  of  orange 
trees  of  which  travellers  have  spoken  with  so  much  delight,  affirming 
them  to  be  indigenous.  They  were,  beyond  question,  the  growth  of 
seeds  scattered  from  orange  groves  originally  cultivated  by  Spaniards  in 
Florida. 

In  the  lower  parts  of  the  state,  as  we  approach  Florida,  the  swamps 
become  more  and  more  extensive.  Cypress  lands  are  abundant.  On 
the  alluvial  grounds  which  are  not  inundated,  is  large  and  rank  cane. 
Below  the  Tombigbce,  the  river  is  apt  to  inundate  the  bottoms  and 
swamps,  and  the  mosquitos  are  excessively  annoying.  As  we  ascend 
into  the  central  parts  of  the  state,  the  lands  become  high  and  broken,  and 
pine  is  less  frequent.  Oak,  hickory,  and  poplar  are  there  the  prevailing 
growth. 

The  most  extensive  bodies  of  good  land,  and  those  which  are  at  present 


222  ALABAMA. 

most  populous,  are  between  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee,  the  bottoms 
of  the  Tallapoosa  and  the  Black  Warrior.  Passing  over  the  ridge  that 
separates  the  waters  of  the  Conecuh  from  those  of  the  Alabama,  there  is 
an  extensive  body  of  rich  land.  On  the  head  waters  of  Lime  Stone 
creek,  there  is  also  a  fine  body  of  land.  A  considerable  distance  above 
the  junction  of  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa,  there  is  a  country  of  fine  swells 
of  land,  watered  with  frequent  springs  of  pure  water.  The  land  is  heavily 
timbered  with  those  kinds  of  trees  that  indicate  a  rich  soil.  It  is  inhabited 
by  the  Creek  Indians. 

Character  of  the  Population.  This  state  was  originally  a  part  of  the 
Mississippi  territory.  It  has  acquired  population  with  great  rapidity, 
and  already  far  exceeds  in  numbers  the  state  from  which  it  was  taken. 
Few  states  have  had  so  great  an  increase.  This  was  owing  in  part  to 
its  contiguity  to  Georgia,  and  its  proximity  to  the  Carolinas ;  and  its  hav- 
ing fresh  and  fertile  lands,  and  yet  being  in  other  respects,  as  regards  soil, 
climate,  and  situation,  very  similar  to  those  states.  Immigrants  from  the 
land  of  pine  and  cypress  forests,  love  to  see  these  trees  in  the  new  regions 
to  which  they  transplant  themselves.  Public  opinion  had  estimated  this 
country  as  more  than  commonly  healthy  for  its  climate.  That  part  of  it 
lying  south  of  the  Tennessee  ridge,  has  great  facilities  of  communication 
with  the  sea.  The  southern  planters  ordinarily  do  not  covet  a  country 
which  admits  a  very  dense  population.  They  love  space  in  which  to 
move  themselves.  They  prefer  those  extensive  pine  barrens  in  which 
there  is  such  inexhaustible  range  for  cattle,  and  which  will  not,  for  a  long 
time,  admit  a  dense  population.  At  the  same  time,  they  desire  at  inter- 
vals, rich  alluvial  soils  of  thick  cane  brake,  the  proper  soil  for  cotton. 
Alabama  furnished  them,  in  these  respects,  all  they  could  wish.  It  was 
much  healthier  than  the  maritime  parts  of  the  Carolinas ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  had  a  soil  better  adapted  to  cotton.  This  may  account  for  the  great 
immigration  from  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  and  for  that  surprising 
increase  in  the  population,  which  we  have  already  noted  in  the  table  of 
civil  divisions. 

The  people  in  this  state  have  a  general  character  for  order,  quietness, 
a  regard  for  religion,  schools,  and  social  and  moral  institutions,  more 
decided  than  could  have  been  expected,  taking  into  view  the  recent 
origin  of  the  state.  They  speak  and  think  of  themselves,  in  reference 
to  the  states  further  south  and  west,  with  no  small  degree  of  assumption 
in  the  comparison.  There  are  many  opulent  planters,  with  large  num- 
bers of  slaves ;  and  they  possess  the  characteristic  hospitality  of  these 
people  every  where.  They  have  not  formed  a  character  as  a  state. 
They  have  few  religious,  literary,  or  oilier  institutions.  But  they  are 
developing  a  character  which  will  lead  to  respectable  and  numerous 


ALABAMA  223 

foundations  of  this  kind.  Travellers  have  been  favorably  impressed 
with  the  characteristics  of  hospitality,  quietness,  and  good  order,  which 
they  generally  witnessed.  The  people  begin  to  be  alive  to  the  vital 
interests  of  schools  and  education.  The  usual  appropriations  of  lands 
for  colleges  and  schools,  have  been  made  by  congress  for  this  state. 
From  the  comparatively  high  price  of  lands,  these  appropriations  must 
ultimately  constitute  a  respectable  fund. 

Seminaries.  Alabama  contains  three  colleges:  the  Catholic  college 
near  Mobile,  the  Methodist  college  at  Lagrange,  a  respectable  institution, 
and  Alabama  college  at  Tuscaloosa.  This  last  is  an  amply  endowed 
institution.  One  of  the  buildings  is  magnificent.  Great  exertions  have 
been  made  to  purchase  a  respectable  library  and  philosophical  apparatus, 
and  in  point  of  professorships  and  other  appointments,  to  place  it  on  a 
footing  with  the  most  respectable  institutions  of  the  kind. 

Climate.  The  climate  of  this  state,  taken  together,  is  favorable  to 
health,  compared  with  the  southern  country  generally  in  the  same  paral- 
lels. The  lower  part  of  it  is  constantly  fanned,  during  the  summer  heats, 
by  the  trade  wind  breezes.  There  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  such  a 
season  as  winter,  and  yet  the  summers  are  not  hotter  than  they  are  many 
degrees  more  to  the  north.  The  duration  of  the  summer  heats  is  indeed 
debilitating,  and  the  direct  rays  of  the  summer's  sun,  oppressive.  But 
strangers  from  the  north,  in  the  shade  and  in  the  current  of  air,  seldom 
suffer  from  the  heat.  In  the  northern  parts  of  the  state,  still  waters  often 
freeze.  In  the  southern  parts,  they  seldom  see  much  snow  or  ice.  Cattle 
require  no  shelter  during  the  winter.     Maize  is  planted  early  in  March. 

In  the  31st  degree  of  latitude,  the  thermometer  stands  in  spring  water 
at  69°,  which  is  nearly  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year.  A  series  of 
thermometrical  operations  for  a  year,  give  the  following  result.  The 
warmest  part  of  the  warmest  day  in  April  gave  82°.  Mean  heat  of  July 
of  the  same  year,  86°.  Coldest  day  in  January,  54°.  Coldest  day  in 
February,  43°.  Warmest  day  in  March,  85°.  Same  year  the  trees  in  the 
swamps,  where  vegetation  is  most  tardy,  were  in  full  leaf  the  2d  of  April ; 
peach  blossoms  gone.  April  12th,  peas  in  pod;  peaches  of  the  size  of  a 
hazlenut ;  fig  trees  in  leaf.  Green  peas  at  table  May  2d ;  strawberries 
ripe.  May  16th,  mulberries,  dewberries,  and  whortleberries  ripe.  May 
15th,  cucumbers  in  perfection.     June  29th,  roasting  corn  at  table. 

Diseases.  In  point  of  health,  this  climate  takes  its  character  from 
situation  and  local  circumstances.  The  prevailing  diseases  of  the  cooler 
months  are  those  of  the  class  termed  cachexy.  The  diseases  of  the  warm 
months  are  generally  bilious.  Where  the  powerful  southern  sun  brings 
the  swamp  miasm  into  action,  diseases  follow  of  course,  and  none  but 
negroes,  and  those  acclimated,  can  safely  reside  in  the  low  grounds  on 


224  ALABAMA. 

the  banks  of  the  rivers,  and  near  the  inundated  swamps.  The  yellow 
fever  has  seldom  been  seen,  except  in  Mobile.  In  the  high  land  regions, 
far  from  swamps,  creeks,  and  stagnant  waters,  in  the  districts  of  hills, 
springs,  and  pine  forests,  the  country  may  be  pronounced  salubrious,  and 
the  planters  from  the  sickly  country  generally  retire  to  such  places  to 
spend  the  summer. 

Employment  of  the  People.  Cotton  is  the  grand  staple  of  Alabama. 
The  growing  of  this  article  has  increased  in  this  state  in  a  ratio  even 
greater  than  that  of  the  population.  Among  the  cotton  raising  states, 
this  now  takes  a  very  high  rank.  Sugar,  rice,  and  tobacco  are  also  cul- 
tivated. Many  of  the  people  about  Mobile  are  shepherds,  and  have 
droves  of  cattle,  numbering  from  500  to  1,000.  Swine  are  raised  with 
great  ease,  where  they  can  be  guarded  from  their  enemies,  wolves,  pan- 
thers, and  aligators.  The  small  breed  of  Indian  horses,  or  Spanish 
tackies,  as  they  are  called,  are  ugly,  but  hardy  and  strong,  and  are  better 
than  the  handsomer  horses  for  service.  The  country  trade  of  the  lower 
part  of  Alabama  is  to  Mobile,  Blakely,  and  Pensacola.  Considerable 
amounts  of  pitch,  tar,  turpentine,  and  lumber  are  exported.  The  cotton 
used  to  be  carried  to  New  Orleans.  Mobile  has  become  a  port  of  great 
export  for  cotton.  This  country,  so  near  Havana,  has  great  advantages 
for  navigation.  Sea  vessels  proceed  up  the  Alabama  to  a  considerable 
distance.  The  northern  parts  of  Alabama,  situated  in  the  Tennessee 
valley,  are  compelled  to  send  their  produce  by  a  very  circuitous  route, 
down  the  Tennessee,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Mississippi,  where  it  arrives  after 
a  passage  of  1,600  miles.  At  starting,  it  cannot  be  more  than  five  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  gulf.  There  is  little  hazard  in  asserting  that  the 
intelligent  and  opulent  people  in  the  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  of  the 
Tennessee,  will  canal  the  ridges  that  rise  between  them  and  the  waters 
of  the  Alabama,  and  will  unite  themselves  with  the  gulf  by  that  fine 
river. 

Chief  Towns.  Mobile  is  the  only  town  of  any  great  importance  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  state.  It  lies  on  the  west  side  of  Mobile  bay,  on  an 
elevated  plain,  in  latitude  30°  40'.  It  is  situated  considerably  above  the 
overflow  of  the  river,  in  a  dry  and  pleasant  situation.  Access  to  it  is 
rendered  somewhat  difficult  to  vessels  by  a  swampy  island  opposite  the 
town.  But  when  once  they  have  entered,  they  are  perfectly  secure  from 
winds,  storms,  and  enemies,  and  can  come  directly  to  the  town.  It  has 
swampy  lands  and  stagnant  waters  back  of  it,  and  near  it  a  sterile 
country  of  pine  woods.  From  these  causes,  though  it  had  been  one  of 
the  earliest  settled  towns  in  the  country,  it  never  became,  under  the 
Spanish  and  French  regime,  more  than  a  military  post.  Under  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  it  has  received  a  new  impulse  of  pros- 


ALABAMA.  '225 

perity.  But  a  few  years  since,  little  cotton  was  raised  in  the  whole 
country  connected  with  Mobile,  and  none  was  exported  directly  from 
this  place.  It  is  now  a  great  shipping  port  for  cotton,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  square  rigged  vessels  take  their  freight  from  this  city.  There  is 
no  other  port,  perhaps,  in  the  United  States,  of  the  same  size,  that  has  so 
large  an  amount  of  export.  After  New  Orleans  and  Charleston,  it  is  the 
largest  cotton  port  in  the  country.  It  is  enlivened,  too,  by  the  coming 
and  departing  of  many  steam  boats  that  ply  on  the  noble  river  above  the 
city.  In  addition  to  the  great  number  of  packet  schooners  that  sail 
between  this  place  and  New  Orleans,  some  by  the  lake,  and  some  by 
the  Mississippi,  there  is  now  a  steam  boat  communication  between  the 
two  cities,  by  the  way  of  lake  Ponchartrain.  Of  course,  except  during 
the  sickly  months,  it  is  a  place  of  great  activity  and  business.  Chiefly 
destroyed  not  long  since  by  a  destructive  fire,  it  has  been  rapidly  and 
handsomely  rebuilt  of  brick.  It  contains  2,000  free  whites,  and  1,500 
slaves  and  free  blacks:  total,  3,500.  The  public  buildings  are  a  court 
house  and  a  jail,  four  churches,  one  for  Roman  Catholics,  one  for  Episco- 
palians, one  for  Presbyterians,  and  one  for  Methodists.  A  Roman  Cath- 
olic college  is  erecting  at  Spring  Hill,  six  miles  from  the  city.  It  exported, 
1831,  110,000  bags  of  cotton.  It  has  the  disadvantage  of  a  shallow 
harbor,  which  is  moreover  growing  shallower  by  the  sand  deposited  by 
the  rivers.  The  most  fatal  impediment  to  the  advancement  of  this  town, 
is  its  acknowledged  character  for  sickness.  Advantage  has  been  taken 
of  this  circumstance,  to  commence  the  town  of  Blakely,  on  the  eastern 
and  opposite  side  of  the  bay,  and  at  ten  miles  distance.  The  site  is  free 
from  contiguous  swamps.  It  stands  on  the  Tensa,  the  largest  branch  of 
the  Mobile,  which  yields  deeper  water,  and  has  a  harbor  of  easier  access 
than  Mobile.  The  situation  is  open,  high,  and  dry,  and  it  has  cool  and 
limpid  springs  of  water,  and  superior  advantages  of  communication  with 
the  country  by  good  roads.  It  has  improved  considerably,  and  its  founders 
were  sanguine  that  it  would  speedily  eclipse  Mobile.  But  that  ancient 
town  had,  what  is  called  in  the  west  country  phrase, '  the  start,'  and  sus- 
tains its  pre-eminence  as  a  commercial  depot,  notwithstanding  its  frequent 
and  destructive  ravages  from  yellow  fever  and  fires.  Mobile  is  1,033 
miles  from  Washington,  and  226  S.  from  Tuscaloosa. 

St.  Stephens  is  on  the  Tombigbee,  120  miles  from  Mobile,  and  at  the 
head  of  schooner  navigation.  It  is  a  considerable  village,  with  stone 
houses ;  but  notwithstanding  a  favorable  position  in  the  midst  of  a  fine 
country,  wears  the  aspect  of  decay. 

Cahawba  has  been,  until  recently,  the  political  metropolis,  and  is  situ- 
ated at  the  junction  of  tho  Cahawba  with  the  Alabama.     County  courts 
are  held  here,  and  an  office  for  the  sale  of  public  lands.     The  circum- 
20 


226  ALABAMA. 

stance  of  its  having  been  the  metropolis,  gave  it  a  rapid  growth.  It  has 
a  considerable  number  of  handsome  buildings,  intermixed,  according  to 
the  common  fashion  of  new  towns,  with  a  great  many  temporary  log 
buildings.  Florida,  Claiborne,  Dumfries,  Jackson,  Coffeeville,  Demopc- 
lis,  and  Columbia  are  incipient,  and  some  of  them,  thriving  villages. 

Tuscaloosa,  at  the  falls  of  the  Black  Warrior,  is  permanently  fixed  as 
the  political  metropolis,  and  is  a  town  of  rapid  growth.  Its  situation, 
500  miles  from  Mobile,  is  elevated,  level,  and  beautiful.  It  contains 
2,000  inhabitants.  Many  of  the  buildings  arc  of  brick,  and  handsome. 
The  public  buildings  are  a  superb  state  house,  a  court  house  and  jail, 
four  churches,  one  for  Presbyterians,  one  for  Episcopalians,  one  for 
Baptists,  and  one  for  Methodists.  This  town  is  the  seat  of  the  new  and 
handsome  buildings  of  Alabama  college.  Beautiful  stone  for  buildings  is 
found  in  the  vicinity,  and  mineral  coal  of  the  best  quality  abounds  in  the 
banks  of  the  Black  Warrior.  Salt  works  from  water  recently  discovered 
are  in  successful  operation.     Tuscaloosa  is  858  miles  from  Washington. 

Montgomery,  the  shire  town  of  the  county  of  that  name,  is  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Alabama,  opposite  the  Big  Bend,  200 
miles  east  of  Mobile,  and  the  same  distance  west  of  Milledgeville  in 
Georgia.  The  public  buildings  are  a  court  house  and  jail,  one  church 
for  Presbyterians,  and  one  for  Methodists,  and  a  theatre.  It  contains 
800  inhabitants.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  fertile  soil,  rapidly  settling  with 
rich  planters,  chiefly  from  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  and  promises  to 
become  a  place  of  much  commercial  importance.  Washington,  Selma, 
and  Claiborne,  and  other  towns  on  the  Alabama,  are  inconsiderable  vil- 
lages. Thirty  miles  higher,  on  the  same  river,  is  Kelleysville,  a  thriving 
village.  Eagleville  is  principally  inhabited  by  French  emigrant?,  who 
calculated  to  cultivate  the  olive  and  the  vine.  Montgomery  is  859  miles 
from  Washington,  and  119  from  Tuscaloosa. 

The  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  of  the  Tennessee  has  a  very  different 
conformation,  as  the  river  communicates  by  a  long  and  circuitous  route  with 
the  Mississippi  and  New  Orleans.  This  valley  has  a  number  of  large 
and  flourishing  villages  of  its  own.  Thqjargcst  of  these  is  Huntsville, 
a  handsome  and  thriving  town,  situated  ten  or  fifteen  miles  north  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  fifty  from  the  Muscle  Shoals.  The  country  about  it  is 
extremely  fertile.  It  is  principally  built  of  brick,  with  some  spacious 
and  very  handsome  buildings,  a  Presbyterian  church,  a  Baptist  and  two 
Methodist  places  of  worship,  a  handsome  court  house,  and  other  public 
buildings.  One  of  those  large  and  beautiful  springs  that  are  so  common 
in  this  region,  furnishes  the  town  with  water  by  machinery  put  in  motion 
by  its  own  current. 

Florence  is  the  next  town  in  point  of  size,  and  in  u  commercial  view. 


ALABAMA.  227 

move  important  than  the  other.  It  is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Tennessee,  at  the  foot  of  the  Muscle  Shoals.  When  tho  river  is  in  a 
good  stage  of  water,  steam  boats  of  the  largest  size  can  come  up  to  this 
place.  It  has  in  this  way  a  great  and  increasing  intercourse  with  New 
Orleans.  It  has  about  1,400  inhabitants,  a  very  handsome  court  house, 
and  a  hotel  in  city  style.     It  has  also  a  Presbyterian  church. 

Tuscumbii  is  the  next  place  in  size  and  importance.  It  is  situated 
on  the  south  side  of  the  river  near  a  mile  from  its  banks,  and  five  miles 
from  Florence.  It  has  several  handsome  buildings,  and  1,000  inhabi- 
tants.    Russelville  is  also  a  new  town  of  some  importance. 

A  considerable  degree  of  munificence  has  been  manifested  by  the 
people  of  this  state  in  their  appropriations  for  schools,  roads,  bridges, 
canals,  and  other  works  of  public  utility.  An  appropriation  of  5  per  cent, 
of  the  net  proceeds  of  all  the  public  lands  in  the  state  has  been  provided 
for  these  objects.  A  rail  road  has  been  commenced  at  Tuscumbia, 
which  is  intended  to  connect  with  some  point  of  the  Tennessee  above 
Muscle  Shoals;  and  a  convention  recently  called  to  deliberate  upon 
internal  improvements  expedient  for  the  state,  have  recommended  a  rail 
road  or  canal  communication  between  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee  and 
the  navigable  waters  of  North  Carolina.  General  Jackson's  military 
road  between  lake  Ponchartrain  and  Florence  in  this  state,  runs  almost 
in  a  right  line  330  miles.  If  fully  completed  and  kept  in  good  repair,  it 
would  be  of  the  greatest  national  utility.  There  are  two  or  three  canals 
in  contemplation.  There  is  no  point  where  one  seems  to  be  more  called 
for,  than  between  die  waters  of  the  Tennessee  and  Alabama. 

County  Toicns.  Washington,  Centreville,  Bluntsville,  Greenville, 
Clarksville,  Sparta,  Fayette,  Erie,  Columbia,  Bellfonte,  Elkton,  Moulton, 
Athens,  Lowndes,  Linden,  Pikeville,  Somerville,  Pickensville,  Pike, 
Ashville,  Shelbyville,  Walker,  Washington,  Canton. 

Constitution  and  Laws.  They  have  the  common  features  of  those  of 
the  other  states.  The  legislative  body  is  styled  '  the  Assembly.'  The 
senators  are  elected  for  a  triennial,  and  the  representatives  for  an  annual 
term.  The  governor  serves  two  years,  and  is  eligible  only  four  years 
out  6f  six.  The  judiciary  consists  of  a  supreme  and  circuit  court,  together 
with  subordinate  courts  appointed  by  the  legislature.  The  judges  are 
appointed  by  the  legislature,  and  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior. 
All  persons  over  twenty-one  years  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  are 
electors. 


MISSISSIPPI. 


Tins  state  is  not  far  from  300  miles  in  average  length,  and  160  in 
average  breadth.  Between  30°  and  34°  N.  latitude;  and  11°  and  14° 
W.  longitude  from  Washington.  It  contains  28,000,000  acres.  Bounded 
on  the  north  by  Tennessee ;  east  by  Alabama ;  south  by  the  gulf  of  Mex- 
ico and  Louisiana;  west  by  Louisiana  and  the  Mississippi. 

CIVIL  DIVISIONS. 

Names  of  the  Counties.  Adams,  Natchez,  city,  Amite,  Claiborne, 
Copiah,  Covington,  Franklin,  Greene,  Hancock,  Hinds,  Jackson,  Jeffer- 
son, Jones,  Lawrence,  Lowndes,  Madison,  Marion,  Monroe,  Perry,  Pike, 
Rankin,  Simpson,  Warren,  Washington,  Wayne,  Wilkinson,  Yazoo. 

Population.     Free  whites,  42,176.     Slaves,  32,814.  '  Total,  74,990. 

Face  of  the  Country.  There  arc  a  number  of  distinct  ranges  of  hills 
of  moderate  elevation  in  this  state,  beside  a  singular  succession  of  emi- 
nences that  show  conspicuously  in  descending  the  Mississippi.  Some  of 
the  bases  of  these  hills  are  washed  by  this  river.  They  arc  the  Walnut 
Hills,  Grand  Gulf,  Natchez,  White  Cliffs,  and  Loftus'  Heights.  In  other 
places  they  appear  near  the  river,  or  in  the  distance,  as  at  Petit  Gulf,  Villa 
Gayosa,  and  Pine  Ridge.  Two  of  these  ranges  divide  the  state  nearly 
in  its  whole  extent,  and  separate  it  into  sectional  divisions.  In  advancing 
from  the  bottoms  of  the  Mississippi,  there  is  every  where,  at  a  grater 
or  less  distance  from  the  river,  an  appearance  of  bluffs,  which,  when 
mounted,  spread  out  into  a  kind  of  table  surface,  waving  pleasantly;  but 
in  many  instances,  tho  richest  table  lands  have  precipitous  benches, 
which  expose  the  land  to  what  is  technically  called  by  the  agriculturalists, 
*  washing.'  This  is  a  misfortune  to  which  the  richest  lands  in  this  state 
are  most  subjected. 

Pine  Ridge  is  a  singular  elevation.  It  approaches  within  a  mile  of 
tho  Mississippi,  and  is  a  high  belt  of  pine  land,  like  an  island,  in  the 


-  Mississippi.  220 

midst  of  surrounding  rich  land,  timbered  with  hard  woods.  We  know  of 
no  pine  so  near  the  Mississippi,  except  in  one  place  in  the  county  of 
Capo  Girardeau  in  Missouri,  for  a  distance  of  1,700  miles.  In  the  north- 
ern section  of  the  state,  inhabited  by  the  Chcrokccs  and  Chactaws,  the 
land  rises  into  rcgulqj^nd  pleasant  undulations.  The  soil  is  deep,  black, 
and  rich,  presenting,  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  singular  appearance  of  hills 
covered  with  high  cane  brake.  From  their  precipitous  character,  these 
fertile  and  pleasant  hills  are  subject  to  the  general  inconvenience  of 
washing.  The  country  inhabited  by  the  Chickasaws,  north-west  of  the 
Yazoo,  is  also  of  a  surface  charmingly  variegated  with  swells  and  vallies 
of  great  fertility,  and  abounding  in  fine  springs. 

The  White  Cliffs  are  just  below  Catharine's  creek.  Loftus'  Heights 
are  a  few  miles  lower  on  the  river.  They  are  150  feet  high.  In  the 
strata  of  this  hill  are  seen  the  last  stones  that  are  discovered  on  descend- 
ing the  Mississippi.  They  are  visible  only  in  low  stages  of  water.  They 
are  of  the  class  commonly  called  breccia,  cemented  with  pebbles  and 
other  matters  into  a  mass,  apparently  of  recent  formation.  There  is 
probably  no  state  in  the  union,  and  few  countries  in  the  world,  of  a  more 
pleasantly  diversified  surface,  more  happily  distributed  into  hills  and 
vallies,  than  the  surface  of  this  state. 

Rivers.  The  Mississippi  washes  the  western  shore  of  this  state  for  a 
distance,  following  its  meanders,  of  nearly  seven  hundred  miles.  The 
right  line  of  the  Mississippi  shore  is  less  than'  half  that  distance.  But 
the  river  is  here  remarkably  circuitous,  often  curving  round  seven  or 
eight  leagues,  and  almost  returning  back  on  its  course.  The  greater 
part  of  this  -long  line  of  river  coast,  unfortunately,  is  inundated  swamp, 
very  thinly  inhabited,  except  by  wood  cutters  for  the  steam  boats,  and 
seldom  seen  by  any  other  than  people  travelling  on  the  river.  There  is 
here  and  there  a  position  so  high  as  to  be  capable  of  being  occupied  as 
a  plantation.  But  these  uncommon  elevations  soon  slope  back  to  the 
cypress  swamps. 

The  Yazoo  is  the  most  considerable  river  whose  course  is  wholly  in 
this  state.  It  rises  in  the  Chickasaw  country,  in  latitude  34°  28',  near 
the  limits  of  Tennessee,  and  its  head  waters  almost  communicate  with 
those  of  Tomb igbee.  From  its  source  it  runs  a  north-west  course,  re- 
ceiving the  Busha  Yalo,  the  Tallahatchee,  Lappataba,  Buffalo  creek,  and 
a  number  of  less  considerable  streams,  and  by  a  mouth  one  hundred 
yards  wide,  falls  into  the  Mississippi  twelve  miles  above  the  Walnut 
Hills.  Its  course  is  through  a  high,  pleasant,  *  and  salubrious  country, 
chiefly,  however,  claimed  and  inhabited  by  Indians.  They  inhabit  the 
country  by  the  course  of  the  river,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  its 
mouth.     It  is  generally  beatable  by  large  boats  fifty  miles,  and  in  the 


230  Mississippi. 

higher  stages  of  the  water,  to  the  Busha  Yalo,  the  missionary  station. 
There  is  fine  building  stone  on  this  river,  in  positions  favorable  for  con- 
veyance to  New  Orleans,  being  the  nearest  to  that  city  of  any  on  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  'backed  up,'  .as  the  phrase  is,  by  the 
Mississippi,  in  high  stages  of  water,  or  inundated#>y  its  own  rise  for  a 
number  of  miles  from  its  mouth.  Twelve  miles  above  its  mouth  are  the 
Yazoo  Hills,  and  four  miles  higher,  the  site  of  fort  St.  Peter,  where  was 
an  ancient  French  settlement,  destroyed  in  1729  by  the  Yazoo  Indians, 
a  nation  which,  in  its  turn,  has  long  since  been  extinct.  On  this  river 
and  the  country  which  it  waters,  was  the  scene  of  the  famous  Yazoo 
speculation,  which  will  be  long  and  bitterly  remembered  by  certain 
unfortunate  speculators ;  and  forgotten  as  soon  as  may  be,  by  certain 
corporate  bodies  concerned  in  the  sale.  Big  Black  or  Lousa  Chitto, 
forty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  enters  the  Mississippi  just  above  the  Grand 
Gulf.  Measuring  its  meanders,  it  has  a  course  of  two  hundred  miles. 
It  rises  between  the  head  waters  of  the  Yazoo  and  Pearl  rivers,  and 
interlocks  with  the  boatable  waters  of  the  latter  stream.  It  is  navigable, 
in  moderate  stages  of  the  water,  fifty  miles.  The  hills  of  this  river 
approach  near  the  Mississippi.  At  some  distance  up  this  river,  where 
the  high  lands  appear  upon  both  sides,  some  New  England  adventurers, 
headed  by  General  Putnam,  selected  a  place  for  a  town.  It  was  in 
1773,  when  this  region  was  supposed  to  appertain  to  West  Florida.  The 
soil  is  fine  and  the  situation  eligible.  There  is  stone  for  building,  and 
the  place  seems  to  have  been  judiciously  selected.  Homochitto  is  a 
large  stream,  having  half  the  comparative  length  of  Big  Black.  It 
meanders  in  a  south-west  course  to  the  Mississippi.  It  is  formed  by  two 
principal  forks.  A  few  miles  before  it  enters  the  Mississippi,  it  passes 
through  a  lake.  It  traverses  a  fertile  and  well  settled  country  of  opulent 
planters.  Like  the  Yazoo,  it  is  inundated  for  a  long  distance  above  its 
mouth. 

Bayou  Pierre,  Cole's  creek,  Fairchild's  creek,  and  St.  Catharine's 
creek,  enter  the  Mississippi  in  succession  below  Big  Black.  They  have 
short  courses,  but  generally  a  fine  soil  adjacent  to  their  waters.  On 
Bayou  Pierre  is  the  important  settlement  and  village  of  Gibson  Port. 
Buffalo  creek  enters  the  Mississippi  a  little  above  the  heights  of  fort 
Adams.  Here  at  Loftus'  Heights,  commences  a  chain  of  hills  which 
stretches  north-eastwardly  from  the  Mississippi,  and  separates  the  waters 
of  Bogue  Chitto  and  Amite  from  those  of  Homochitto  and  Buffalo.  On 
the  southern  side  of  these  ridges,  the  waters  flow  into  the  Amite  and  lake 
Ponchartrain,  and  on  the  northern,  into  tho  Mississippi. 

The  Amite  meanders  from  its  source  in  these  hills  to  the  Ibberville  or 
Bayou  Manshac,  an  clllux  of  the  Mississippi.    The  Amite  unites  with 


MIS6IS8I1TI.  231 

this  Bayou  forty  miles  above  lake  Maurcpas.  The  Ainitc  traverses  a 
pleasant,  productive,  and  well  settled  country,  generally  timbered  with 
hard  woods,  and  having  fine  springs. 

Pearl  river  is,  next  to  the  Yazoo,  the  most  important  river  that  has  its 
whole  course  in  this  state.  It  rises  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  state, 
between  the  two  parallel  ranges  of  lulls  that  divide  it  into  sections.  A 
number  of  branches  unite  to  form  the  main  river,  which  is  afterwards 
increased  by  the  Chunka  and  other  streams.  It  passes  by  Monticello 
and  Jackson,  and  through  a  country  generally  fertile,  healthy,  and  pleas- 
ant, until  it  touches  the  eastern  boundary  of  Louisiana,  after  which,  it 
receives  the  Bogue  Lousa  and  Bogue  Chitto,  and  thence,  running  between 
this  state  and  Louisiana,  it  enters  the  rigolcts  between  lake  Ponchartrain 
and  Borgne.  The  lands  watered  are  for  the  most  part  fertile,  though  it 
sometimes  traverses  the  sterile  region  of  pine  woods.  Some  legislative 
efforts  have  been  made  to  improve  the  navigation  of  this  stream,  which 
derives  importance  from  its  being  one  of  the  chief  points  of  communica- 
tion between  this  state  and  the  gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Pascagoula  rises  in 
latitude  33°,  and  preserves  a  course  parallel  to  the  Tombigbee.  It  has 
a  length  of  250  miles.  Vessels  of  considerable  draught  ascend  it  to  Leaf 
river.  It  receives  in  its  course  a  great  number  of  tributary  streams,  of 
which,  Chickasaw,  Leaf,  Dog,  and  Tacothamba  are  the  principal.  It 
has  some  fertile  alluvions  and  hammock  lands;  but  traverses,  for  the 
most  part,  a  region  of  pine  country,  sterile,-  but  well  watered,  healthy, 
and  affording  in  its  timber  and  its  conveniences  for  navigation,  a  com- 
pensation for  its  want  of  fertility.  At  its  mouth  it  broadens  into  an  open 
bay,  on  which,  at  the  town  of  its  own  name,  is  a  retreat  of  resort  for  the 
inhabitants  of  New  Orleans,  during  the  sickly  months. 

Islands.  Those  of  the  Mississippi  are  low  and  inundated.  The 
islands  in  the  gulf,  within  six  leagues  of  the  front  of  the  state,  belong  to 
it.  They  are  eight  or  nine  in  number,  of  which  Ship  and  Horn  islands 
are  the  chief.  They  are  generally  sterile  and  covered  with  pines  and 
grass. 

Climate.  This  state,  excepting  a  small  tract  which  fronts  upon  the 
gulf,  constitutes  a  belt,  lying  between  the  wheat  and  the  sugar  cane 
regions ;  in  other  words,  the  climate  appropriate  to  cotton.  This  is  the 
region  where,  in  the  humid  places,  the  long  moss  is  seen  attaching  itself 
to  the  tree.  The  latanier  or  palmetto,  in  the  brightness  of  its  winter 
verdure,  gives  tropical  features  to  the  landscape.  Alligators  are  seen  in 
the  stagnant  waters.  The  family  of  laurels  begins  to  be  more  numerous , 
and  the  laurel  magnolia  shows  itself  among  them.  Southern  shrubs 
and  flowers,  to  one  coming  from  the  north,  present  the  aspect  of  a  new 
climate.     It  is  unfortunate  for  this  state,  that  its  western  front,  bordering 


232  Mississippi. 

on  the  Mississippi,  is  so  much  exposed  to  inundation ;  and  that  from  the 
same  circumstance,  most  of  the  streams  that  enter  the  Mississippi,  are 
uninhabitable  for  some  distance  from  their  mouth.  At  present,  in  de- 
scending the  river,  the  traveller  looks  in  vain,  along  this  very  extended 
front,  for  the  palpable  evidence  of  the  opulence  for  which  this  state  is-  so 
deservedly  celebrated.  He  sees  a  few  singular  bluffs  rising  in  succes- 
sion, sometimes  at  long  intervals,  from  a  dreary  wilderness  of  inundated 
swamp.  The  river  on  this  front  having  much  higher  inundations  than 
lower  down,  it  may  be  long  before  the  people  here  will  levee  the  rich 
alluvions  as  they  have  done  in  the  state  below.  But  when  it  is  done,  an 
immense  body  of  the  most  fertile  soil  will  be  redeemed  from  inundation ; 
and  the  state  will  gain  as  much  in  salubrity  as  in  opulence.  Even  as  it 
is,  the  greater  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  state  is  waving  hills,  and  the 
whole  amount  of  inundated  lands  is  less  than  in  either  of  the  -other  south- 
ern divisions  of  this  valley. 

Compared  with  Louisiana,  its  waters  have  the  same  fishes,  and  in 
winter  and  spring,  the  same  varieties  of  water  fowls  and  birds  of  beautiful 
plumage  and  song ;  and  its  forests  and  prairies — for  this  state,  too,  has  its 
prairies — the  same  varieties  of  trees  and  flowering  shrubs  and  plants, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  as  that  state,  and  they  will  be  described  under 
the  head  of  that  state.  In  health,  it  has  decidedly  the  advantage.  In 
that  state,  most  of  the  planters  cultivate  the  deep  river  and  bayou  allu- 
vions, and  stagnant  waters  are  more  abundant.  In  this  state,  where  the 
planters  are  fixed  remote  from  stagnant  waters,  which  in  such  a  southern 
climate  must  always  be  more  or  less  destructive  to  health,  and  have  access 
to  pure  spring  water,  there  is,  perhaps,  no  part  of  the  United  States, 
where  the  inhabitants  enjoy  better  health.  The  summers,  indeed,  are 
long,  and  the  heat  sustained  and  sometimes  intense ;  and  during  the  last 
of  summer  and  first  of  autumn,  the  people  in  the  healthy  districts  are 
subject  to  bilious  attacks,  sometimes  slightly,  and  sometimes  severe.  But 
in  return,  they  are  in  a  great  measure  free  from  pulmonary  and  catarrhal 
affections,  which  are  so  common  and  fatal  in  the  more  northern  regions 
of  the  United  States.  From  the  centre  of  this  state  to  its  southern  front, 
its  climate  compares  pretty  accurately  with  that  of  south  Alabama, 
Georgia,  the  northern  belt  of  Florida,  and  Louisiana.  From  October  to 
June,  no  climate  can  be  more  delightful.  It  has,  indeed,  in  winter,  a 
marked  advantage  over  that  of  the  regions  just  mentioned.  It  is  some- 
what less  subject  to  the  frequent  and  drenching  rains  of  Florida  and  Lou- 
isiana. The  people  in  general  arc  healthy,  and  in  travelling  through  the 
state,  wo  sco  countenances  tanned  and  browned  by  frequent  exposure  to 
a  southern  sun;  but,  at  the  same  time,  indicating  vigorous  and  cheerful 
health. 


MISSISSIPPI.  233 

Indians.  The  principal  tribes  in  this  state  are  the  Chactaws  and 
Chickasaws.  The  numbers  of  the  former  tribe  are  rated  at  20,000,  and 
the  latter  at  nearly  4,000.  They  are  at  present  in  a  semi-savage  state, 
and  exhibit  the  interesting  spectacle  of  a  people  intermediate  between 
the  hunter's  and  the  civilized  state.  A  curious  compound  of  character 
results  from  this  order  of  things.  Most  of  their  ancient  instincts  and 
habits  may  still  be  traced  amidst  the  changes,  introduced  by  agriculture 
and  municipal  regulations.  Many  of  them  have  good  houses,  slaves, 
enclosures,  and  cattle.  They  have  ploughs,  looms,  and  blacksmiths1  shops 
in  operation,  and  are  beginning  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  coarser 
mechanic  arts.  They  have  also  commenced  the  adoption  of  our  laws 
and  modes  of  judicature.  An  Indian  denominated  squire  and  judge,  be- 
comes at  once  an  important  personage,  and  these  titles  answer  instead  of 
a  cocked  hat,  a  red  coat,  and  a  medal.  The  different  religious  denomi- 
nations in  the  United  States,  have  made  a  great  and  persevering  effort 
to  convey  to  them  the  blessings  of  education  and  Christianity.  The 
principal  missionary  station,  under  the  patronage  of  the  American  board 
for  foreign  missions,  in  this  state,  is  at  Elliot,  on  the  Yalo  Busha  creek, 
forty  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Yazoo,  and  one  hundred  and  forty 
five  from  the  Walnut  Hills,  on  the  Mississippi.  There  are  a  number  of 
subordinate  stations  connected  with  this  principal  one.  Each  station  con- 
stitutes a  kind  of  religious  family  within  itself,  and  has  its  minister,  in- 
structors, male  and  female,  its  farmer,  or  agricultural  overseer,  and  its 
chief  artizans.  They  are  all  supposed  to  be  religious  characters.  Schools 
for  the  reception  of  Indian  pupds,  constitute  a  main  part  of  their  plan; 
and,  on  the  wisest  premises,  they  calculate,  by  showing  in  their  own 
society  and  example  the  influence  of  christian  order  and  discipline,  and 
by  sedulous  instruction  of  children,  to  communicate  education  and  the 
rudiments  of  Christianity  at  the  same  time,  by  precept  and  example;  and 
by  showing  in  their  own  well  cultivated  fields,  the  best  modes  of  agri- 
culture, and  by  training  their  youthful  pupils  in  the  labors  of  the  field, 
at  once  to  inspire  them  with  the  requisite  patience,  industry,  and  love  of 
agriculture,  to  qualify  them  for  commencing  a  new  and  agricultural  life. 
They  witness  a  growing  attention  of  the  Indians  to  the  municipal  and 
christian  modes  of  life  in  the  increased  number  of  their  pupils,  which, 
from  the  last  reports,  appear  to  be  very  considerable.  They  have  large 
fields,  good  houses,  mechanic  shops,  regular  worship ;  and  the  praises  of 
God  and  the  Redeemer,  in  the  sweet  and  cultivated  strains  of  church 
music,  resound  in  these  ancient  forests,  instead  of  the  war  and  death-song 
of  the  savages.  The  plan  and  the  whole  system  are  entirely  novel  in 
die  annals  of  christian  exertion.  It  is  a  kind  of  protestant  monastic 
establishment,  with  modifications  suited  to  the  more  practical  views  of 

30 


234  Mississippi. 

that  church,  and  constitutes  a  most  interesting  and  striking  feature  in 
the  missionary  exertions  of  the  present  day.  All  good  minds  must  be 
disposed  to  wish  them  every  degree  of  success.  They  have  a  fine  coun- 
try, fertile  soil,  hills,  springs,  prairies,  copses,  beautiful  scenery,  and  a 
mild  climate,  which  has  hitherto  proved  as  salubrious  as  they  could  have 
anticipated;  and  their  prospects  for  the  future  are  encouraging.  They 
are,  to  a  certain  degree,  patronised  and  aided  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States. 

Agriculture  and  Pursuits  of  the  People.  All  the  kinds  of  grains, 
fruits,  and  vegetables,  that  can  be  cultivated  in  Alabama,  can  also  be 
grown  here.  The  sugar  cane  has  hitherto  been  attempted  only  on  its 
southern  frontier.  The  sweet  orange  is  raised  on  the  lower  waters  of 
Pascagoula  and  Pearl  rivers.  The  live  oak,  too,  is  only  seen  in  this  part 
of  the  state.  In  the  middle  regions,  figs,  grapes  of  all  sorts,  tobacco, 
maize,  sweet  potatoes,  rice,  indigo,  squashes,  melons,  plums,  peaches, 
and  various  other  vegetables  and  fruits  come  to  full  perfection.  The 
castor  bean,  or  palma  christi,  and  the  berme  plant  are  sometimes  raised. 
In  the  high  and  midland  regions,  it  is  affirmed  that  apples  and  pears 
arrive  at  tolerable  perfection.  This  state,  being  on  the  southern  verge  of 
the  medial  climate,  is  a  country  where  a  great  variety  of  the  articles  of 
the  north  and  the  south  may  be  expected  to  come  to  maturity. 

Cotton  is  the  grand  staple,  and  grows  in  perfection  in  all  parts  of  the 
state.  It  is,  perhaps,  too  exclusively  the  object  of  thought,  attention,  and 
cultivation.  In  the  early  part  of  the  season,  the  conversation  turns  up^on 
the  point,  how  the  crop  stands ;  that  is,  whether  it  has  germinated,  and 
remained  in  a  healthy  and  vigorous  state?  The  next  object  of  anxiety 
is,  whether  it  takes,  as  the  phrase  is, '  the  rot;'  then  about  the  favorable- 
ness  of  the  season  for  picking;  then  the  state  of  the  gins,  and  the  amount 
bailed.  The  last  and  most  interesting  of  all  is  the  price  it  is  likely  to 
bear.  In  the  halcyon  days,  when  cotton  brought  twenty-eight  and  thirty 
cents  per  pound,  there  were  planters  who  had  thirty  and  forty  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  as  the  income  of  their  crop.  In  those  times,  some  of  the 
planters  secured  independent  fortunes,  and  many  of  them  became  affluent. 
Even  at  the  present  very  reduced  prices,  no  planters  in  the  United  States 
have  better  incomes  in  proportion  to  their  capital  and  hands,  than  those 
of  this  state.  The  number  of  working  hands  on  a  plantation  varies  from 
twenty  to  two  hundred.  It  is  but  recently  that  the  inhabitants  have  been 
much  in  the  habit  of  travelling  out  of  their  own  state.  They  are,  for 
the  most  part,  a  plain,  simple,  industrious,  hospitable,  and  respectable 
people,  accustomed  to  a  retired  life  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  They 
arc  generally  and  honorably,  with  some  few  exceptions,  kind  and  indul- 
gent masters  to  their  slaves.     A  few  who  have  acquired  fortunes  without 


mis  s  i  s  a  i  p  pi  .  •£&"> 

much  previous  education  or  refinement,  and  measuring  their  own  know- 
ledge, acquirements,  and  importance  only  by  their  intercourse  with  their 
slaves,  are  astonished  when  they  go  abroad,  to  find  that  there  are  other 
requisites,  in  order  to  be  sought  after  and  introduced  into  the  best  circles, 
than  the  possession  of  money  and  slaves. 

Attention  to  Schools,  Religion,  Sfc.  The  same  appropriations  for  pub- 
lic works,  and  for  education,  are  made  in  this  state  as  in  Alabama.  The 
benefits  of  a  common  school  education  are  not  so  extensively  enjoyed  in 
any  of  the  southern  states  of  this  valley,  as  could  be  wished.  The 
whole  business  is  generally  managed  by  subscription  and  voluntary  asso- 
ciation. Where  this  is  the  case,  and  where  there  is  no  direct  interference 
of  the  legislature,  to  compel  the  people  to  educate  their  children,  many 
of  the  reckless  and  inconsiderate  will  suffer  them  to  grow  up  without 
any  education.  There  are  ample  public  funds  for  the  endowment  of 
schools ;  and  there  is  a  growing  sense  of  the  importance  of  schools,  on 
the  public  mind.  A  seminary,  entitled  'Jefferson  college,'  is  incorpo- 
rated at  Washington,  near  Natchez.  It  ranks  with  the  academies  of  the 
Atlantic  country.  Another  institution,  called  a  college,  is  incorporated 
at  Shieldsborough;  and  there  are  flourishing  public  schools  at  Natchez, 
Woodville,  and  Montieello. 

Constitution.     In  every  principal  feature  the  same  as  that  of  Alabama. 

Chief  Towns.  Montieello,  the  capital  of  Lawrence  county,  and  re- 
cently of  the  state,  is  a  pleasant  and  flourishing  village,  on  the  west  bank 
of  Pearl  river.  Gibson  Port,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  Bayou  Pierre, 
is  situated  in  the  centre  of  a  rich  country,  and  is  a  village  of  considera- 
ble importance.  Greenville,  Woodville,  and  Winchester  are  flourishing 
villages.  Shieldsborough  is  situated  on  the  west  side  of  the  bay  of  St. 
Louis.  It  is  swept  by  the  cool  breezes  of  the  gulf,  and  though  it  has  not 
always  been  exempt  from  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever,  is  a  famed  resort 
for  the  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans  during  the  sickly  months. 

Jackson,  near  the  head  of  Pearl  river,  and  on  a  site  lately  acquired 
from  the  Chactaw  Indians,  has  been  selected  as  the  permanent  seat  of 
government  for  the  state.  It  is  a  central,  healthy  and  pleasant  position, 
and  the  circumstance  of  its  being  the  political  metropolis,  will  soon 
cause  it  to  become  a  place  of  importance. 

Warrenton,  below  the  Walnut  Hills,  is  a  considerable  village  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  from  which  arc  exported  large  quantities  of  cot- 
ton. Vicksburgh,  just  below  the  commencement  of  the  Walnut  Hills,  is 
one  of  the  many  towns  in  the  western  country  which  have  been  the 
growth  of  but  a  few  j  ears.  It  is  not  more  than  five  or  six  years  old, 
and  it  is  now  a  considerable  village,  with  a  number  of  stores,  lawj^ers, 
and  physicians.     It  has  a  printing  press  and  a  journal.     Many  boats  are 


236 


MISSISSIPPI. 


always  lying  in  the  harbor,  and  it  sends  off  a  great  amount  of -cotton. 
Steam  boats  regularly  ply  between  this  place  and  New  Orleans.  It  is  a 
most  singular  position  for  a  town,  on  the  shelving  declivity  of  high  hills, 
and  the  houses  are  scattered  in  groups  on  the  terraces. 

Natchez  is  by  far  the  largest  town  in  the  state,  and  is  incorporated  as 
a  city.     It  is  romantically  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
on  a  very  high  bluff,  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  above  New  Orleans. 
The  river  business  is  transacted  at  the  division  of.  the  town  which  is 
called  'under  the  hill,'  a  repulsive  place,  and  unhappily,  but  too  often 
the  resort  of  all  that  is  vile  from  the  upper  and  lower  country.     Great 
numbers  of  boats  are  always  lying  here,  and  the  place  is  filled  with 
boatmen,  mulattos,  houses  of  ill  fame  and  their  wretched  tenants,  in  short, 
the  refuse  of  the  human  race.     There  are,  however,  very  respectable 
merchants  resident  '  under  the  hill.'     The  upper  town  is  situated  on  the 
summit  of  a  bluff,  three  hundred  feet  above  the  common  level  of  the 
river,  from  which  there  is  a  prospect  of  the  cultivated  margin  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, in  Concordia  on  the  opposite  shore;  and  the  eye  traverses  the 
boundless  and  level  surfaces  of  the  cypress  swamps  beyond.     On  the 
the  eastern  side,  the  country  is  waving,  rich,  and  beautiful ;  the  eminen- 
ces presenting  open  woods,  covered  with  grape  vines,  and  here  and  there 
neat  country  houses.     The  town  itself  is  quiet;  the  streets  broad ;  some 
of  the  public  buildings  handsome ;  and  the  whole  has  the  appearance  of 
comfort  and  opulence.     It  is  the  principal  town  in  this  region  for  the 
shipment  of  cotton,  with  bales  of  which,  at  the  proper  season  of  the  year, 
the  streets  arc  almost  barricaded.     Some  opulent  planters  reside  here, 
and  there  is  a  respectable  and  polished  society.     The  physicians  and 
lawyers  arc  distinguished  in  their  profession,  and  there  is  no  inconsidera- 
ble attention  to  literature.     A  very  numerous  population  from  the  con- 
tiguous country  makes  its  purchases  here,  and  it  is  a  place  of  great  trade 
for  its  size.     The  people  arc  noted  for  opulence  and  hospitality.     From 
the  heights  in  this  city,  they  show  you  the  site  of  fort  Rosalie,  the  scene 
of  the  wild,  but  splendid  and  affecting  romance  of  Attala.     There  is  a 
Presbyterian,  an  Episcopal,  a  Roman  Catholic,  a  Baptist,  and  Methodist 
church  here,  and  the  people  show  a  great,  and  for  the  southern  country, 
an  uncommon  attention  to  the  ordinances  of  worship  and  religion.     The 
court  house  makes   a  respectable   appearance.      Notwithstanding   the 
cleanliness,  elevation,  and  apparent  purity  of  the  atmosphere  of  this 
town,  it  has  been  often  visited  with  yellow  fever.     To  this  circumstance 
it.  is  undoubtedly  owing,  that  its  population  does  not  advance  as  might  be 
expected  from  its  beautiful  position.     It  contains  not  far  from  3,000  in- 
habitants.    Steam  boats  are  constantly  coming  to  this  place  or  departing 
from  it;  and  the  arriving  and  departing  gun  is  heard  at  all  hours  of  the 


M  i  s  s  r  s  s  1 1>  p  i .  237 

day  and  of  the  night;  and  as  they  are  seen  sweeping  along  the  majestic 
river,  they  add  greatly  to  the  grandeur  and  interest  of  the  scenery  of  this 
town. 

Washington  is  a  pleasant  and  healthy  village,  five  miles  in  the  interior 
from  Natchez,  and  is  a  resort  as  a  place  of  retirement  from  that  town 
when  sickly.  It  is  the  seat  of  Jefferson  college,  which  is  an  institution 
with  considerable  endowment,  and  under  its  present  respectable  teachers 
promises  to  become  a  seminary  of  importance. 

History.  The  greater  part  of  this  state  was  originally  occupied  by 
the  Chactaws  and  other  Indians.  Their  title  has  been  chiefly  extinguished 
by  purchased  cessions  of  lands.  The  state,  by  a  recent  enactment,  has 
extended  its  political  jurisdiction  over  them,  and  declared  them  subject 
to  its  laws. 

Mississippi  was  admitted  into  the  union  in  1817.  By  a  recent  enact- 
ment it  has  abolished  a  former  law  which  prohibited  the  location  of  a 
branch  bank  of  the  United  States  in  this  state.  Near  Natchez  were  the 
central  villages  of  the  interesting  nation  of  Natchez  Indians,  now  extinct. 
Question  about,  the  territorial  right  to  this  region,  was  long  the  apple  of 
discord  between  the  Spanish  and  French,  the  Spanish  and  English,  and 
between  the  government  of  the  former  and  that  of  the  United  States. 
Alabama  was  recently  taken  from  it. 


LOUISIANA. 


Length,  240  miles.  Breadth,  210;  containing  48,220  square  miles. 
Between  29°  and  33°  30'  N.  latitude,  and  12°  and  17°  3'  W.  longitude. 
Bounded  east  by  Mississippi  state,  and  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  by  the 
river  Mississippi  from  31°  to  33°,  and  thence  by  the  parallel  of  31°  to 
Pearl  river ;  thence  by  that  stream  to  its  mouth ;  south  by  the  gulf  of 
Mexico;  west  by  the  river  Sabine,  which  separates  it  from  the  Mexican 
States,  and  following  that  river  to  the  parallel  of  32°,  thence  due  north 
to  33°,  thence  due  east  to  the  Mississippi. 

CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 

Names  of  the  Parishes,  S$c.  Ascension,  (parish,)  Assumption,  (do.) 
Avoyelles,  (do.)  Baton  Rouge,  east,  (do.)  Baton  Rouge,  west,  (do.) 
Claiborne,  (do.)  Concordia,  (do.)  Ibberville,  (do.)  Lafourche,  interior, 
(do.)  Natchiotoches,  (do.)  New  Orleans,  (city,)  New  Orleans,  (parish,) 
Catahoula,  (do.)  Opclousas,  (county,)  Plaquemine,  (parish,)  Point  Cou- 
pee, (county,)  Rapides,  (parish,)  St.  Bernard,  (do.)  St.  Charles,  (do.)  St. 
Helena,  (do.)  St.  James,  (do.)  St.  John  Baptiste,  (do.)  St.  Tammany,  (do.) 
Washington,  (do.)  Washita,  (do.) 

Population,  by  the  Census  of  1830.  Free  whites,  89,191.  Slaves, 
109,031.  Total,  215,575.  The  most  populous  parts  of  the  state,  after 
New  Orleans,  are  the  coast,  Feliciana,  Attakpasas,  and  Opelousas,  and 
the  parishes  of  Rapides  and  Natchitoches. 

In  1785,  what  is  now  the  state  of  Louisiana,  contained,  under  the 
Spanish  government,  27,283  inhabitants.  In  1810,  it  being  then  the 
Territory  of  Orleans,  under  the  American  government,  it  contained 
75,550,  of  which  84,660  were  slaves.  In  1820,  153,407.  This  shows 
a  very  rapid  increase  in  population.  It  nearly  tripled  in  seventeen  years, 
proceeding  1810.  It  more  than  doubled  between  1810  and  1820.  Ex- 
traordinary as  this  ratio  of  increase  is,  it  is  by  no  means  in  proportion  to 
that  of  many  other  of  the  western  states. 


LOUISIANA.  239 

No  state  in  the  union  has  a  greater  body  of  first  rate  land,-  though 
nine-tenths  of  the  good  alluvial  district,  from  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi 
to  the  mouth  of  Red  river,  is  either  annually  overflowed,  or  perpetually 
covered  with  shallow  lakes,  forever  steaming  miasm  into  the  atmosphere. 
Were  the  same  labor  and  expense  which  have  been  bestowed  in  digging 
for  gold  in  the  gold  districts  of  the  south,  applied  in  draining  and  canal- 
ling  this  vast  dismal  and  noxious  swamp,  the  avails  of  reclaimed  sugar 
and  rice  lands  would  not  only  yield  a  hundred  times  the  profit,  but  New 
Orleans  would  become  as  healthy  as  any  other  town  in  the  same  latitude, 
and  the  centre  of  a  more  productive  agriculture,  and  possessing  easier 
water  communications  with  it,  than  any  other  city  in  the  world. 

The  question,  why  the  state  which  has  waste  lands  as  fertile  as  any  in 
the  western  country,  an  agriculture  unquestionably  the  richest,  and  unri- 
valled advantages  of  access  to  the  sea,  and  of  internal  water  communi- 
cations, does  not  people  faster,  may  be  answered  by  the  assignment  of 
various  causes.  The  country  has  universally,  abroad,  the  reputation  of 
being  sickly,  by  impressions  founded  on  exaggerated  reports,  not  at  all 
warranted  by  facts.  New  Orleans  has  been  repeatedly  desolated,  it  is 
true,  by  the  yellow  fever;  and  public  opinion  has,  probably,  identified 
the  sickliness  of  the  whole  country  with  that  of  that  city.  It  cannot  be 
denied,  that  there  arc  parts  of  this  state  which  are  intrinsically  sickly ; 
and  that  there  is  much  land,  and  that  of  the  richest  character,  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  immense  marshes,  lakes,  and  stagnant  waters,  the 
contiguity  of  which  must  necessarily  be  noxious  to  health.  Neither  can 
it  be  denied,  that  a  country  which  has  such  an  undue  proportion  of  slaves, 
is  unfavorably  situated  for  advancing  in  population.  Another  impedi- 
ment may  be  found  in  the  difficulty  of  adjusting  the  numerous  and  con- 
flicting land  claims.  It  has  thus  happened,  that  neither  the  claimants 
nor  congress  could  bring  them  into  market,  for  want  of  adjustment. 
Large  claims  to  the  finest  portions  of  land  in  the  state,  have  not  yet  been 
adjudicated  by  congress,-  and  purchasers  have  not  felt  secure  in  the  titles 
of  the  claimants.  A  country,  too,  settled  by  opulent  planters,  is  unfa- 
vorably situated  for  increase  in  population.  It  is  discouraging  to  a  free- 
holder, with  his  naked  hands,  or  a  small  force,  to  sit  down  beside  a  planter 
with  an  hundred  working  hands.  It  is  natural,  that  the  'petit  paysan' 
should  imagine  that  he  sees  contempt  in  the  deportment  of  his  wealthy 
neighbor  towards  him.  But  notwithstanding  all  these  adverse  circum- 
stances, this  state  is  making  steady  advances  in  population. 

Face  of  the  Country,  Soil,  <Sfc.  Three  quarters  of  the  state  are  with- 
out an  elevation  that  can  be  properly  called  a  hill.  The  pine  woods  gen- 
erally have  a  surface  of  a  very  particular  character,  rising  into  fine 
swells,  with  table  surfaces  on  the  summit,  and  vallies  from  thirty  to  forty 


240  LOUISIANA. 

feet  deep.  But  they  are- without  any  particular  range,  and  like  the  waves 
of  a  high  and  regular  sea.  The  alluvial  soil  is  level,  and  the  swamps, 
which  are  the  only  inundated  alluvions,  are  dead  flats.  The  vast  prairies 
which  constitute  a  large  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  state,  have  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  all  the  distinctive  aspects  of  prairies.  To  the  eye, 
they  seem  as  level  as  the  still  surface  of  a  lake.  They  are,  except  the 
quaking  prairies,  higher  and  dryer  than  the  savannas  of  Florida.  A 
range  of  hills  commences  in  gentle  elevations  in  Opelousas,  rises  gradu- 
ally, and  diverges  towards  the  Sabine.  In  the  vicinity  of  Natchitoches, 
it  preserves  a  distance  intermediate  between  the  Sabine  and  Red  river, 
and  continues  to  increase  in  elevation  to  the  western  parts  of  the  state. 
Seen  from  the  Pine  hills  above  Natchitoches,  they  have,  in  the  distance, 
the  blue  outline  of  a  range  of  mountains.  Another  line  of  hills,  not  far 
from  Alexandria,  commences  on  the  north  side  of  Red  river,  and  sepa- 
rating between  the  waters  of  that  river  and  Dudgemony,  unites  with 
another  line  of  hills,  that  bound  the  alluvions  of  the  Washita,  as  bluffs, 
gradually  diverging  from  that  river,  as  they  pass  beyond  the  western 
limits  of  the  state.  The  new  and  remote  parish  taken  from  Natchitoches, 
called  Claiborne  or  Allen's  settlement,  is  a  high  and  rolling  country. 
There  are  considerable  hills  beyond  the  Mississippi  alluvions,  east  of  that 
river.  But,  generally  speaking,  Louisiana  is  one  immense  plain,  divided 
into  pine  woods,  prairies,  alluvions,  swamps,  and  hickory  and  oak  lands. 

The  pine  woods  are  generally  rolling;  sometimes,  but  not  often,  level. 
They  have  almost  invariably  a  poor  soil,  sufficiently  described  in  our 
account  of  Florida  and  Alabama.  They  possess  the  same  character  here, 
except  that  creeks  are  more  common,  with  more  extensive  and  somewhat 
richer  bottoms ;  and  there  is,  perhaps,  a  greater  proportion  of  laurels, 
oaks,  and  hickories  among  the  pines.  The  greater  proportion  of  the 
prairies  is  second  rate  land.  Some  of  those  west  of  Opelousas,  and 
between  Washita  and  Red  river,  are  even  sterile.  Some  parts  of  the 
prairies  of  Opelousas  are  of  great  fertility ,  and  those  of  Attakapas  still 
more  so.  As  a  general  fact,  they  arc  more  level  than  those  of  the  upper 
country.  A  large  belt  of  these  prairies  near  the  gulf,  is  low,  marshy, 
and  in  rainy  weather,  inundated.  A  very  considerable  extent  of  them 
has  a  cold,  clayey  soil,  with  a  hard  pan  near  the  surface.  Jfi  other 
places,  the  soil  is  of  inky  blackness,  and  disposed  in  the  hot  and  dry  sea- 
son, to  crack  in  fissures  of  a  size  to  admit  a  man's  arm. 

The  bottoms  arc  generally  rich,  but  in  very  different  degrees.  Those 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Red  river,  and  the  bayous  connected  with  those 
streams,  are  more  fertile  and  productive  than  the  streams  west  of  them, 
and  between  them  and  the  Sabine.  The  fertility  of  the  richer  bottoms  of 
the  Mississippi  and  Red  river,  is  sufficiently  attested  by  the  prodigious 


LOUISIANA.  241 

growth  of  the  timber,  the  luxuriance,  size,  and  rankness  of  the  cane,  and 
die  cotton,  the  tangle  of  vines  and  creepers,  the  astonishing  size  of  the 
weeds,  and  the  strength  of  vegetation  in  general.  We  have  measured  a 
fig  tree  and  a  sumach,  both  ordinarily  considered  as  shrubs,  which  wero 
larger  than  a  mini's  body.  The  richness  of  the  articles  of  cultivation,  is 
sufficiently  well  known.  The  cotton,  on  fresh  lands  of  the  richest  quality, 
grows  to  the  size  of  a  considerable  shrub. 

The  districts  of  Louisiana  which  have  the  richest  soils,  are  the  follow- 
ing:— 1st.  The  island  of  New  Orleans.  This  is  so  denominated  in  geo- 
graphy, and  correctly.  Not  far  below  Baton  Rouge,  a  bayou  or  efflux, 
called  Manshac  or  Ibberville,  makes  out  from  the  Mississippi,  which  in 
its  course,  receives  other  waters,  until  swollen  to  a  considerable  river,  it 
falls  into  lake  Maurepas.  That  again  is  connected  by  a  narrow  gorge 
with  lake  Ponchartrain ;  and  that,  by  the  rigolets,  with  lake  Borgne  and 
the  gulf.  The  Mississippi  insulates  it  on  the  other  side.  Consequently, 
the  island  of  New  Orleans  is  a  narrow  strip  of  land,  stretching  between 
this  range  of  lakes  and  the  river.  About  one-third  of  the  average  width 
of  this  strip  is  under  cultivation.  The  other  two-thirds  are  swamp.  Its 
front  is  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  its  rear  is  this  bayou 
and  this  line  of  lakes.  The  bayou  Manshac,  winch  completes  the  insular 
character  of  this  tract,  is  narrow,  and  is  seldom  seen  by  persons  descend- 
ing the  Mississippi.  This  tract  is  the  finest  part  of  that  rich  country  called 
the  coast.  The  coast  is  that  part  of  the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi  which 
commences  with  the  first  cultivation  above  the  Balize ;  that  is  to  say, 
about  forty  miles  below  New  Orleans,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  above. 
This  belt  on  each  side  of  the  river,  is  secured  by  an  embankment,  called 
a  levee,  from  six  to  eight  feet  in  height,  and  sufficiently  broad,  fbr  the 
most  part,  to  furnish  a  fine  highway.  The  river,  in  ordinary  inundations, 
would  cover  the  greater  part  of  this  belt,  from  two  to  six  feet  in  depth. 
It  is  from  one  to  two  miles  in  width ;  and  perhaps  a  richer  tract  of  land, 
of  the  same  extent,  cannot  be  found  on  the  globe.  The  levee  extends 
something  higher  on  the  west  than  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  Above 
the  levee,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  are  the  parishes  of  Baton  Rouge, 
and  East  and  West  Feliciana.  The  latter  parish  received  its  name  from 
its  pleasant  surface  of  fertile  hills  and  valleys,  and  its  union  of  desirable 
circumstances  for  a  planting  country.  This  parish  presents  a  spectacle 
very  uncommon  in  this  country :  hills  that  are  covered  with  laurels  and 
forest  trees  that  denote  the  richest  soil.  Here  are  some  of  the  richest 
^planters  and  best  plantations  in  the  state.  Bayou  Sarah,  the  point  of 
shipment  for  this  region,  sends  great  quantities  of  cotton  to  New  Orleans. 
Some  of  the  plantations  on  this  bayou  have  from  five  to  eight  hundred 
acres  under  cultivation,  worked  by  a  large  number  of  hands. 

31 


342  LOUISIANA. 

West  of  the  Mississippi,  the  bayous  Lafourche  and  Plaquemine, 
effluxes  or. outlets  from  tlic  Mississippi,  have  the  same  conformation  of 
banks',  and  the  same  qualities  of  soil,  with  the  parent  stream;  and  where 
not  inundated,  are  equally  fertile.  The  sugar  cane  thrives  as  well  upon 
their  banks.  No  inconsiderable  portion  of  Attakapas  is  of  great  fertility, 
as  are  smaller  portions  of  Opelousas,  which  is,  however,  more  generally 
adapted  to  become  a  grazing  country.  The  Teche,  which  meanders 
through  Opelousas  and  Attakapas,  has  generally  a  very  fertile  alluvion, 
the  lower  courses  of  which,  are  embellished  with  fine  plantations  of  sugar 
cane.  On  the  Atchafalaya  the  lands  are  rich,  but  too  generally  inundated. 
The  Courtableau,  running  through  Opelousas,  has  probably  as  rich  a 
soil  as  is  to  be  found  in  that  parish.  Approaching  Red  river  from  Ope- 
lousas, by  Bayou  Bceuf,  we  find  on  that  bayou  a  soil  which  some  consid- 
er the  richest  cotton  land  in  Louisiana .  Bayou  Rouge  has  also  a  fine 
soil,  though  it  is  as  yet  principally  in  a  state  of  nature.  Bayou  Robert, 
still  nearer  to  Red  river,  is  of  extraordinary  fertility,  and  the  cane  brake 
along  its  bank  is  of  astonishing  luxuriance.  Bayou  Rapide,  which  gives 
name  to  the  parish  through  which  it  runs,  is  a  beautiful  tract  of  land ; 
and  the  belt  on  either  bank  is  laid  out  along  its  whole  course  in  fine  cot- 
ton plantations. 

The  bottoms  of  Red  river  are  well  known  as  possessing  extraordinary 
fertility ;  and  the  lower  courses  of  this  river  constitute  the  paradise  of 
cotton  planters.  The  color  of  the  soil  is  of  a  darkish  red,  and  appears  to 
derive  its  great  fertility  from  a  portion  of  salt  intimately  mixed  with  it, 
and  from  its  peculiar  friability.  It  derives  its  red  color  from  red  oxide  of 
iron.  It  is  a  wide  and  deep  valley,  covered,  while  in  a  state  of  nature, 
with  a  dark  and  heavy  forest.  Its  soil  has  been  accumulating  for  un- 
known ages  from  the  spoils  of  the  Mexican  mountains,  and  the  vast 
piairies  through  which  it  rolls  in  its  upper  courses.  All  the  bayous  of 
Red  river,  and  they  are  numerous  almost  beyond  computation,  partake 
of  the  character  of  the  main  river. 

The  parish  of  Natchitoches  has  its  plantations  on  the  bank  of  Red 
river,  and  its  divisions;  for  the  river  runs  in  this  parish,  for  a  considerable 
distance,  in  three  parallel  divisions.  A  vast  body  of  rich  alluvial  lands, 
on  the  river  above  Natchitoches,  is  yet  covered  by  unadjudicated  claims, 
or  belongs  to  the  United  States.  The  lands  on  the  Washita  are  black, 
like  those  on  the  Mississippi.  The  alluvions  on  the  lower  courses  of  this 
river  furnish  an  admirable  soil  for  cotton  and  all  productions  that  require 
the  same  climate.  The  finest  lands  on  this  river  arc  covered  by  the. 
unadjudicated  claims  of  the  Baron  dc  Bastrop,  Maison  Rouge,  and  Winter. 
These  claims  arc  of  great  extent,  and  the  lands  generally  first  rate. 
Those  are  the  districts  in  Louisiana  most  noted  for  possessing  first  rale 


LOUISIANA.  '-2 13 

lands.  But  in  this  level  region,  wholly  free  from  mountains,  and  precipi- 
tous hills,  and.sterile  heath?,  there  occur,  even  in  the  pine  woods  and  the 
poorest  prairie?,  tracts  that  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States  would  he 
called  comparatively  fertile. 

Agriculture  and  Productions.  Wheat  and  rye  do  not  flourish  here. 
The  culture  of  these  grains  has  heen  attempted,  and  it  is  said  with  suc- 
cess, in  Allen's  settlement,  in  the  north-west  angle  of  the  state.  But  in 
general,  the  stalks  grow  too  rapidly,  and  lodge  before  they  come  to  matu- 
rity. Barley  and  oats  succeed  well.  The  latter  are  generally^  mowed 
for  fodder  at  the  latter  end  of  April.  Maize,  grows  luxuriantly  on  the 
alluvions  and  rich  lands.  But  although  this  fine  crop  has  a  wonderful 
luxuriance  of  growth,  it  is  more  congenial  to  the  climates  of  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  Missouri,  and  Illinois,  or  the  cooler  climates  of  the  middle  states. 
In  the  south,  it  grows  with  such  rapidity,  and  is  pushed  forward  so  fast  by 
the  soil  and  climate,  that  it  does  not  rear  a  stalk  of  equal  size  and  firmness 
with  that  attained  in  the  former  climates.  Nevertheless,  fifty,  sixty,  and 
even  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre,  are  not  uncommon  crops.  Forty-five 
bushels  may  he  assumed  as  the  medium  crop  of  the  maize  lands  in  this 
state. 

The  sweet  potatoo,  comulvulus  batatas,  in  the  sandy  soils  of  this  state 
attains  its  utmost  perfection.  We  have  seen  one,  which  weighed  nino 
pounds.  *.They  are  of  different  species;  hut  all  extremely  nutritive,  and 
raised  with  great  ease  and  abundance.  They  are  the  favorite  food  of 
the  blacks,  and  constitute  an  excellent  nutriment  for  all  classes.  The 
Irish  potatoe  is  raised  with  more  difficulty,  and  is  not  cultivated  except 
for  eating  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer;  and  for  some  cause  not  yet 
explained,  cannot  be  preserved  through  the  year. 

The  usual  garden  vegetables  are  cultivated  in  abundance;  though 
some,  as  for  instance,  cabbages,  do  not  grow  as  fine  as  at  the  north.  The 
asparagus  is  indifferent.  Onions  do  not  grow  the  first  year  to  any  size. 
Small  onions,  of  the  preceding  year,  are  placed  in  the  ground  for  sets. 
The  pumpkin  and  the  melon  tribe  flourish  in  this  climate.  All  the  north- 
ern traits  come  to  perfection,  with  the  exception  of  apples.  The  apple 
tree  covers  itself  with  blossoms  and  fruit,  which,  before  it  ripens,  begins 
to  show  a  black  speck,  rots,  and  falls.  Figs,  of  the  different  kinds,  grow 
in  the  greatest  abundance,  and  from  descriptions  of  the  tree  in  the  east- 
ern conlinent,  we  should  suppose  that  it  here  attains  its  largest  size. 
They  might  be  raised  in  great  abundance  for  exportation.  All  that  is 
necessary  for  raising  this  delicious  fruit,  is  to  put  a  slip  of  the  tree  in  the 
ground.  It  is  astonishing,  that  such  a  fruit,  which  grows  almost  sponta- 
neously, is  hardly  raised,  except  on  a  few  farms,  even  for  summer 
eating. 


244  LOUISIANA. 

Below  Point  Coupee  on  the  coast,  on  the  lower  courses  of  the  Teche, 
Lafourche,  Plaquemine,  and  along  the  whole  shore  of  the  gulf,  that  is  to 
say,  in  the  region  of  the  sugar  cane,  the  orange  tree,  sweet  and  bitter, 
flourishes,  and  the  fruit  is  of  the  finest  quality.  Previous  to  1822,  oranges 
were  lying  under  the  trees,  as  the  apples  at  the  north.  A  severe  frost 
that  winter,  destroyed  the  trees  in  this  state  quite  to  the  ground.  The 
roots  have  thrown  out  new  trees,  which  are  again  in  a  bearing  state. 
The  olive  would  undoubtedly  flourish.  It  is  believed  that  there  are  a 
few  trees  in  bearing  in  the  state.  The  cultivated  vine,  vitis  vinifera, 
flourishes,  and  an  abundance  of  fine  fruit  is  offered  in  the  markets.  Wild 
grapes,  as  the  summer,  winter,  fox,  muscadine,  and  pine  wood's  grape 
abound.  Berries  are  neither  so  common  nor  so  good  as  at  the  north. 
Persimons  and  pawpaws,  and  a  variety  of  haws  and  wild  fruit,  are  com- 
mon in  the  woods. 

It  would  carry  us  beyond  our  object,  to  describe  the  wild  and  cultivated 
flowering  shrubs  which  flourish  in  this  region  of  flowers.  The  jessamine, 
the  althea  and  rose  class  are  the  most  common.  The  multiflora  is  a  run- 
ning vine,  which  attains  an  inconceivable  luxuriance.  Two  or  three 
summers  only  are  necessary,  completely  to  envelope  a  building  with  this 
grateful  verdure  and  these  abundant  flowers.  China,  catalpa,  and  syca- 
more are  the  most  common  ornamental  trees.  The  abundance  of  mul- 
berry trees  seems  to  invite  the  making  of  silk,  in  a  climate  similar  to  those 
where  it  is  made  in  the  greatest  quantities  in  the  old  world. 

Agriculture  is  in  its  infancy,  aud  in  a  state  of  roughness  adapted  only 
to  the  labor  of  negroes ;  and  has  for  its  object  only  to  obtain  the  greatest 
amount  of  the  staple  crop.  A  great  number  of  rich  fruits  and  valuable 
productions,  congenial  to  such  a  soil  and  climate,  have  been  entirely 
unattemptcd.  Experiments,  except  in  regard  to  the  selection  of  the  best 
kinds  of  cotton,  and  the  best  mode  of  growing  it,  or  the  kind  of  cane  that 
is  most  productive,  have  not  been  commenced.  One  or  two  spirited 
individuals  have  recently  attempted  to  awaken  attention  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  tea  plant.  Benne,  which  yields  an  oil  like  that  of  olives,  succeeds 
well.  Indigo  was  formerly  a  prime  object  of  attention  with  the  planters. 
The  cultivation  has  been  of  late  in  a  great  measure  abandoned.  The  rice 
is  remarkably  fair,  and  yields  abundantly.  There  are  great  extents  of 
land  favorable  for  the  cultivation  of  the  upland  ric<f,  and  no  limits  can 
be  assigned  to  the  amount  that  might  be  raised;  but  the  grand  staples 
being  more  profitable,  little  more  is  raised  than  for  home  consumption,  in 
a  country  where  an  immense  extent  of  swamps  might  be  profitably  devoted 
to  that  article.  The  land  brings  tobacco  of  the  finest  quality.  That 
which  is  cultivated  in  the  vicinity  of  Natchitoches  is  said  to  equal  that  of 


LOUISIANA.  245 

Cuba.  But  the  culture  is  not  deemed  so  profitable  as  that  of  the  great 
staples. 

The  cotton  cultivated  here,  is  an  annual  plant,  growing  in  the  rich 
lands  more  than  six  feet  high,  and  the  larger  stalks  of  the  size  of  a  man's 
arm,  throwing  out  a  number  of  branches,  on  which  form  large  and  beau- 
tiful whitish  yellow  blossoms.  A  cotton  "field  in  flower,  is  a  most  gaudy 
and  brilliant  spectacle.  On  the  cups  of  the  flower,  form  balls  or  coccoons, 
or  as  they  are  here  called,  forms,  in  which  grow  three  or  four  elliptical 
seeds,  four  times  as  large  as  a  wheat  kernel,  and  of  an  oily  consistency. 
The  cotton  is  the  down,  with  which  oily  seeds  are  generally  enveloped 
in  the  conservative  provision  of  nature.  The  planting  is  from  March 
to  the  middle  of  May,  in  drill  rows,  six  feet  apart.  Much  more  is  planted 
than  is  expected  to  stand.  It  is  thinned  carefully,  and  ploughs  in  the 
form  of  scrapers,  are  used  to  clean  out  the  weeds.  In  September,  the 
process  of  picking  commences,  and  is  renewed  two  or  three  times,  as 
successive  stages  of  forms  ripen.  The  weather  admits  of  this  operation 
with  comfort  to  the  hands,  until  the  season  calls  for  the  clearing  and  burn- 
ing the  old  stocks,  in  order  to  commence  ploughing  for  a  new  crop.  This 
is  one  of  the  advantages,  that  it  is  a  crop  which  furnishes  employment 
for  the  hands,  during  every  period  of  the  year.  The  cotton  in  the  seed 
undergoes  an  operation  called  ginning,  by  which  the  down  is  detached 
from  the  seeds,  and  blown  away,  while  the  seeds  fall  by  their  own  weight. 
It  is  then  packed  in  bales,  which  are  pressed  and  ready  for  exportation. 

The  kinds  of  cotton  cultivated  are  Louisiana,  green  seed  or  Tennessee, 
and  recently  Mexican  cotton.  The  green  seed  is  not  of  so  fine  a  staple, 
but  is  less  subject  to  the  destructive  malady  called  the  rot.  The  Mexican 
is  both  of  a  finer  staple,  yields  more  abundantly,  and  has  not  hitherto 
suffered  from  rot.  It  is  getting  into  common  adoption,  and  the  importa- 
tion of  seed  from  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz  is  becoming  a  considerable 
business.  Sea  island  cotton  grows  well  on  grounds  that  have  been 
exhausted  by  the  continued  cultivation  of  the  other  kinds.  All  the  spe- 
cies exhaust  the  soil;  and  the  seeds,  which  accumulate  in  prodigious 
quantities  around  the  gins,  furnish  an  admirable  manure  for  the  exhausted 
soil.  The  rot  is  a  disease  from  which  the  balls  that  begin  to  form  after 
flowering,  moulder  and  fall.  No  series  of  properly  conducted  experi- 
ments has  been  made  to  ascertain  the  causes,  or  to  furnish  a  remedy 
against  tliis  disease.  The  causes  are  inexplicable  from  any  thing  yet 
known  upon  the  subject.  In  some  seasons  it  is  much  severer  than  others. 
New  lands  are  less  subject  to  it  than  old;  and  hitherto,  the  Mexican  least 
of  all  the  species. 

Sugar  cane  is  a  very  rich  and  abundant  article  of  the  growth  of  Lou- 
isiana, raised  chiefly  on  the  coast,  the  shore  of  the  gulf,  the  bayous  Teche, 


246  LOUISIANA. 

Lafourche,  and  Plaqucminc,  and  some  parts  of  Attakapas  south  of  31°. 
It  is  propagated  by  laying  cuttings  of  slips  or  the  cane  horizontally  in 
furrows,  in  the  latter  part  of  February.  The  shoots  start  from  eyes  of 
the  joints  of  the  slip.  When  grown,  it  resembles  the  rankest  broom  corn, 
or  perhaps  more'  nearly  Egyptian  millet.  At  maturity,  it  resembles, 
except  the  spikes  or  tassels,  that  species  of  maize,  called  at  the  north, 
Carolina  corn.  When  it  is  cut  for  the  mill,  or  expressing  the  saccharine 
sap,  they  cut  off  something  more  than  a  foot  from  the  top  for  slips  for 
planting.  The  rows  in  the  rich  lands  are  planted  six  feet  apart.  It 
requires  the  richest  soil,  the  vegetable  mould  of  which  should  be  at  least 
a  foot  deep.  There  are  three  or  four  varieties  or  species,  as  the  African, 
the  Otaheite,  the  West  Indian,  and  the  Riband  cane.  The  Otaheite 
grows  luxuriantly,  and  ripens  considerably  earlier  than  the  West  Indian  ; 
but  is  said  to  contain  saccharine  matter,  in  comparison  with  the  other, 
only  as  two  to  three.  The  Riband  cane  is  a  new  and  beautiful  species, 
so  called  from  perpendicular  and  parallel  stripes,  that  have  on  the  stalk 
the  appearance  of  ribands.  We  have  seen  it  of  uncommon  size  and 
weight,  and  it  is  said  to  be  highly  charged  with  saccharine  juice.  Its 
grand  advantage  over  the  other  kinds  is,  that  it  does  not  require  so  long 
a  season  for  ripening  as  either  of  the  other  kinds,  by  some  weeks.  It 
can  probably  be  raised  two  degrees  farther  north  than  any  other  kind 
yet  attempted,  and  after  it  is  cut  it  docs  not  become  spoiled  from  acidity 
as  soon  as  the  other  species.  They  are  making  trials  of  this  cane  in 
Opclousas,  on  Red  river,  and  about  Natchez.  It  is  not  unlikely,  that  it 
will  naturalize  to  the  climate  considerably  north  even  of  those  points. 
Cane  is  understood  to  be  productive  in  China,  where  the  frost  is  much 
more  severe  than  in  any  places  where  it  has  been  attempted  in  this  coun- 
try. When  the  habits  of  plants,  in  undergoing  the  process  of  acclimation, 
are  better  understood,  it  may  be,  that,  this  rich  species  of  cultivation  will, 
be  extended  to  points  where  it  has  not  yet  been  even  in  contemplation. 
The  disadvantage  of  the  Riband  cane  is,  that  it  has  a  harder  rind  or  bark 
than  the  other  kinds,  and  will  require  rollers  fur  grinding  it  driven  by 
steam  power. 

The  sugar  cane  is  a  hardy  plant,  not.  liable  to  the  diseases  either  of 
indigo  or  cotton.  It  is  cultivated  much  in  the  same  way  with  maize.  It 
ripens  according  to  the  season  it  experiences.  Rains  retard  and  droughts 
accellerate  its  maturity.  The  abundance  of  the  crop  depends  upon  the 
number  of  the  joints  that  ripen  before  the  frost,  so  as  to  have  the  proper 
saccharine  juice  to  granulate  the  sugar.  A  slight  frost  favors  that  fer- 
mentation which  is  necessary  to  the  formation  of  sugar  from  the  sap.  A 
severe  frost  at  once  destroys  the  vegetation  of  the  cane.  The  cane  lies 
a  short  time  after  it  is  cut,  to  favqi  Ihis  fermention.     It  is  then  passed  be- 


LOUISIANA.  247 

I  ween  two  iron  cylinders,  by  which  the  cane  is  crushed,  and  the  sap  is 
forced  out  by  expression.  It  Hows  into  boilers,  and  the  process  is  simply 
that  of  evaporation  by  boiling.  The  crop  while  in  growth,  has  great 
beauty  of  appearance.  The  sap  is  so  rich  in  the  stalk  of  the  cane,  as 
to  have  almost  the  gummy  consistence  of  syrup ;  and  sugar  exists  there 
as  nearly  in  a  concrete  state  as  it  can  be  hi  solution.  An  acre  properly 
tended,  will  yield  a  hogshead  of  1,200  pounds  for  a  common  crop. 

It  was  formerly  a  question  in  this  state,  winch  was  the  most  profitable 
crop,  this  or  cotton?  From  accurate  tables,  giving  the  number  of  hands, 
the  amount  of  expenditures,  and  the  average  value  of  product  from  each, 
for  a  number  of  years  in  succession,  it  appears  that  sugar  was  the  most 
productive  crop,  even  when  cotton  bore  a  much  higher  price  than  at  pres- 
ent. The  cultivation  of  the  cane  is  diminishing  hi  the  islands.  That  of 
cotton  seems  to  be  every  where  increasing.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of 
sugar  lands  not  brought  into  cultivation.  We  do  not  yet  grow  by  any 
means  enough  for  our  own  consumption.  There  seems  to  be  every  in- 
ducement then,  to  extend  this  cultivation  in  Louisiana,  and  it  is  an  omen 
for  good  that  the  planters  over  all  the  state  are  turning  their  attention  to 
this  species  of  culture. 

No  cultivation  hi  our  country  yields  so  rich  a  harvest.  But  the  work 
is  admitted  to  be  severe  for  the  hands,  requiring  after  it  is  commenced,  to 
be  pushed  night  and  day.  It  is  deemed  a  more  severe  and  wearing  task 
to  work  this  crop  than  that  of  cotton.  It  has  been  a  general  impression, 
even  in  this  state,  where  the  true  state  of  the  case  ought  to  be  understood, 
that  sugar  could  not  be  made  to  profit  unless  the  planter  had  a  large  force 
and  capital,  and  could  rear  expensive  houses  and  machinery.  This  im- 
pression has  hitherto  deterred  small  planters  from  attempting  to  cultivate 
the  cane.  But  it  has  been  found  by  experience,  that  sugar  can  be  made 
to  profit  widi  as  small  a  capital  as  is  required  for  commencing  a  cotton 
plantation. 

Louisiana  produces  an  average  crop  annually  of  more  than  100,000 
hogsheads  of  sugar,  and  5,000,000  gallon?  of  molasses.  Whatever  gen- 
eral views  may  be  taken  of  the  tariff,  if  cannot  but  be  admitted  on  all 
hands,  that  the  grand  result  of  tins  cultivation  is  owing  to  the  protecting 
duty  on  sugar;  and  that  this  individual  branch  of  agriculture  has  become 
in  some  measure  identified  with  the  prosperity  of  the  union  in  general, 
and  the  west  in  particular. 

Such  is  a  sketch  of  the  agriculture  of  Louisiana.  It  is  the  most  pro- 
ductive, according  to  the  number  of  hands  employed  and  acres  worked, 
in  the  United  States.  No  country,  perhaps,  Cuba  excepted,  with  the 
same  population,  exports  of  its  own  growth  articles  of  more  value  than 
Louisiana. 


248  LOUISIANA. 

Slaves.  As  this  state  contains  a  greater  number  of  slaves,  in  pro- 
portion to  its  population,  than  any  other  in  the  western  country,  we  shall 
bring  into  one  compass  all  the  general  remarks  which  we  shall  make 
upon  the  aspect  and  character  of  slavery  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  It 
will  be  seen  from  the  table  of  population,  that  considerably  more  than 
one  half  of  the  whole  population  of  this  state  are  slaves.  Formerly, 
they  did  not  increase  in  this  state,  and  required  importations  from  abroad  to 
keep  up  the  number.  But,  since  experience  and  humanity  have  dictated 
more  rational  and  humane  modes  of  managing  the  sick  and  the  children, 
by  carrying  them  during  the  sickly  months  to  the  same  places  of  healthy 
retirement,  to  which  their  masters  retire,  they  are  found  to  increase  as 
rapidly  here  as  they  do  elsewhere.  It  is  well  known,  that  under  favorable 
circumstances  they  are  more  prolific  than  the  whites.  Reflecting  minds 
cannot  but  view  with  apprehension  the  remote  consequences  of  this 
order  of  things. 

It  is  not  among  the  objects  of  this  work  to  discuss  the  moral  character 
of  slavery,  or  to  contemplate  the  subject  in  any  of  its  abstract  bearings. 
We  can  pronounce,  from  what  we  consider  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  that  the  condition  of  the  slaves  here,  the  treatment  which  they 
receive,  and  the  character  of  their  masters,  have  been  much  misrepre- 
sented in  the  non-slave-holding  states.  We  pretend  to  none  but  histori- 
cal knowledge  of  the  state  of  things  which  has  existed  here  in  past  time. 
At  present,  we  are  persuaded  there  are  but  few  of  those  brutal  and  cruel 
masters,  which  the  greatest  portion  of  the  planters  were  formerly  sup- 
posed to  be.  The  masters  now  study  popularity  with  their  slaves.  If 
there  must  be  the  odium  of  severity,  it  is  thrown  upon  the  overseer,  who 
becomes  a  kind  of  scape  goat  to  bear  away  the  offences  of  the  master. 
There  is  now  no  part  of  the  slave  holding-country  in  the  south-west, 
where  it  would  not  be  a  deep  stain  upon  the  moral  character  to  be  gen- 
erally reputed  a  cruel  master.  In  many  plantations  no  punishment  is 
inflicted  except  after  a  trial  by  jury,  composed  of  the  fellow-servants  of 
the  party  accused.  Festival  prizes  and  rewards  arc  instituted,  as  stimu- 
lants to  exertion,  and  compensations  for  superior  accomplishments  of 
labor.  They  are  generally  well  fed  and  clothed,  and  that  not  by  an 
arbitrary  award,  which  might  vary  with  the  feelings  of  the  master,  but 
by  periodical  apportionment,  like  the  distributed  rations  of  soldiers,  of 
what  has  been  experimented  to  be  sufficient  to  render  them  comfortable. 
Considerable  attention  is  paid  to  their  quarters,  and  most  of  them  are 
comfortably  lodged  and  housed. 

Nor  are  they  destitute,  as  has  been  supposed,  of  any  legal  protection 
coming  between  them  and  tho  cupidity  and  cruelty  of  their  masters.  The 
'  code  noir'  of  Louisiana  is  a  curious  collection  of  statutes,  drawn  partly 


LOUISIANA.  2»40 

from  French  and  Spanish  law  and  usage, and  partly  from  the  customs  of 
the  islands,  and  usages  which  have  grown  out  of  the  peculiar  circumstan- 
ces of  Louisiana  while  a  colony.  It  has  the  aspect,  it  must  be  admitted, 
of  being  formed  rather  for  the  advantage  of  the  master  than  the  servant, 
for  it  prescribes  an  unlimited  homage  and  obedience  to  the  former.  It 
makes  a  misdemeanor  on  his  part  towards  his  master  a  very  different 
offence  from  a  wanton  abuse  of  power  towards  the  servant.  But,  at  the 
same  time,  it  defines  crimes  that  the  master  can  commit  in.  relation  to  the 
slave,  and  prescribes  the  mode  of  trial,  and  the  kind  and  degree  of  pun- 
ishment. It  constitutes  unnecessary  correction,  maiming,  and  murder, 
punishable  offences  in  a  master.  It  is  very  minute  in  prescribing  the 
number  of  hours,  which  the  master  may  lawfully  exact  to  be  employed 
in  labor,  and  the  number  of  hours  which  he  must  allow  his  slave  for  meal 
times  and  for  rest.  It  prescribes  (he  time  and  extent  of  his  holy  days. 
In  short,  it  settles  with  minuteness  and  detail  the  whole  circle# of  relations 
between  master  and  slave,  defining  and  prescribing  what  the  former  may 
and  may  not  exact  of  the  latter.  Yet,  after  all  these  minute  provisions, 
the  slave  finds  the  chief  alleviation  of  his  hard  condition,  and  his  best 
security  against  cruel  treatment,  and  his  most  valid  bond  for  kind  and 
proper  deportment  towards  him,  in  the  increasing  light,  humanity,  and 
force  of  public  opinion. 

That  the  slave  is,  also,  in  the  general  circuftistanees  of  his  condition, 
as  happy  as  this  relation  will  admit  of  his  being,  is  an  unquestionable 
fact.  That  he  seldom  performs  as  much  labor,  or  performs  it  as  well  as 
a  free  man,  proves  all  that  can  be  desired,  in  regard  to  the  value  of 
those  motives,  which  freedom  only  can  supply.  In  all  the  better 
managed  plantations,  the  mode  of  building  the  quarters  is  fixed.  The 
arrangement  of  the  little  village  has  a  fashion  by  which  it  is  settled. 
Interest,  if  not  humanity,  has  defined  the  amount  of  food  and  rest  neces- 
sary  for  their  health ;  and  there  is,  in  a  large  and  respectable  plantation, 
as  much  precision  in  the  rules,  as  much  exactness  in  the  times  of  going 
to  sleep,  awakening,  going  to  labor,  and  resting  before  and  after  meals, 
as  in  a  garrison  under  military  discipline,  or  in  a  ship  of  war.  A  bell 
gives  all  the  signals.  Every  slave,  at  the  assigned  hour  in  the  morning, 
is  forthcoming  to  his  labor,  or  his  case  is  reported  either  as  one  of  idleness, 
obstinacy,  or  sickness,  in  which  case  he  is  sent  to  the  hospital,  and  there 
he  is  attended  by  a  physician,  who,  for  the  most  part,  has  a  yearly  salary 
for  attending  to  all  the  sick  of  the  plantation.  The  union  of  physical 
force,  directed  by  one  will,  is  now  well  understood  to  have  a  much  greater 
effect  upon  the  amount  of  labor  which  a  number  of  hands,  so  managed, 
can  bring  about,  than  the  same  force  di  as  many  wills  as  there 

are  hands.     Hence,  it  happens  that  while  one  free  man,  circumstances 

32 


260  LOUISIANA. 

being  the  same,  will  perform  more  labor  than  one  slave,  one  hundred 
slaves  will  accomplish  more  on  one  plantation,  than  so  many  hired  free 
men,  acting  at  their  own  discretion.  Hence,  too,  it  is,  that  such  a  pro- 
digious quantity  of  cotton  and  sugar  is  made  here,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  laboring  hands.  The  whole  process  of  agriculture  is  managed 
by  system.  Every  thing  goes  straight  forward.  There  is  no  pulling 
down  to-day  the  scheme  of  yesterday,  and  the  whole  amount  of  force 
is  directed  by  the  teaching  of  experience  to  the  best  result. 

If  we  could  lay  out  of  the  question  the  intrinsic  evils  of  the  case,  that 
would  be  a  cheering  sight  which  is  presented  by  a  large  Louisiana  plan- 
tation. The  fields  are  as  level  and  as  regular  in  their  figures  as  gardens. 
They  sometimes  contain  three  or  four  hundred  acres  in  one  enclosure; 
and  we  have  seen  from  a  dozen  to  twenty  ploughs  all  making  their  straight 
furrows  through  a  field  a  mile  in  depth,  with  a  regularity,  which  it  would 
be  supposed,  could  only  be  obtained  by  a  line.  The  plough  is  generally 
worked  by  a  single  mule,  and  guided  by  a  single  hand,  who  cheers  the 
long  course  of  his  furrow  with  a  song. 

Rivers.  East  of  the  Mississippi,  there  fall  into  that  river,  Bayou  Sarah 
and  one  or  two  other  smaller  streams.  Into  the  efflux,  or  Bayou  Manshac, 
or  Ibberville,  as  it  passes  from  the  Mississippi  to  lake  Maurepas,  fall  the 
Amite  and  some  other  inconsiderable  streams.  The  Ticfah  falls  into 
lake  Maurepas.  The  Tangipao  falls  into  lake  Ponchar train,  as  do  Chif- 
functe  and  Bonfouca.  Pearl  river  divides  between  this  state  and  Missis- 
sippi, and  falls  into  the  rigolets  near  Pearlington.  None  of  them,  except 
Pearl  river,  which  has  been  already  described,  have  courses  of  more 
than  seventy  or  eighty  miles,  and  they  are  navigable  by  schooners  to  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  lake.  They  rise  in  the  state  of  Mississippi. 
Chiffunctc  affords  the  best  harbor  on  the  lake. 

The  effluxes  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  in  ascending,  are  first,  the 
Bayou  Lafourche ;  next,  Plaqucmine ;  and  the  last,  Atchafayala,  or,  as 
it  is  universally  pronounced,  Chaffalio.  Lafourche  breaks  out  from  the 
Mississippi  at  Donaldsonville,  90  miles  above  New  Orleans,  and  taking 
a  south-east  course,  finds  its  separate  channel  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico  about 
fifty  miles  west  of  the  Balize.  The  Plaqucmine,  still  further  up,  carries 
.  out  at  times  a  great  and  sweeping  body  of  water  from  the  Mississippi. 
After  running  some  distance  through  a  very  rich  tract  of  country,  it  unites 
with  the  Atchafalaya  in  one  broad  stream,  which,  before  it  passes  into 
the  gulf,  receives  the  Tcche,  a  stream  which  passes  through  the  fertile 
plains  of  Opclousas  and  Attakapas. 

The  Mississippi  pursues  a  very  direct  course  through  this  state  to  the 
sea.  It  lias  recently  cut  for  itself  a  passage  across  the  point  of  tho  bend 
opposite  the  mouth  of  Red  river,  i  hereby  diminishing  the  distance  between 


LOUISIANA.  '251 

Natchez  and  New  Orleans  thirty  miles.  The  same  thing  must  shortly 
occur  at  Tunica  Bend,  both  of  which  will  reduce  the  water  distance  be- 
tween those  towns  from  two  to  three  hundred  miles.  By  another  'cut 
off'  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  the  distance  has  been  short- 
ened between  Natchez  and  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  In  this  way,  nature 
and  human  effort  combining,  this  noble  river,  in  no  great  length  of  time, 
will  be  made  to  flow  in  a  right  line  or  reach,  as  the  Mississippi  phrase  is, 
to  the  gulf. 

At  a  very  little  distance  below  the  mouih  of  Red  river,  the  Atchafa- 
yala  breaks  out  from  the  west  bank,  with  an  outlet  apparently  of  the 
same  widdi  with  Red  river,  and  it  is  supposed,  carrying  off  from  the 
Mississippi  as  much  water  as  Red  river  brings  in.  It  has  such  a  position 
to  the  bend  of  the  Mississippi  as  that  immense  masses  of  drift  wood  and 
timber,  passing  down  that  river,  are  swept  into  this  outlet.  This  accu- 
mulating mass  soon  meets  with  obstructions,  and  is  jammed  together  into 
a  raft,  which  rises  and  falls  with  the  rising  aad  falling  of  the  bayou.  A 
considerable  vegetation  of  shrubs  and  flowering  plants  has  been  found 
on  the  surface  of  this  floating  timber;  and  a  man  might  pass  directly  over 
this  vast  mass  of  waters,  without  knowing  when  he  was  crossing  it.  The 
raft  is  eight  or  ten  miles  in  extent,  and  is  supposed  to  contain  a  mass  of 
more  than  two  million  cords  of  wood  and  timber.  The  medial  width  of 
the  bayou  is  more  than  two  hundred  yards.  It  has  a  winding  course, 
traverses  many  points  of  the  compass,  and  receives  the  water  of  the 
Mississippi  overflow,  at  a  different  place  in  its  course.  Its  length,  before 
it  falls  into  the  gulf,  measuring  its  meanders,  is  nearly  two  hundred 
miles,  and  its  comparative  course  one  hundred  and  thirty. 

The  Teche  commences  in  Opelousas,  receiving  a  great  number  of 
streams  that  rise  in  the  prairies.  It  winds  through  Opelousas  and  Atta- 
kapas,  and  meets  the  tide  at  New  Iberia,  to  which  point  it  is  navigable, 
the  Teche  having  eight  feet  on  its  bar,  and  twenty  feet  within.  It  flows 
about  forty-five  miles  further,  before  it  is  lost  in  the  Atchafalaya,  which 
it  enters  by  a  mouth  two  hundred  yards  wide.  It  has  a  course,  compu- 
ting its  meanderings,  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  or  one  hundred  and 
ninety  miles. 

West  of  the  Teche  are  the  Vermillion,  Courtableau,  Calcasiu,  and 
Sabine,  streams  of  considerable  importance,  besides  a  very  great  number 
of  smaller  streams,  which  rise,  except  the  Sabine,  in  the  woods  on  the 
south-western  parts  of  the  state,  and  thence  emerge  into  the  prairies,  and 
unite  either  with  the  streams  above  named,  or  fall  into  the  lakes  which 
skirt  all  this  front  of  the  state.  Indeed,  the  whole  boundary  of  Opelousas 
and  Attakapas  on  the  gulf,  is  a  chain  of  lakes,  some  larger,  and  some 
smaller,  and  almost  innumerable.     The  margin  of  the  sea  shore,  for  some 


252  LOUISIANA.  . 

distance  back  into  the  country,  is  a  dead  level  and  below  the  tides, 
which  are  created  by  a  strong  south  wind,  in  which  case  the  sea  throws 
its  waters  over  great  extents  of  these  marshy  plains.  When  the  rivers 
reach  the  lakes  and  the  vicinity  of  the  gulf,  they  communicate  with  the 
lakes  by  many  mouths,  and  by  each  other  with  numberless  lateral  com- 
munications; so  that  the  connections  of  the  lakes  and  the  streams  form  an 
immense  tissue  of  net  work,  and  the  numbers  of  boatable  communica- 
tions arc  only  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  their  vicinity,  who  have  been 
long  and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  country. 

We  may  remark  in  passing,  that  the  soil  on  the  Atchafalaya  is  red, 
like  that  of  Red  river.  From  the  width  of  the  bayou  and  its  vicinity,  we 
infer  that  it  was  once  the  channel  of  Red  river,  by  which  that  river  pur- 
sued its  own  independent  course  to  the  gulf,  without  mingling  its  waters 
with  those  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  soil  on  the  banks  of  the  Teche  is  red,  and  shows,  also,  that  it 
once  had  some  connection  with  Red  river.  Its  alluvions  have  many 
points  of  resemblance  to  those  of  that  river.  Like  them,  these  also  are 
of  exhaustless  fertility.  They  arc  settled,  in  their  whole  extent,  until 
they  become  so  low  as  to  be  subject  to  inundation.  Except  the  coast 
above  New  Orleans,  it  presents  the  largest  and  compactest  settlement  in 
the  state.  It  is  remarked  of  this  stream,  that  it  presents  manifest  indica- 
tions of  having  once  been  the  channel  of  a  much  greater  volume  of 
water  than  it  carries  at  present.  The  channel  grows  broader  and  deeper 
beyond  the  Fusilier,  for  an  hundred  miles.  At  the  former  place,  it  is 
fifty  yards  wide,  and  at  low  Mater,  three  feet  deep.  When  it  enters  the 
Atchafalaya,  iis  channel  is  one  hundred  yards  wide,  and  it  has  twenty 
feet  water.  Between  the  two  points,  it  has  received  no  water  to  account 
for  this  enlargement. 

Bayou  Bceuf  and  Cocodri,  rising  near  Red  river,  in  the  Pine  Hills, 
wind  through  a  very  fertile  alluvion,  and  unite  in  Opelousas,  to  form  the 
Courtableau,  which  waters  the  richest  part  of  Opelousas.  Vermillion, 
Mermentau,  and  Courtableau  all  rise  near  each  other,  in  level  table 
lands  near  the  centre  of  Opelousas.  Each  of  them  have  valuable  lands 
lying  on  their  banks. 

We  can  do  no  more,  in  conformity  with  our  limits,  than  give  some  of 
the  names  of  the  more  conspicuous  bayous  that  go  to  form  those  which 
we  have  mentioned,  and  which  wind  in  different  directions  through  the 
vast  prairies  between  the  Atchafalaya  and  the  Sabine.  In  this  distance 
we  cross  the  Derbane,  Waushka,  Tcnsa,  Fusilier,  Carrion,  Cocodri, 
Bayou  Cane,  Bayou  Mollct,  Petit  Anse,  Bayou  Sale,  Bayou  Nczpique, 
Plaquemine,  Brule,  Queue  Tortue.  Bayou  Chicot,  Bnyou  Grand  Louis, 


LtOV ISI A WA  .  253 

Lacasino,  Carrion  Crow,  and  a  great  number  of  streams  of  less  impor- 
tance, that  are  properly  streams  of  the  prairie?. 

Below  the  open  prairies,  there  are  a  number  of  bayous  that  belong  to 
the  Atchafalaya,  and  the  Plaquemine;  such  as  the  Gros  Tete,  Bayou 
Maringouin,  Bayou  Mansir,  an  clilux  from  the  Mississippi,  Grand  and 
Petit  Caillou,  Bayou  Peau  dc  Chevruill,  Bayou  Large,  and  many  others. 

Near  a  singular  hill  between  Opelousas  and  Avoyelles  rise  the  Bayous 
Rouge  and  Petit  Prairie.  They  run  through  a  rich  soil,  and  an  immense- 
ly deep  and  heavy  forest.  Bayou  Rouge  is  a  circular  hill,  rising  from 
a  great  extent  of  adjacent  level  and  swamp}-  lands,  and  which,  ^ut  for 
its  extent,  might  be  taken  for  an  Indian  mound.  The  small  and  wretch- 
ed remains  of  the  Tunica  tribe 'of  Indians  reside  here.  This  tribe,  at  a 
distant  period,  was  desolated  by  a  massacre,  perpetrated  on  them  by  the 
Natchez  Indians.  Here,  intermediate  between  Red  river  and  the  gulf, 
and  isolated  from  savage  and  social  man,  intercourse  with  whom  has 
been  alike  ruinous  to  them,  by  inundated  swamps  and  deep  and  pathless 
forests,  they  dwell  in  solitude. 

Before  we  proceed  to  describe  the  two  great  rivers  of  Louisiana,  Red 
river  and  the  Washita,  whose  tracts  lead  us  into  the  interior,  we  propose 
to  name  the  principal  lakes  of  Louisiana,  as  the  larger  of  them  either 
communicates  directly  with  the  gulf,  or  lie  in  its  vicinity.  Lake  Maure- 
pas,  Ponchartrain,  and  Borgne  form  an  extended  chain  eastof  the  Missis- 
sippi. Lake  Maurepas  is  o£  a  circular  form,  and  is  comparatively  small. 
It  communicates  with  lake  Ponchartrain  by  a  narrow  pass.  Lake  Pon- 
chartrain is  forty  miles  long  and  twenty-eight  wide.  It  communicates 
by  two  narrow  passes,  called  rigolets,  with  lake  Borgne,  which  is  thirty- 
five  miles  long  and  twelve  wide.  These  lakes,  though  navigated  by  a 
great  number  of  small  vessels,  principally  schooners,  are  shallow,  except 
in  a  channel  through  their  centre.  Lake  Borgne  has  seldom  more  than 
six  feet  water,  except  in  this  channel.  When  the  wind  rises,  these  shal- 
low lakes  arc  subject  to  what  is  called  a  ground  swell,  and  their  naviga- 
tion is  dangerous. 

The  lakes  west  of  the  M  :,  along  the  shores  of  tho  gulf,  and 

between  Red  river  and  Washita,  arc  too  numerous  for  us  to  enumerate. 
A  complete  catalogue,  embracing  them  all,  large  and  small,  would  swell 
the  number  to  hundreds.  The  chief  of  them  are  Barataria,  Attakapas, 
Prune,  Salt  Water,  Green,  Grand,  Mermentau,  Calcasiu,  and  Sabine,  on 
the  gulf,  and  Long,  CV.luhoola,  Iatt,  Saline,  Natchitoches,  Spanish,  Black, 
Bistineau,  Bodau,  Pisquota,  and  many  smaller  ones  between  Washita 
and  Red  river,  and  Red  river  and  the  Sabine;  and  Concordia,  Homo- 
chitto,  and  Providence  lakes  belonging  to  the  Mississippi.  West  of  that 
river  are  also  the  smaller  lakes,  Chittimaches,  Natchez,  Des  Islets,  Levy, 


254  LOUISIANA. 

Little  lake,  Palourd,  Quacha,  Ronde,  St.  John,  and  St.  Joseph.  Some  oT 
these  lakes  are  many  miles  in  extent,  and  others  are  little  larger  than 
the  collection  of  water  called  ponds  at  the  north. 

That  some  of  them  are  of  recent  origin,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  midst  of  them  are  vast  extents  of  water,  out  of  which  rise  thousands 
of  deep  cypress  trees,  still  standing  erect,  where  boats  pass  and  fish  are 
taken  in  the  driest  seasons.  As  you  approach  these  lakes,  which  abound 
in  fish,  through  the  deep  forests  which  skirt  them,  you  are  warned  of  your 
approach  to  them  by  observing  the  trees  shrouded  in  a  deeper  drapery 
of  long  moss.  They  have  generally  on  their  shores  a  skirt  of  rich  soil, 
resembling  an  alluvion. 

Sabine.  This  river  rises  in  Texas, "in  latitude  32°  30'  and  flows 
southwardly,  entering  this  state  at  its  south-west  angle,  in  the  parish  of 
Natchitoches.  Thence  it  forms  the  dividing  line  between  Louisiana  and 
the  states  of  Mexico.  It  has  a  course  of  four  hundred  miles ;  and  in  high 
stages  of  its  waters,  when  the  obstructions  of  small  timber  rafts  are  clear- 
ed out  of  it,  is  susceptible  of  good  steam  boat  navigation,  as  high  as  the 
great  crossing  on  the  road  from  Natchitoches  to  the  Spanish  country.  In 
low  stages  of  water  it  has  but  four  feet  water  over  the  bar  at  its  mouth. 
Like  the  other  rivers  of  this  state,  it  broadens  into  a  wide  lake  before  it 
enters  the  gulf.  It  enters  it  through  a  vast  and  solitary  prairie  of  uncom- 
mon sterility,  uncheered  by  the  distant  view  of  vessels,  or  any  traces  of 
social  existence.  A  few  wandering  savages  are  sometimes  seen  dimin- 
ished to  moving  atoms.  The  wild  deer  browses  unmolested ;  and  the 
sea  fowls  scream  untcrrificd  by  the  report  of  the  gun.  The  prairie  is  as 
illimitable  by  the  eye,  as  the  ocean  on  which  it  borders.  Its  wide  alluvion 
contains  lands  only  of  second  rate  quality.  It  waters  the  most  hilly  parts 
of  the  state.  Among  those  hills  there  arc  frequent  streams,  some  lakes 
and  ponds,  and  often  times  small  strips  of  good  second  rate  land.  This 
stream  derives  its  chief  consequence  from  its  position,  as  the  line  of  sep- 
aration between  the  United  States  and  Mexico. 

Washita.  This  large  river  rises  in  the  Masserne  mountains,  in  the 
territory  of  Arkansas,  in  latitude  34°.  North  fork,  Washita  fork,  and 
south  fork  unite  to  form  the  main  river,  which,  after  flowing  something 
more  than  one  hundred  miles,  receives  from  the  north,  Hot  Spring  fork. 
Eight  leagues  below,  it  receives  the  Cado,  and  the  same  distance  lower 
down,  the  Little  Missouri.  The  Saline  rises  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
Hot  Springs,  and  after  a  winding  course  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
flows  into  the  Washita  just  above  the  limits  of  this  state.  The  Bayou 
Barthelcmy  rises  ten  leagues  south  of  the  Sabine,  and  joins  the  Washita 
a  league  above  fort  Miro.  The  Chaudron  comes  in  from  the  south,  and 
the  Bcsuf  and  the  Maron,  having  their  head  waters  in  Providence  lake, 


LOUISIANA.  255 

from  the  north.  The  latter,  with  somo  email  streams  united  to  it,  forms 
the  Tensa.  On  the  other  side  comes  in  Catahoola  or  Little  river.  Of 
this  river,  the  Dugdemcny  is  a  principal  branch.  Little  river,  in  its 
course,  passes  through  Catahoola  lake,  and  uniting  with  the  Tensa  in  a 
deep  swampy  forest,  forms  Black  river,  which,  soon  after  the  junction, 
mixes  its  waters  with  Red  river. 

The  soil  of  the  alluvions  of  Washita,  in  its  lower  courses,  is  black, 
and  extremely  fertile.  Its  upper  waters  run  through  a  mountainous 
region,  the  description  of  which  naturally  falls  under  the  head  of  Arkansas 
Territory.  The  lower  waters  of  this  river  rise  in  the  Pine  Hills,  and 
have  on  their  banks  second  rate  land,  until  a  short  distance  from  their 
union  with  the  main  river,  when  the  soil  becomes  of  the  same  quality 
with  that  of  the  main  river.  On  the  alluvions  and  bayous  are  already  a 
great  number  of  fine  cotton  plantations ;  and  there  is  an  extent  of  rich, 
unoccupied  cotton  lands  for  a  much  greater  number  still.  The  natural 
productions  of  this  river,  and  its  waters  in  this  state,  are  considered  no 
way  inferior  to  those  of  the  best  parts  of  the  Mississippi,  and  are  the  same, 
with  the  exception  of  the  sugar  cane,  which  is  not  known  to  have  been 
attempted  on  its  waters. 

Red  River.  This  is  one  of  the  most  considerable  tributaries  of  the 
Mississippi.  Its  width  of  channel,  in  its  lower  courses,  does  by  no  means 
correspond  to  its  length  of  course,  or  the  immense  mass  of  waters  which 
it  rolls  to  its  parent  stream.  But  in  high  waters,  when  it  has  arrived 
within  three  or  four  hundred  miles  of  that  river,  it  is  often  divided  into 
two  or  three  parallel  channels,  and  a  line  of  bayous  and  lakes  connected 
with  it,  takes  up  its  superabundant  waters,  and  they  are  a  considerable 
time  in  filling,  and  prevent  the  river  from  displaying  its  breadth  and 
amount  of  waters,  as  it  does  in  the  high  lands  five  hundred  miles  above, 
where  the  whole  river  flows  through  high  lands  in  one  broad  stream.  It 
takes  its  rise  in  a  chain  of  hills  near  Santa  Fe,  in  New  Mexico,  called, 
we  know  not  by  what  authority,  the  Caous  mountains.  In  its  upper 
courses  it  receives  Blue  river  and  False  Washita.  It  winds  through  a 
region  of  prairies,  on  which  feed  droves  of  buffaloes,  cattle,  and  wild 
horses.  In  these  regions  it  receives  a  great  many  considerable  tributa- 
ries, the  names  of  which  have  not  yet  been  given.  Between  the  Pawnee 
and  the  state  of  Louisiana,  it  receives  Kimichie,  Vasseux,  and  Little 
river,  from  the  north.  From  the  south  enter  the  Bois  d'Arc,  and  Little 
river  of  the  south.  The  Boda  u,  Dacheet,  Black  Lake,  and  Saline  rivers 
enter  Red  river  after  it  enters  Louisiana.  There  are  fine  tracts  of  land 
on  the  Dacheet  and  Saline.  Wells  are  sunk  in  a  salt  plain,  near  the 
Saline,  from  which  considerable  quantities  of  salt  are  made.  Black 
Lake  river  is  a  considerable  stream,  on  the  banks  of  which,  among  the 


256  LOUISIANA. 

hills,  are  found  great  varieties  of  petrifactions  of  every  sort.  Luke 
Bistineau  communicates  with  Red  river.  Petrifactions  abound  on  its 
shores,  and  this  remote  and  romantic  shoot  of  water  has  sonic  of  the 
most  delightful  scenery  on  its  shores. 

Through  the  greater  amount  of  its  course,  Red  river  winds  through 
immense  prairies,  of  a  red  soilj  covered  with  grass  and  vines  that  bear 
delicious  grapes.  On  its  banks  is  the  favorite  range  of  the  buffalo,  and 
other  game,  peculiar  to  the  vast  western  oceans  of  prairies.  About  thirty 
leagues  above  Natchitoches,  commences  the  raft,  which  is  nothing  more 
than  a  broad,  swampy  expansion  of  the  alluvion  of  the  river,  to  the  width 
of  twenty  or  thirty  miles.  The  river,  spreading  here'into  a  vast  number 
of  channels,  frequently  shallow  of  course,  has  been  for  ages  clogging 
with  a  compact  mass  of  timber  and  fallen  trees,  wafted  from  the  upper 
regions.  Between  these  masses,  the  river  has  a  channel,  sometimes  lost 
in  a  lake,  and  found  by  following  the  outlet  of  that  lake  back  to  the  parent 
channel.  There  is  no  stage  of  the  water  in  which  a  keel  boat,  with  an. 
experienced  pilot,  may  not  make  its  way  through  the  raft.  We  have  seen 
a  considerable  steam  boat,  which  was  built  above  the  raft  and  floated 
through  it  in  an  Ununited  state.  The  river  is  blocked  up  by  this  im- 
mense mass  of  timber  for  a  length,  on  its  meanders,  of  between  sixty  and 
seventy  miles.  There  are  places  where  the  water  can  be  seen  in  motion 
under  the  logs.  In  other  places,  the  whole  width  of  the  river  may  be 
crossed  on  horseback,  and  boats  only  make  their  way,  in  passing  these 
places,  by  following  the  inlet  of  a  lake,  and  coasting  it  to  its  outlet,  and 
thus  finding  the  channel  again.  Weeds,  flowering  shrubs,  and  small 
willows  have  taken  root  upon  the  surface  of  this  timber,  and  flourish 
above  the  waters.  But  in  all  these  places,  the  courses  of  the  river,  its 
outline,  and  its  bends,  are  distinctly  marked  by  a  margin  of  forest  trees, 
which  grow  here  on  the  banks  in  the  same  manner  as  they  do  where  the 
channel  is  open. 

It  is  an  impediment  of  incalculable  injury  to  the  navigation  of  this 
noble  river,  and  the  immense  extent  of  fine  country  above  it.  There  is, 
probably,  no  part  of  the  United  States  where  the  unoccupied  lands  have 
higher  claims  from  soil,  climate,  intermixture  of  prairies  and  timbered 
lands,  position,  and  every  inducement  to  population,  than  the  country 
between  the  raft  and  Kindt-hie.  This'country  would  be  settled  with 
greater  rapidity,  were  it  not  for  the  obstruction  which  this  raft  opposes  to 
the  navigation  of  the  river.  The  state  has  made  an  effort  to  have  it 
removed.  Accurate  surveys  of  it  have  been  made,  and  the  general  gov- 
ernment has  made  an  appropriation  for  this  purpose.  The  river  above 
the  rail  becomes  broad,  (ieep,  and  ;  boats,  in  moderate 

stages  of  the  water,  one  thousand  miles  towards  the  mountains. 


LOUISIANA.  257 

Below  the  raft,  as  we  have  remarked,  the  river  divides  itself  into  many 
channels,  and  fills  such  a  number  of  bayous  and  lakes,  that  lie  parallel  to 
the  river,  that  the  bare  enumeration  of  their  names  would  carry  us  beyond 
our  object.  The  valley  of  this  very  interesting  river  has  a  width  of  three 
or  four  miles,  as  high  as  the  Kimichie,  or,  as  it  is  commonly  called, 
Kiamesia,  nearly  a  thousand  miles  from  its  mouth,  following  its  meanders. 
It  broadens  as  it  slopes  towards  the  Mississippi,  and  has  for  a  long  distance 
from  its  mouth,  a  valley  from  six  to  eighteen  miles  in  width.  Of  all  the 
broad  and  fertile  alluvions  of  the  Mississippi  streams,  no  one  exceeds 
this.  It  compares  in  many  moro  points  with  the  famous  Nile,  than  the 
Mississippi,  to  which  that  river  has  so  often  been  likened.  Cotton  is  at 
present  the  staple  article  of  the  growth  of  its  lower  course.  Sugar  cane 
is  at  this  time  in  an  extensive  scale  of  experiment,  and  will  probably 
hereafter  be  raised  in  abundance ;  and  the  broad  and  fertile  plains  of  this 
river  as  far  as  Natchitoches,  will  be  converted  into  sugar  plantations. 
The  alluvions  of  Rapide,  Coteille,  Boeuf,  Robert,  Rigolet  Bon  Dieu,  Aux 
Cannes,  and  the  other  waters  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  river,  in  fact  of 
all  its  waters  as  far  as  32°,  seem  to  be  peculiarly  fitted  for  this  cultiva- 
tion. This  valley  spreads  from  east  to  west,  instead  of  north  and  south, 
like  the  Mississippi.  The  immense  masses  of  cold  water  which  that 
river  brings  down  from  the  northern  regions,  must  sensibly  affect  the 
temperature  of  the  air  on  its  banks.  In  descending  from  Red  river  to 
New  Orleans,  we  have  observed  that  vegetation  in  the  spring  was  more 
than  a  week  in  advance  of  that  on  the  Mississippi,  although  farther  to  the 
south.  We  believe  that  cane  will  thrive  as  well  on  this  river  in  31°,  as 
it  does  on  the  Mississippi  in  30°.  All  the  chief  streams  of  the  river 
have  the  same  soil  and  character  with  the  main  river.  Indeed,  the  lands 
on  Bayou  Rapide,  Robert,  and  Boeuf,  are  supposed  to  be  richer  than 
those  of  the  main  river.  It  is  considered  the  best  land  for  cotton  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  of  a  reddish  tinge,  mellow,  friable,  slightly  impreg- 
nated with  salt,  and  brings  forward  in  great  luxuriance,  all  the  vegetation 
that  is  proper  to  its  climate.  Its  indigo  and  tobacco  are  considered  the 
best  in  Louisiana. 

It  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  enumerate  the  trees,  shrubs,  and  vines 
that  are  common  to  the  valley  of  this  river  and  the  Washita.  We  have 
already  included  them  in  our  general  remarks  upon  the  trees  of  the  west- 
ern country.  We  shall  only  remark,  that  the  greater  part  which  belong 
properly  to  the  northern  and  middle  regions  of  the  country,  are  also  found 
here.  We  except  the  chesnut,  although  the  chincapin,  a  species  of  the 
chesnut,  grows  here.  It  wants  the  orange  and  the  live  oak  of  the  more 
southern  parts  of  the  state.  The  laurel  tribe  is  very  abundant,  as  are 
the  oaks  and  hickories.     In  the  eastern  division  of  Opelousas,  forty  dif- 

33 


258  LOUISIANA. 

ferent  species  of  trees  have  been  found  growing  within  the  space  of  a 
few  miles.  The  live  oak  seems  to  indicate,  that  as  we  advance  west  in 
the  same  parallel,  the  temperature  diminishes.  In  the  western  parts  of 
the  state  it  retires  to  the  south,  and  is  no  where  found  so  far  north  as  the 
vicinity  of  Mobile. 

Islands.  East  of  the  Mississippi,  and  fronting  this  state,  there  are  a 
number  of  islands,  along  the  shore  of  the  gulf,  the  largest  of  which  is 
called  Chandeleur.  They  are  all  small,  covered  with  pine  and  sand 
heaps.  Some  of  them  are  inhabited,  and  rendered  fertile  by  the  industry 
of  their  owners.  Those  that  lie  off  the  shore  of  Lake  Borgne  are  consid- 
ered uncommonly  healthy ;  and  some  of  the  inhabitants  survive  to  extreme 
old  age.  West  of  the  Mississippi,  the  principal  islands  along  the  gulf 
shore  are  Barataria,  the  noted  resort  of  Lafitte's  piratical  squadron, 
Thomas',  La  Croix,  and  Ascension  islands.  The  soil  of  these  islands  is 
generally  of  the  richest  character.  They  are  covered  with  a  dense 
forest  of  live  oaks  and  other  trees,  and  abound  in  deer,  turkeys,  and 
other  game.  Millions  of  sea  fowls,  at  the  proper  seasons,  frequent  the 
inlets  and  bays  contiguous  to  them,  and  oysters  and  fish  are  in  the 
greatest  abundance,  and  of  the  most  excellent  quality.  Thomas'  island 
is  acquiring  reputation  as  a  resort  for  health.  From  the  purity  of  the  air 
of  the  gulf,  and  the  cool  breeze  of  the  trade  winds,  and  the  opportunities 
of  sea  bathing,  and  the  refreshing  verdure  of  the  island,  it  would  be  a 
delightful  summer  residence,  were  it  not  for  the  annoyance  of  its  myriads 
ofmosquitos.  As  it  is,  it  is  a  charming  place  in  which  to  pass  the 
winter. 

These  islands  have  come  in  demand,  since  the  recent  discovery  that 
their  soil  and  climate  are  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
sugar  cane.  They  will  soon  be  covered  with  that  kind  of  cultivation. 
Although  there  are  extensive  marshes  between  them  and  the  high  grounds 
of  Attakapas,  yet  as  these  marshes  are  situated  north  of  the  islands,  and 
as  the  summer  winds  blow  almost  invariably  from  the  south,  they  have 
all  the  chances  for  being  salubrious,  that  they  would  have  if  they  were 
wholly  removed  from  marshes.  Thomas'  island  is  connected  with  the 
main  land  by  a  cause  way.  There  is  an  astonishing  peculiarity  apper- 
taining to  this,  and  most  of  the  islands  along  this  shore.  Rising  from  the 
sea  in  the  midst  of  a  marsh,  skirted  by  an  immense  prairie,  as  level  almost 
as  the  gulf,  and  elevated  but  a  few  feet  above  its  surface,  the  islands  rise 
like  bluff  hills,  and  have  an  elevation  rated  differently  from  twenty  to  one 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  and  above  the  prairies  in  the  vicinity.  The 
singularity  of  the  appearance  which  they  present  from  this  circumstance, 
can  only  be  readily  conceived  by  one  who  has  seen  the  country.     To 


LOUISIANA.  *<J59 

find  the  cause  oi*this  elevation,  and  to  account  for  it  on  geological  princi- 
ples, has  furnished  new  employment  tor  geologists. 

Beside  the  sea  islands,  there  are  many  lake  and  marsh  islands  on  this 
shore,  some  of  them  of  considerable  extent.  Sicily  island,  between  Cata- 
hoola  and  Natchez,  is  not  only  a  body  of  fine  soil,  but  from  its  position 
and  appearance,  presents  an  aspect  of  great  interest.  In  the  midst  of  a 
vast  swamp,  and  insulated  by  marshes  and  bayous,  and  in  the  season  of 
high  waters  by  the  overflow  of  the  Mississippi,  a  large  body  of  the  richest 
alluvial  land,  entirely  above  the  highest  floods,  rises  like  a  glacis  to 
bluffs  of  pine  woods,  and  we  see  their  ever  verdant  tops  waving  above 
the  vast  surrounding  morass.  On  this  island  are  some  of  the  best  plan- 
tations in  the  parish  of  Catahoola. 

Bays.  We  have  seen  that  the  shores  of  the  gulf  are  generally  low. 
They  are  especially  so  along  the  front  of  this  state.  Vast  extents  of  marsh 
and  trembling  prairie  interpose  between  the  sea  and  the  cultivable  lands. 
The  lakes,  inlets,  and  sounds  are  connected  by  an  inextricable  tissue  of 
communications,  and  passes  accessible  by  vessels  and  bay  craft,  which 
are  impossible  to  be  known,  except  by  pilots  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 
waters.  Hence  the  security  afforded  to  small  piratical  vessels,  command- 
ed by  men  who  could  guide  them  by  sinuous  and  narrow  channels,  where 
none  but  the  most  experienced  pilots  could  follow  them.  The  shore  is 
indented  by  numberless  small  bays,  very  few  of  them  affording  sufficient 
water  to  shelter  vessels.  Berwick's  bay  is  the  only  one  that  has  any 
considerable  extent. 

Prairies.  A  very  great  proportion  of  the  surface  of  this  state  is  covered 
with  prairies.  Almost  all  these  prairies  are  connected,  and  form,  like 
the  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  a  family,  through  which  the  connection  of 
all  the  branches  may  be  traced.  The  prairies  that  are  included  under 
the  general  name  of  Attakapas,  are  the  first  that  occur  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  parish  of  Attakapas  is  situated  in  these  prairies.  The  name 
implies  'man  eater?  in  the  language  of  the  savages  who  formerly  inhab- 
ited it,  and  who  are  reported  to  have  been  cannibals.  It  is  an  immense 
plain  of  grass,  spreading  from  the  Atchafalaya  on  the  north  to  the  gulf  on 
the  south.  Being  open  to  the  gulf,  it  is  generally  fanned  by  the  refresh- 
ing breezes  of  that  sea.  Its  aspect  of  extreme  fertility,  its  boundless 
plain  of  grass,  its  cheering  views,  its  dim  verdant  outline,  mingling  with 
the  blue  of  the  sky,  white  houses  seen  in  the  distance,  innumerable  cattle 
and  horses  grazing  on  the  plain,  or  reposing  here  and  there  under  the 
shade  of  its  wooded  points,  have  an  indescribable  pleasantness  to  the 
traveller,  who  has  been  toiling  on  his  way  through  the  tangle,  the  swamps, 
and  along  stagnant  lakes,  and  the  dark  and  deep  forest  of  the  Mississippi 
bottom.     All  at  once  he  leaves  the  stifling  air,  the  mosquito*,  the  rank 


260  LOUISIANA. 

cane,  the  annoying  nettles,  and  the  dark  brown  shade,  and  emerges  into 
this  noble  and  cheerful  plain,  and  feels  the  cool  and  salubrious  breeze  of 
the  gulf.  At  first,  he  finds  it  almost  painful  to  dilate  that  vision  which 
has  so  long  been  confined  in  the  forest,  to  the  contemplation  of  the  bound- 
less prospect  before  him.  He  sees,  spread  out  under  his  eye,  an  im- 
mense tract  of  beautiful  country,  containing  in  1820,  more  than  12,000 
people,  all  subsisting  by  agriculture. 

Advancing  west,  he  passes  from  this  to  Opelousas  prairie,  still  larger 
than  the  other,  and  computed  to  contain  nearly  eight  thousand  square 
miles.  It  is  divided  by  bayous,  wooded  grounds,  points  and  bends,  and 
other  natural  boundaries,  into  a  number  of  prairies,  which  have  separate 
names  and  marks  of  distinction.  Taken  in  its  whole  extent,  it  is  bounded 
by  the  Attakapas  prairie  on  the  east,  pine  woods  and  hills  on  the  north, 
the  Sabine  on  the  west,  and  the  gulf  on  the  south.  The  soil,  though  in 
many  places  very  fertile,  is  in  general  less  so,  than  the  former.  It  atones 
for  that  deficiency  by  being  more  salubrious,  being  generally  deemed  the 
healthiest  region  in  the  state.  There  are  here  very  considerable  cotton 
plantations,  and  some  of  indigo;  and  the  parish  which  bears  its  name, 
is  one  of  the  most  populous  in  the  state.  The  people  of  the  former  are 
devoted  to  the  growth  of  the  sugar  cane.  This  is  the  centre  of  the  land 
of  shepherds.  The  greater  number  of  the  people  are  chiefly  devoted  to 
that  employment,  and  they  number  their  cattle  by  thousands. 

Bellevue  prairie  is  partly  in  Opelousas,  partly  in  Attakapas.  It  affords, 
as  its  name  imports,  a  delightful  prospect.  It  is  watered  on  its  western 
limits  by  Bayou  Queue  Tortue,  Plaquemine  Brule,  Bayou  Melet,  Prairie 
Grand  Chevruil,  Laurent,  Alabama,  Wikoffs',  Le  Melles',  Avoyelles', 
Merom  or  Marom  Grand  prairie.  Calcasiu  and  Sabine  prairies  are 
names  that  designate  the  different  forms,  shapes,  and  openings  of  this 
continuous  line  of  prairies,  as  it  stretches  along  the  settlements  from  the 
Plaquemine  to  the  Sabine. 

Some  of  them,  as  Opelousas,  are  of  immense  extent.  That  of  the 
Sabine  is  boundless  to  the  vision.  Calcasiu  is  seventy  miles  long  by 
twenty  wide.  They  are  generally  so  level,  as  to  strike  the  eye  as  a  per- 
fect plain.  They  have,  however,  slight  swells  and  declinations,  sufficient 
to  carry  the  water  from  them.  Though  after  long  rains,  they  are  ex- 
tremely wet,  and  immense  tracts  are  covered  with  water.  They  have  a 
gentle  and  imperceptible  slope  towards  the  gulf,  and  generally  terminate, 
before  they  reach  the  shore,  in  wet  marshes,  into  which,  when  the  south 
wind  blows,  the  sea  is  driven.  These  marshes  are  covered  with  a  luxu- 
riant growth  of  tall,  reedy  grass,  called  cane  grass.  In  various  parts  of 
these  prairies,  there  are  islands  of  timbered  lands.  They  generally  have 
an  appearance  of  nwch  regularity  and  beatify,  that  a  stranger  in  with 


LOUISIANA.  201 

difficulty  convinced  that  they  are  not  chimps  of  trees,  planted  out  in  cir- 
cular, square,  or  triangular  forms,  for  the  beauty  of  their  appearance. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  convey  to  one  who  has  not  felt  it,  an  idea  of  the 
effect  produced  by  one  of  these  circular  clumps  of  trees,  seeming  a  kind 
of  tower  of  verdure,  rising  from  an  ocean  of  grass.  Wherever  a  bayou 
or  a  stream  crosses  the  prairie,  it  is  marked  with  a  fringe  of  timber, 
which  strikes  the  eye  of  an  observer  like  the  lines  of  trees  in  landscape 
painting. 

At  the  points  of  these  prairies,  and  wherever  the  streams  and  bayous 
cross  them,  the  soil  is  rich.  But  they  become  of  a  thinner  and  more 
sterile  soil,  as  we  advance  towards  the  Sabine.  Attakapas  is  the  first 
and  most  fertile,  and  that  of  the  Sabine  the  last  and  the  most  sterile. 
On  the  skirts  even  of  the  poorer  prairies,  near  water  courses  and  abundant 
winter  range,  there  is  a  sparse  population  quite  to  the  Sabine.  The 
situations  are  generally  selected  with  a  view  to  their  being  favorable  for 
the  raising  of  cattle.  There  are  a  few  cotton  plantations  beyond  Opelou- 
sas  prairie.  But  most  of  the  people  subsist  by  raising  cattle  and  horses. 
Some  years  since,  three  men  of  this  region  numbered  above  15,000  head 
of  horned  cattle,  and  2,000  horses  and  mules.  Some  of  the  situations  on 
these  lonely,  but  delightful  prairies,  have  been  selected  with  such  refer- 
ence to  beauty  and  prospect,  that  we  question  if  any  in  Arcadia  surpass- 
ed them.  They  raise  sheep,  the  mutton  of  which  is  excellent ;  but  the 
wool  coarse.  Many  of  the  horses  are  of  the  Andalusian  and  Numidian 
breed;  and  the  cattle  sleek,  slender,  elegantly  formed,  and  spirited  in 
their  movements.  They  are  driven  to  New  Orleans  for  a  market.  Many 
of  the  inhabitants  are  French,  clad  in  leather,  abounding  with  milk  and 
honey,  often  opulent,  but  clinging  to  the  simplicity  of  pastoral  life  from 
habit  and  inclination.  The  traveller  looks  round  upon  thousands  of  cattle, 
and  a  rustic  abundance  of  every  thing  appertaining  to  a  shepherd's  life ; 
and  is  welcomed  with  a  genuine  hospitality,  accompanied  with  French 
urbanity. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  in  advancing  towards  these  sequestered 
regions  the  traveller  from  New  Orleans  observes  a  decrease  of  luxury 
and  refinement  corresponding  to  his  advance  on  his  journey,  evidencing 
a  similitude  of  inverted  history.  He  travels  through  all  the  different 
stages  of  refinement,  from  the  luxury  of  that  showy  and  expensive  city, 
to  the  mansions  of  the  opulent  and  rural  planters  of  Attakapas,  the  petits 
paysans  beyond,  and  the  Arcadian  habitations  of  the  French  planters 
near  the  Sabine. 

Avoyelles  prairie  has  a  very  narrow  front  on  Red  river,  is  rich  and 
alluvial  in  point  of  soil,  and  of  moderate  extent,  being  seldom  more  than 
three  or  four  miles.     It  runs  back  from  Red  river  a  considerable  distance, 


262  LOUISIANA. 

and  constitutes  the  parish  the  name  of  which  it  bears.  It  is  inhabited 
by  cotton  planters  and  people  who  subsist  by  raising  cattle.  They  are 
principally  French. 

Catahoola  prairie,  on  Catahoola  or  Little  river  and  the  Washita,  has, 
in  many  respects,  a  resemblance  to  that  of  Avoyelles.  This  prairie, 
together  with  Sicily  island,  constitutes  the  chief  part  of  the  parish  of 
Catahoola.  There  are  also  very  extensive  prairies  between  Washita 
and  Red  river.  They  spread  in  a  line,  which  meanders  like  the  course 
of  the  rivers,  through  the  wooded  country,  until  they  connect  themselves 
with  the  immense  grassy  plains  on  the  upper  courses  of  these  rivers. 
They  are  generally  second  or  third  rate  land,  for  the  most  part  uninhab- 
ited, and  many  of  them  as  yet  without  a  name. 

Three  new  parishes  have  been  recently  created  by  the  legislature. 
The  parish  of  Plaquemine  is  situated  north  of  lake  Borgne,  west  of  New 
Orleans,  and  is  bounded  on  the  south-east  by  the  gulf  of  Mexico.  The 
greater  part  of  its  surface  is  swampy.  It  produces  all  the  articles  of 
culture  in  Louisiana ;  but  sugar  is  the  staple. 

The  parish  of  Orleans  includes  the  city.  Chef  Menteur,  Rigolets, 
Bayou  Bicnvenu,  Bayou  Gentilly,  and  Bayou  St.  Johns,  are  all  in  this 
parish,  and  are  famous  in  the  history  of  the  late  war.  Lake  Ponchar- 
train,  lake  Borgne,  Barataria  bay  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  Caminda  bay, 
lake  Des  Islets,  lake  Rond,  Little  lake,  and  Quacha  lake  are  in  the  limits 
of  this  parish.  Sugar,  and  after  that,  cotton  are  the  staples.  Along  the 
coast  there  are  groves  of  orange  trees,  and  the  fig  is  extensively  raised. 
In  this  parish  are  the  greater  part  of  the  defences  that  are  intended  to 
fortify  the  city  of  New  Orleans  against  the  attack  of  a  foreign  foe.  The 
chief  fortifications  arc  on  those  points  by  which  the  British  approached 
the  city  during  the  late  war.  Extensive  fortifications  of  brick  have  been 
erected  at  Pelits  Coquilles,  Chef  Menteur,  and  Bayou  Bienvenu,  the  two 
former  guarding  the  passes  of  the  Rigolets,  between  lake  Borgne  and 
lake  Ponchartrain,  and  the  latter  the  approach  from  lake  Borgne  to  New 
Orleans.  A  great  work,  to  mount  one  hundred  and  twenty  cannon,  is 
erected  at  Plaquemine,  on  the  Mississippi.  These  works  fall  not  far 
short  of  the  expense  of  two  million  dollars.  Fort  St.  Johns,  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  Bayou  St.  Johns  into  lake  Ponchartrain,  is  well  situated 
for  the  defence  of  the  pass.  It  is  an  ancient  establishment  of  the  former 
regime.  The  onus  are  of  vast  calibre;  but  they  appear  to  be  scaled, 
and  the  walls  have  a  ruinous  aspect.  These  points  of  defence  have 
been  selected  with  groat  judgment,  and  have  been  fortified  with  so  much 
care,  that  it  is  supposed  no  enemy  could  ever  again  approach  the  city  by 
the  same  passes  through  which  it  was  approached  by  the  British,  in  the 
last  war.     New  Orleans,  the  key  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  the  depot 


LOUISIANA.  203 

of  its  agriculture  and  commerce,  is  already  a  city  of  immense  impor- 
tance, and  is  every  year  becoming  more  so.  This  city  has  strong  natural 
defences,  in  its  position  and  its  climate.  It  is  now  strongly  defended  by 
artificial  fortifications.  But,  after  all,  the  best  defence  of  this,  and  all  other 
cities,  is  the  vigilant  and  patriotic  energy  of  the  masses  of  free  men,  who 
can  now,  by  steam  boats,  be  brought  down  to  its  defence  in  a  few  days  from 
the  remotest  points  of  the  west.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  that  by  the 
same  conveyance,  an  enemy  might  also  be  brought  against  it. 

Of  the  other  parishes  we  may  remark  in  general,  that  as  far  up  the 
Mississippi  as  the  parish  of  Baton  Rouge  on  the  east  side,  and  Point 
Coupee  on  the  west,  the  cultivation  of  the  sugarcane  is  the  chief  pursuit. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Plaquemine,  Lafourche,  and  Attakapas.  The 
staple  article  of  the  western  parishes  beyond,  is  cotton.  The  parishes 
north  of  lake  Ponchartrain,  which  formerly  made  a  part  of  Florida,  with 
the  exception  of  some  few  tracts,  and  the  alluvions  of  Pearl  river  and 
Bogue  Chitto  have  a  sterile  soil.  They  raise  large  flocks  of  cattle,  and 
send  great  quantities  of  lumber  to  New  Orleans,  together  with  pitch,  tar, 
turpentine,  and  charcoal.  They  burn  gi'eat  quantities  of  lime  from  the 
beds  of  shells,  which  cover  whole  tracts  near  the  lakes;  and  they  send 
sand  from  the  beaches  of  the  lakes,  for  covering  the  pavements  of  New 
Orleans.  They  have,  also,  for  some  years  past,  manufactured  bricks  to 
a  great  amount,  and  transported  them  across  the  lake.  They  have  a 
great  number  of  schooners  that  ply  on  the  lakes  in  this  and  other  em- 
ployments. The  people  engaged  in  this  extensive  business,  find  the 
heavy  tolls  demanded  on  the  canal  a  great  impediment  in  the  way  of  the 
profit  of  this  trade.  The  country,  generally,  is  covered  with  open  pine 
woods,  and  has  small  tracts  of  second  rate  land  interspersed  among  them. 
It  is  valuable  from  its  inexhaustible  supplies  of  timber  and  wood  for  the 
New  Orleans  market. 

Chief  Towns.  New  Orleans,  the  commercial  capital  of  the  state,  and 
the  emporium  of  western  commerce,  is  situated  on  the  east  shore  of  the 
Mississippi — in  a  bend  so  deep  and  sinuous  that  the  sun  rises  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city  from  the  opposite  shore — in  north  latitute  29°  57'; 
and  in  90°  8'  west  longitude  from  Greenwich;  and  in  13°  9'  from  Wash- 
ington ;  one  hundred  and  five  miles,  by  the  meanders  of  the  river,  from 
the  Balize,  and  ninety  miles  in  a  direct  line ;  not  far  from  one  thousand 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  a  little  more  than  one  thousand 
two  hundred  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  It  is  nearly  intermediate 
between  Boston  and  Mexico,  although  the  passage  from  New  Orleans  to 
Vera  Cruz  is  much  shorter  by  sea,  than  to  Boston.  It  consists  of  the  old 
city,  properly  so  called,  which  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram, 
of  which  the  longer  sides  are  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty 


264  LOUISIANA. 

yards  in  length,  and  the  shorter,  or  the  depth  of  the  city  towards  the 
swamp,  seven  hundred  yards.  Above  the  city  are  the  suburbs  St.  Mary 
and  Annunciation.  Below  the  city  are  the  suburbs  Marigny,  Daunois, 
and  Declouif.  These  are  called  Fauxbourgs.  Between  the  city  and 
the  Bayou  St.  John,  are  the  villages  St.  Claude  and  St.  Johnsburg.  Who- 
ever will  look  at  its  position  on  the  map,  will  see  at  once  its  unrivalled 
advantages  of  position  for  a  commercial  capital.  Accessible  quickly, 
and  at  all  times  by  large  ships  from  the  sea,  its  longdistance  above  it, and 
the  sinuosities  of  the  river,  give  it  uncommon  capabilities  of  defence 
from  foreign  annoyance.  It  has  probably  twice  as  much  extent  of  boat 
navigation  above  it  as  any  other  city  on  the  globe.  Taking  the  length 
of  all  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi,  that  are  navigable  and  actually 
navigated  by  steam  boats,  it  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  the  sum  would 
exceed  twenty  thousand  miles ;  and  these  waters  penetrate  the  most  fer- 
tile soils,  and  pass  through  the  pleasantest  climates.  Its  advantages  of 
communication  with  the  country  immediately  adjacent  to  it,  have  been 
overlooked  in  comparison  with  those  of  its  relation  to  the  upper  country. 
But  even  in  these  respects  it  is  unrivalled.  By  the  basin  of  the  canal 
and  the  Bayou  St.  John,  it  communicates  with  lake  Ponchartrain  and 
the  connected  lakes ;  with  the  opposite  Florida  shore,  with  Mobile,  Pen- 
sacola,  and  the  whole  gulf  shore,  east  and  west.  Not  a  few  vessels  clear 
from  the  basin  for  the  Atlantic  and  Mexican  ports.  The  basin  is  scarcely 
distant  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  ship  landing  on  the  Mississippi.  A 
person  on  the  basin  wharf  can  sec  the  masts  of  the  vessels  lying  oa  the 
shore  of  the  levee,  and  yet  a  vessel  sailing  from  the  basin,  would  have 
to  sail  through  the  lakes  along  the  gulf  shore,  and  up  the  Mississippi  some 
hundreds  of  miles,  to  arrive  at  so  little  distance  from  her  former  position. 
Even  the  commerce  and  shipping  of  the  basin  would  be  sufficient  for  the 
support  of  a  considerable  city.  There  is  an  incorporation  to  connect  the 
lake  with  the  Mississippi  by  a  canal  directly  from  the  one  to  the  other. 
A  most  necessary  and  important  canal  is  also  contemplated  for  connecting 
Attakapas  with  the  city.  Nature  has  almost  completed  the  line  of  com-  I 
munication.  At  present,  the  bayous  Plaquemine  and  Lafourche  furnish 
that  communication.  Although  steam  boats  run  between  Opelousas  and 
Attakapas  by  these  routes  and  the  Teche,  yet  the  mouths  of  these  bayous 
are  liable  to  be  choaked  with  timber,  and  the  navigation  is  generally 
attended  with  some  difficulty,  and  is  moreover  circuitous.  There  are  so 
many  communications  by  water  between  New  Orleans  and  the  lower 
parts  of  Louisiana,  accessible  by  the  smaller  boats,  that  all  of  them  are 
only  known  to  people  who  have  been  in  habits,  for  a  long  time,  of  ex- 
ploring them  for  the  sake  of  finding  new  and  shorter  routes  to  their 
destination. 


LOT7I8IANA.  205 

.  Viewed  from  the  harbor  on  a  sunny  day,  no  city  offers  a  more  striking 
panoramic  view.  It  envelops  the  beholder  something  in  the  form  of  a 
crescent.  An  area  of  many  acres,  covered  with  all  the  grotesque  variety 
of  flat  boats,  keel  boats,  and  water  crafts  of  every  description,  that  havo 
floated  from  all  points  of  the  valley  above,  lines  the  upper  part  of  tho 
shore.  Steam  boats  rounding  to,  or  sweeping  away,  cast  their  long  hori- 
zontal streams  of  smoke  behind  them.  Sloops,  schooners,  brigs,  and 
ships  occupy  the  wharves,  arranged  below  each  other  in  the  order  of  their 
size,  showing  a  forest  of  masts.  The  foreign  aspect  of  the  stuccoed 
houses  in  the  city  proper,  the  massive  buildings  of  the  Fauxbourg  St. 
Mary,  the  bustle  and  mo  rement  on  every  side,  all  seen  at  one  view  in 
the  bright  coloring  of  the  brilliant  sun  and  sky  of  the  climate,  present  a 
splendid  spectacle. 

The  wooden  buildings,  of  which  the  city  was  formerly  in  a  great 
measure  composed,  have  given  place  to  buildings  of  brick.  The  city, 
properly  so  called,  and  the  Fauxbourg  St.  Mary,  are  compactly  and  sub- 
stantially built.  In  the  city,  the  French  and  Spanish  styles  of  building 
predominate.  The  houses  are  stuccoed  externally,  and  this  stucco,  of  a 
white  or  yellow  color,  strikes  the  eye  more  pleasantly  than  the  dull  and 
sombre  red  of  brick.  There  can  be  no  question  but  the  American  mode 
of  building  is  more  commodious,  solid,  and  durable;  but  the  latter  mode 
has  the  preference  in  its  general  effect  upon  the  eye.  To  an  American, 
viewing  them  for  the  first  time,  there  is  something  fantastic  and  unique 
in  the  appearance  of  the  city  streets,  which  wears  a  resemblance  to 
European,  French,  and  Spanish  towns,  rather  than  American.  The 
Fauxbourg  St.  Mary,  and  many  other  parts  of.  the  city,  are  built  after 
the  American  fashion,  and  have  nothing  in  their  appearance  different 
from  an  Atlantic  town. 

The  city  contains  six  complete  squares ;  each  square  having  a  front  of 
three  hundred  and  nineteen  feet  in  length.  Each  square  is  divided  into 
twelve  lots.  Few  of  the  streets,  except  Canal  street,  are  more  than  forty 
feet  wide.  The  names  of  the  principal  streets  are  Levee,  Chartres, 
Royal,  Burgundy,  Dauphine,  Toulouse,  &c.  The  public  buildings  are 
the  town  house,  at  the  north-west  corner  of  Chartres  and  St.  Peter's  streets; 
the  hospital,  standing  in  the  suburb  St.  Mary,  opposite  the  square,  between 
Dauphine  and  Burgundy  streets;  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Louis,  in 
front  of  Orleans  street,  upon  Chartres  street;  the  convent  of  Ursuline 
nuns,  upon  Ursuline  street,  between  Levee  and  Chartres  streets;  the 
barracks,  upon  Garrison  and  Levee  streets;  the  customhouse,  in  front 
of  the  square,  between  Canal  end  Leves  streets;  the  market  house,  upon 
the  Levee,  in  front  cf  the  square,  between  St.  Anne  apd  Du  Maine  streets ; 
Orleans  bank,  upon  Conti,  between  Chartres  and  Royal  streets;  Louitv 

34 


266  LOUISIANA 

ana  bank,  upon  Royal,  between  Conti  and  St.  Louis  streets ;  Planter^ 
bank,  south-west  corner  of  Conti  and  Royal  streets;  government  house, 
north-west  corner  of  Levee  and  Toulouse  streets;  district  court  of  the 
United  States,  between  Du  Maine  and  Philiippe  streets;  and  the  water 
works  on  Levee  street,  in  front  of  the  square,  between  Ursuline  and  St. 
Philip's  streets.  A  very  large  and  splendid  building  is  fitted  up  for  the 
state  bank.  The  French  theatre  is  in  the  city,  and  the  American, 
in  the  Fauxbourg  St.  Mary.  The  Presbyterian  church  is  also  in  this 
Fauxbourg. 

The  cathedral  stands  at  the  head  of  a  spacious  square,  four  hundred 
feet  from  the  river.  The  building  is  of  brick,  extending  ninety  feet  on 
the  street,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  back  of  it.  The  roof  is  covered, 
as  are  most  of  the  French  and  Spanish  houses,  with  hollow  tile,  and  is 
supported  by  ten  plastered  brick  columns.  It  has  four  towers,  of  which 
one  contains  two  bells.  It  has  an  organ,  and  is  finished  within  with 
great  massiveness  and  simplicity.  It  is  an  imposing  fabric,  and  the 
interior  seems  calculated  to  excite  religious  feeling.  Under  its  stone 
pavements  are  deposited  the  illustrious  dead.  In  niches  and  recesses 
are  the  figures  of  the  saints  in  their  appropriate  dress,  and  with  those 
pale  and  unearthly  countenances,  which  are  so  much  in  keeping  with 
the  common  ideas  entertained  of  them.  The  walls  are  so  thjck,  that 
though  in  the  very  centre  of  business,  you  hear  only  a  confused  whisper 
within,  and  are  almost  as  still  as  in  the  centre  of  a  forest.  You  go  but  a 
few  paces  from  the  crowds  that  are  pressing  along  Levee  street,  and  from 
the  rattle  of  carriages  that  are  stationed  near  this  place,  and  you  find 
yourself  in  a  kind  of  vaulted  apartment,  and  in  perfect  stillness.  The 
tapers  are  burning,  and  some  few  arc  always  kneeling  within  in  silent 
prayer.  Images  of  death,  of  the  invisible  world,  and  of  eternity  surround 
you.  The  dead  sleep  under  your  feet.  You  are  in  the  midst  of  life,  and 
yet  there  reigns  here  a  perpetual  tranquility.  A  new  Catholic  church 
has  been  recently  erected. 

The  Presbyterian  church  is  of  brick,  and  is  a  very  large  and  handsome 
building.  The  Episcopal  church  is  small,  but  light  and  neat  in  its  struc- 
ture. The  Mariner's  church  is  a  respectable  building,  not  yet  completed. 
The  prison  and  the  French  theatre  are  very  large,  and  externally,  disa- 
greeable buildings,  though  the  coup  (Pail  of  (he  view  in  the  interior  of  the 
French  theatre  is  very  brilliant.  The  American  theatre,  in  the  Faux- 
bourg St.  Mary,  is  a  heat  and  commodious  building.  The  charity  hospital, 
though  not  a  very  beautiful  building,  has  a  moral  beauty  of  the  highest 
order.  It  is,  probably,  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  useful  charities  in 
the  country.  New  Orleans  is  exposed  to  greater  varieties  of  human 
misery,  vice,  disease,  and  want,  than  any  other  American  town.     Here 


LOUISIANA.  267 

misery  and  disease  find  a  home,  clean  apartments,  faithful  nursing.-and 
excellent  medical  attendance.  Under  this  roof  more  miserable  objects 
have  been  sheltered,  more  have  been  dismissed  cured,  and  more  have 
been  carried  to  their  long  home,  than  from  an  v  other  hospital  among  us. 

The  college  is  a  respectable  building,  and  has  had  ample  endowments; 
but  has  done  little  as  yet  for  the  literature  of  the  country.  There  is  a 
convent  of  Ursuline  nuns,  who  receive  day  scholars  and  boarders  for  the 
various  branches  of  rudimental  education.  The  female  orphan  asylum 
is  a  most  interesting  charity,  dating  its  efficient  operations  from  the  benev- 
olent donations  of  the  late  Mr.  Poydras.  It  has  commonly  seventy  or 
eighty  destitute  female  children,  under  sober  and  discreet  instructresses, 
all  plainly  and  neatly  clad,  and  constantly  occupied,  either  in  acquiring 
the  rudiments  of  education  or  of  needle  work.  They  are  dressed  in  plain 
uniforms,  and  worship  part  of  the  Sabbath  day  in  the  Catholic,  and  part 
in  the  Protestant  church.  An  institution  of  a  similar  character  for  boys, 
and  endowed  also  by  the  benevolent  Poydras,  is  now  in  operation. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  charitable  institutions  in  this  •  city,  of 
respectable  character;  and  when  the  epidemic  yellow  fever  visits  it, 
the  manner  in  which  the  inhabitants  bestow  charity,  nurt  :ng,  shelter,  and 
medical  aid  to  the  sick,  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  A  library  for  the  use  of 
the  poorer  reading  young  men  of  the  city  has  been  instituted,  and  in  the 
extent  of  her  efficient  and  useful  charities,  New  Orleans  is  not  far  behind 
her  Atlantic  sisters.  There  are  fewer  churches  in  the  city,  than  in  any 
other  town  of  the  same  size  in  the  United  States.  There  are  but  three 
Catholic  places  of  worship,  one  Presbyterian,  one  Episcopalian,  a  Mari- 
ners1 church,  a  Baptist  and  a  Methodist  place  of  worship.  Very  little 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  northern  people  estimate  it,  is  seen  in  this 
city.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  forms  of  the  Catholic  worship  do  not  for- 
bid amusements  on  the  Sabbath. 

No  city  in  the  United  Spates  contains  such  a  variety  of  inhabitants  from 
every  state  in  the  union,  and  from  even'  nation  in  Europe ;  and  there  are 
not  a  few  from  the  Spanish  country,  and  the  islands.  There  is  an  aston- 
ishing contrast  of  manners,  language,  and  complexion.  One  half  the 
population  is  black  or  colored.  The  French  population  probably  as  yet 
predominates  over  the  American.  Among  the  Americans,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  of  New  York  seem  to  have  the  greater  number,  and  there  is 
more  intercourse  between  New  Orleans  and  New  York  than  any  other 
American  city.  The  intercourse  with  Havana  and  Vera  Cruz  is  great, 
and  constantly  increasing. 

The  French  display  in  this  city,  as  elsewhere,  their  characteristic 
urbanity  and  politeness,  and  are  the  same  gay,  amiable;  dancing,  spec- 
tacle-loving people,  that  they  are  found  to  be  in  every  other  place.     There 


2(iS  LOUISIANA. 

is,  no  doubt,  much  gambling  and  dissipation  practised,  and  different  licens- 
ed gambling  houses  pay  a  large  tax  for  their  licenses.  Much  has  been 
said  abroad  touching  the  profligacy  of  manners  and  morals  here.  Amidst 
such  a  multitude,  composed  in  a  great  measure  of  the  low  people  of  all 
nations,  there  must  be  much  debauchery  and  low  vice.  But  all  the  dis- 
gusting forms  of  vice,  debauchery,  and  drunkenness  are  assorted  together 
in  their  own  place.  Each  man  has  an  elective  attraction  to  men  of  his 
own  standing  and  order. 

Much  has  been  said  abroad,  in  regard  to  the  unhealthiness  of  this  city, 
and  the  danger  of  a  residence  here  for  an  unacclimated  person  has  been 
exaggerated.  This  circumstance,  more  than  all  others,  has  retarded  the 
increase  of  this  city.  Unhappily,  when  the  dog  star  is  in  the  sky,  there 
is  but  too  much  probability  that  the  epidemic  will  sweep  the  place  with 
the  besom  of  destruction.  Hundreds  of  the  unacclimated  poor  from  the 
north,  and  more  than  all  from  Ireland,  fall  victims  to  it. 

In  the  autumn  of  1S32,  while  the  cholera  was  raging  on  the  courses 
of  the  Ohio,  and  desolating  the  descending  steam  boats,  this  city  was 
suffering  from  a  late  but  severe  attack  of  yellow  fever.  Early  in  Novem- 
ber, the  cholera  manifested  itself  in  this  city,  in  conjunction  with  yellow 
fever.  The  more  sweeping  and  terrible  disease  soon  took  place  of  the 
other.  The  concourse  of  reckless  strangers,  miserable  free  blacks,  and 
the  mass  of  the  poor  and  vicious,  crowded  into  filthy  streets  and  dirty 
apartments,  together  with  the  acknowledged  insalubrity  of  the  city,  gave 
the  disease  such  a  development  here  as  had  been  feared  and  predicted. 
Scenes  too  revolting  for  relation  occurred,  notwithstanding  the  greatest 
exertions  of  the  police.  As  at  Cincinnati,  the  disease  was  sudden  in  its 
development  and  subsidence;  and  more  decidedly  than  in  that  place, 
confined  its  ravages  to  the  poor  and  disorderly.  The  greatest  reported 
number  of  deaths  in  one  day  was  275,-  and  in  one  week,  1050;  a  most 
afflicting  and  unparalleled  mortality  for  a  population  of  50,000  people. 

The  supply  of  the  excellent  water  of  the  Mississippi,  by  the  water 
works  now  in  operation,  is  very  inadequate.  It  is  contemplated  to  extend 
the  means  of  supply.  No  city  in  the  union  can  be  furnished  more  cheaply 
and  easily.  Were  the  supply  equal  to  washing  the  streets  in  every  direc- 
tion, it  would  tend  more  to  the  preservation  of  the  public  health,  in  all 
probability,  than  any  other  conservative  means  that  could  be  employed; 
and  it  is  matter  of  surprise,  that  such  a  simple  and  obvious  measure  has 
not  already  been  adopted.  It  is  believed  that  every  street  which  has  the 
least  inclination  of  descent,  might  be  kept  clean  by  the  healthy  w*ater  of 
the  Mississippi,  at  a  less  expense  than  is  requisite  for  watering  Cincinnati. 
Very  great  improvements  have  been  recently  made,  and  are  constantly 
making,  in  paving  the  city,  in  removing  the  wooden  sewers,  and  replacing 


LOUlsiAX-a..  !2C9 

them  by  those  of  stone.  The  low  places,  where  the  water  used  to  stag- 
nate, arc  drained  or  filled  up.  Tracts  of  swamp  about  the  town  arc 
draining  or  filling  up ;  and  this  work  constantly  pursued,  will  probably 
contribute  more  to  the  salubrity  of  the  city,  than  all  the  other  efforts  to 
this  end  united. 

The  commerce  of  this  city  is  immense,  and  constantly  increasing. 
There  have  been  counted  in  the  harbor,  fifteen  hundred  fiat  boats  at  a 
time.  Steam  beats  are  coming  and  departing  every  hour,  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  to  see  fifty  lying  in  the  harbor  at  a  time.  A  forest  of  masts 
is  constantly  seen  along  the  levee,  except  in  the  sultry  months.  There 
are  often  five  or  six  thousand  boatmen  from  the  upper  country  here ;  and 
it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  forty  vessels  advertised  for  Liverpool  and 
Havre.  No  place  in  the  United  States  has  so  much  activity  and  bustle 
of  commerce  crowded  into  so  small  a  space,  in  the  months  of  February 
and  March.  During  the  season  of  bringing  in  the  cotton  crop,  whole 
streets  are  barricaded  with  cotton  bales.  The  amount  of  domestic  ex- 
ports from  this  city,  exceeds  twelve  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  being 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  city  of  the  union,  except  New  York,  and 
nearly  equalling  that.  The  greatest  items  that  make  this  demount,  are 
sugar  and  cotton. 

It  is  believed  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  great  and  opulent  city 
of  New  Orleans,  will  commence  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  her  re- 
sources and  enterprise,  a  system  of  reclaiming  the  immense  swamps,  in 
the  midst  of  which  she  is  placed,  by  navigable  canals. 

Notwithstanding  the  disadvantage  of  being  reported  unhealthy,  few 
towns  in  the  United  States  increase  with  greater  rapidity.  Within  the 
last  three  years,  a  thousand  houses  have  been  added  to  its  buildings, 
principally  fronting  along  the  river  in  the  Fauxbpurg  St.  Mary,  most  of 
them  massive  and  commodious.  The  recently  finished  rail  road  from 
Rampart  street  to  lake  Pcnchartrain  is  not  only  in  itself  a  noble  and  use- 
ful work,  but  has  essentially  tended  to  reclaim  frcm  the  swamp,  a  consid- 
erable tract  in  the  rear  of  the  city.  A  bank  has  recently  been  created 
with  a  capital  of  4,000,000  dollars,  which,  as  the  condition  of  the  charter, 
is  to  make  a  canal  from  a  point  on  the  river  above  the  city  to  the  lake. 
There  are  five  banks  in  the  city,  with  a  capital  of  more  than  ten  millions 
of  dollars;  and  it  is  advancing  in  all  points  of  opulence,  ornament,  utility, 
and  comfort,  in  a  progress  of  honorable  competition  with  the  other  princi- 
pal American  cities. 

The  rail  road  is  four  and  a  half  miles  long,  perfectly  straight,  and  its 
ascent  and  descent  only  sixteen  inches.  The  avenue  on  which  the  road 
runs  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide.  The  eye,  at  either  extremity, 
traverses  its  whole  length.     Standing  on  the  shorS  of  the  Mississippi, 


270  LOUISIANA. 

the  vessels  sailing  through  the  lake  are  seen  at  the  end  of  the  avenue 
of  trees  through  which  the  road  is  cut.  An  artificial  harbor  and  break- 
water are  constructing  on  the  lake,  at  the  extremity  of  the  road. 

The  facilities  of  getting  a  passage  from  this  city,  either  to  Europe, 
Mexico,  the  Atlantic  cities,  or  the  interior,  are  very  great.  You  need 
seldom  remain  many  days  without  an  opportunity  to  embark  in  any  di- 
rection. Steam  boats  are  constantly  advertising  for  Louisville,  and  all 
the  different  points  on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio;  and  a 
passage  in  the  beautiful  steam  boats  that  now  ply  on  these  waters,  is  both 
rapid,  cheap,  and  delightful. 

The  market,  ordinarily,  is  cheap  and  abundant ;  and  by  seizing  the 
opportunities,  the  articles  of  life  may  be  had  as  cheap  as  in  any  other 
town  in  the  United  States.  Corn,  potatoes,  pork,  and  flour  are  sometimes 
so  low  as  scarcely  to  pay  the  cost  of  transport  from  the  upper  country. 
The  productions  of  all  climes  find  their  way  hither;  and  for  fruits  and 
vegetables,  few  places  can  exceed  it.  On  a  pleasant  March  morning, 
perhaps  half  the  city  is  seen  in  the  market.  The  crowd  covers  half  a 
mile  in  extent.  The  negroes,  mulattoes,  French,  Spanish,  and  Germans 
are  all  crying  their  several  articles  in  their  several  tongues.  In  the 
midst  of  a  confusion  of  languages,  like  that  of  Babel,  '  un  picalion,  un 
picalionf  is  the  most  distinguishable  tune.  The  census  of  1830  gives 
this  city  48,458  inhabitants ;  but  there  are  times  in  the  year  when  it 
contains  perhaps  60,000. 

This  city  necessarily  exercises  a  very  great  moral  influence  over  all 
the  western  country.  There  is  no  distinguished  merchant,  planter,  or 
farmer  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  but  what  has  made  at  least  one  trip 
to  this  place.  Here  they  witness  acting  at  the  French  and  American 
theatres.  Here  fhcy  go  to  inspect,  if  not  to  take  part  in  the  pursuits  of 
the  'roulette,  and  temple  of  fortune.'  Here  they  come  from  the  remote 
and  isolated  points  of  the  west,  to  see  the  icity  lions,''  and  learn  the  ways 
of  men  in  great  towns ;  and  they  necessarily  carry  back  an  impression 
from  what  they  have  seen  and  heard.  It  is  of  inconceivable  importance 
to  the  western  country,  that  New  Orleans  should  be  enlightened,  moral, 
and  religious.  It  has  a  numerous  and  respectable  corps  of  professional 
men,  and  issues  a  considerable  number  of  well  edited  papers. 

The  police  of  the  city  is  at  once  mild  and  energetic.  Notwithstanding 
the  multifarious  character  of  the  people,  collected  from  every  country 
and  climate,  notwithstanding  the  multitude  of  boatmen  and  sailors,  not- 
withstanding the  mass  of  people  that  rushes  along  its  streets  is  of  the 
most  incongruous  materials,  there  are  fewer  broils  and  quarrels  here  than 
in  almost  any  other  city.  The  municipal  and  criminal  courts  are  prompt 
in  administering  justice;  and  larcenies  and  broils  are  effectually  pun- 


LOUISIANA.  271 

ished  without  any  just  grounds  of  complaint  about  the  'law's  delay.'  On 
the  whole,  the  morals  of  those  people  who  profess  to  have  any  degree  of 
se'f-rcspect,  are  not  behind  those  of  the  other  cities  of  the  union. 

New  Orleans  is  one  thousand  two  dundred  and  three  miles  from  Wash- 
ington, eight  hundred  and  thirty-two  from  St.  Louis,  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  thirty-four  from  Boston,  and  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  from  New  York. 

Donaldsonville,  en  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  at  the  efflux  of 
Lafourche,  ninety  miles  above  New  Orleans,  has  a  number  of  houses,  and 
has  been  selected  by  the  legislature  as  the  place  for  the  future  political 
capital  of  the  state.  Baton  Rouge  is  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles  above  New  Orleans.  It  is  pleasantly  situ- 
ted  on  the  last  bluff  that  is  seen  on  descending  the  river.  The  site  is 
thirty  or  forty  feet  above  the  highest  overflow  of  the  river.  This  bluff 
rises  from  the  river  by  a  gentle  and  gradual  swell.  The  United  States 
barracks  here  are  built  in  a  fine  style,  and  are  supposed  to  be  among  the 
handsomest  and  most'  commodious  of  that  kind  of  works.  From  the 
esplanade  the  prospect  is  delightful,  including  a  great  extent  of  the  coast, 
with  its  handsome  houses  and  rich  cultivation  below,  and  commanding  an 
extensive  view  over  the  back  country  at  the  east.  The  village  is  toler- 
ably compact,  and  has  a  number  of  neat  houses.  The  town  itself, 
especially  in  the  months  when  the  greatest  verdure  prevails,  when  seen 
from  a  steam  boat  in  the  river,  rising  with  such  a  fine  swell  from  the 
banks,  and  with  its  singularly  shaped  French  and  Spanish  houses,  and 
its  green  squares,  looks  like  a  finely  painted  landscape.  Its  population 
is  rated  at  1,200. 

St.  Francisville  is  a  considerable  village,  situated  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  river,  and  on  a  bluff  a  mile  from  its  banks,  and  is  one  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  above  New  Orleans.  It  is  a  thriving  village,  of  nearly  the 
same  size  with  Baton  Rouge.  A  weekly  paper  is  printed  here;  and 
Bayou  Sarah,  by  which  the  town  communicates  with  the  Mississippi,  is 
a  noted  stopping  place  for  descending  boats,  and  great  quantities  of  cotton 
are  shipped  from  it.  At  a  considerable  distance  west  of  this  town,  is 
Jackson,  in  a  healthy  position  in  the  pine  woods,  which  is  the  seat  of 
an  incipient  college. 

On  the  opposite  shore  is  Point  Coupee,  a  wealthy  French  settlement. 
Here  the  levee  commences,  and  extends  thence  to  New  Orleans.  Here 
lived  and  died  Mr.  Poydras,  celebrated  for  his  wealth  and  benevolence. 
He  endowed,  as  we  have  remarked,  asylums  in  New  Orleans,  and  left 
many  other  charitable  donations ;  and  among  others,  the  proceeds  of  a 
very  considerable  property,  to  be  distributed  in  marriage  portions  to  a 
number  of  poor  girls  in  the  parish  of  Point  Coupee,  and  in  the  adjoining 
parishes. 


270  10t7ISIANA. 

Galveztown  is  situated  on  the  Bayou  Manshac  or  Ibberville,  not  far 
from  where  it  enters  lake  Poncharirain.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Tangipao, 
is  the  village  of  Springfield.  Madisonville  is  a  small  village  on  the  Chif- 
functe,  two  miles  from  the  north  shore  of  lake  Poncharirain.  It  is  a  place 
of  considerable  summer  resort  from  New  Orleans  during  the  sickly 
months.  There  are  a  number  of  handsome  houses  of  accommodation  for 
such  persons.  A  navy  yard  was  etttempted  by  the  government  on  this 
river,  a  few  miles  above  this  village.  Covington  is  a  considerable  village, 
seven  miles  above,  on  the  Bogue  Falaya,  a  branch  of  the  Chiffuncte.  It 
is  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  parish  of  St.  Tammany,  and  is  the  head  of 
schooner  navigation  on  the  river.  Considerable  cotton  is  shipped  from 
this  place.  General  Jackson's  road,  leading  from  lake  Ponchartrain  to 
Nashville,  passes  through  this  place.  Like  Madisonville,  it  is  a  place  of 
resort  for  the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  during  the  sickly  season.  Opelou- 
sas,  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  parish  of  that  name,  is  a  rising  village,  in 
the  midst  of  a  respectable  and  compact  settlement,  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty miles  from  New  Orleans.  A  weekly  gazette  is  issued  from  this 
place.  Si.  Martinsville,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Teche,  is  surrounded  by 
a  settlement  of  opulent  planter?.  New  Iberia  is  also  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Teche,  and  being  at  (ho  head  of  schooner  navigation,  in  a  rich  and 
flourishing  country,  must  eventually  become  a  place  of  importance. 

Alexandria,  on  Red  river,  seventy  miles  from  the  Mississippi,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty/rom  the  mouth  of  the  river,  by  its  meanders,  is  situated 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  a  half  a  mile  below  the  fall,  at  the  mouth 
of  Bayou  Rapide.  It  is  central  to  the  rich  cotton  planting  country  of 
Bayous  Rapide,  Robert,  and  Baeuf.  It  is  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  parish, 
has  a  bank,  issues  a  weekly  paper,  has  a  number  of  stores,  and  respec- 
table attorneys  and  physicians.  The  site  of  the  town  is  a  beautiful  plain, 
and  the  village  is  embosomed  in  China  and  other  ornamental  trees.  Vast 
quantities  of  cotton  are  exported  from  this  place. 

Natchitoches  is  eighty  miles  above  Alexandria,  by  the  meanders  of 
the  river,  and  something  more  than  sixty  by  land.  The  river  is  here 
divided  into  two  parallel  branches,  and  the  town  is  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  southern  branch.  It  is  the  last  town  of  any  size  towards  the 
south-western  frontier  of  the  United  S'ates,  and  is  nearly  fifty  miles  east 
of  the  Sabine,  to  which  there  is  a  good  road  from  this  place.  The  Span- 
ish trade,  for  a  considerable  distance  into  the  interior  of  the  Mexican 
States,  centres  here ;  and  it  is  the  great  thorough-fare  for  people  going  to 
and  returning  from  those  states.  The  trade  from  them  is  chiefly  in  bars 
of  silver,  and  horses  and  mules.  We  send  them  in  return,  manufactured 
goods,  groceries,  spirits,  end  tobacco.  It  is  a  vory  old  town,  having  been 
•etnblished  an  hundred  years  ago.     There  are  many  French  and  Spanish 


LOUISIANA.  271 

house?,  and  a  considerable  number  of  Spaniards  still  inhabit  it.  It  is  a 
village  considerably  larger  than  Alexandria.  The  population  is  Ameri- 
can, French,  and  Spanish,  and  has  a  sprinkling  of  Indian  with  it;  and 
there  is  a  singular  mixture  of  all  these  races  visible  in  the  common 
people.  There  are  many  respectable  families  here;  and  the  opulent 
planters  have  houses  in  the  town,  for  the  sake  of  society.  The  people 
are  excessively  fond  of  balls  and  dancing.  It  has  a  pleasant  society, 
and  a  weekly  newspaper  in  French  and  English.  The  relations  of  this 
place  with  the  immense  country  on  the  river  above,  and  with  the  interior 
of  the  Spanish  country,  must  necessarily  be  extended.  It  is  at  present 
a  growing  place,  and  will  one  day  become  the  largest  town  in  this  coun- 
try, except  New  Orleans.  It  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  shore  of  the 
river,  and  extends  back  to  the  pine  bluffs,  on  which  there  are  already 
some  handsome  houses.  It  is  at  the  head  of  steam  boat  navigation. 
This  place  has  experienced  the  successive  regimes  of  the  savages,  the 
Spanish,  French,  and  Americans,  and  has  had  its  war  dances,  fandangoes, 
French  balls,  and  American  frolics.  The  traces  of  the  ancient  grave 
yard  are  almost  erased.  Indians,  Spanish,  French,  American,  Catholics, 
and  Prostestants,  lie  here  in  mingled  confusion.  Two  or  three  leagues 
west  of  this  town,  is  the  ancient  Spanish  town  of  Adayes.  We  can 
see  no  where  in  the  United  States  so  fair  a  sample  of  an  ancient  Spanish 
town  as  this.  The  houses  are  of  the  construction  of  an  hundred  years 
ago.  A  little  old  church,  with  three  or  four  bells,  some  of  them  cracked, 
and  some  coarse  paintings,  give  the  church  an  air  in  keeping  with  the 
town.  The  inhabitants  are  all  Spanish.  Beyond  this  is  the  deep  gully, 
called  the  Rio  Hondo,  which  marked  the  limits  of  the  Spanish  claims 
east  of  the  Sabine.  Half  way  between  Natchitoches  and  the  Sabine, 
is  Cantonment  Jessup,  where  are  stationed  two  companies  of  United 
States'  soldiers.  The  station  is  lonely,  but  pleasant  and  healthful.  The 
water  from  the  esplanade  runs  from  its  western  slope  into  the  Sabine, 
and  from  the  other  into  Red  river. 

This  region  being  the  last  point  towards  the  Mexican  country,  it  is  not 
strange  that  it  should  be  the  resort  of  desperate  and  wicked  adventurers, 
who  fly  from  debt,  poverty,  the  laws,  and  a  guilty  conscience.  Many 
lawless  characters  centre  in  it. 

On  Bayou  Baeuf  there  is  a  small  village  called  Cheneyville.  The 
town  of  Monroe  is  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  parish  of  Washita,  and  is 
situated  on  that  river,  as  is  also  Harrisonville,  the  seat  of  justice  for  the 
parish  of  Catahooln.  Monroe  is  about  eighty  miles  north  of  Alexandria, 
in  the  centre  of  a  rich  country,  and  has  a  weekly  gazette. 

Roads  and  Canah.  We  have  already  mentioned  the  canal  Caronde- 
let,  which  connects  the  city  of  New  Orleans  with  lake  Ponchartrain  by 

35 


272 


LOUISIANA. 


the  Bayou  St.  John.  It  is  two  miles  long  and  perfectly  straight.  Where 
it  terminates  at  the  north  of  the  city,  there  is  a  convenient  basin,  exca- 
vated entirely  by  art,  and  sufficiently  large  to  hold  a  great  number  of 
vessels.  It  was  dug  at  a  great  expense.  Immense  labor  and  expense 
were  necessary  to  render  the  bayou  navigable,  and  especially  its  outlet 
to  the  lake, or  what  is  called  the  'pickets,'  where  a  former  impassible  bar 
has  been  deepened,  and  prevented  from  forming  again  by  the  waves  and 
the  currents,  by  piles  driven  into  the  sand,  and  extended  a  considerable 
distance  into  the  lake.  A  provision  in  the  charter  of  this  corporation 
allows  them  to  extend  the  canal  to  the  Mississippi.  It  is  proposed  to 
connect  the  Mississippi,  by  Attakapas,  by  a  canal ;  and  there  is  no  coun- 
try in  the  world  where  nature  has  done  more  towards  forming  natural 
canals,  which  a  little  labor  and.  expense  would  complete  by  artificial 
extensions.  A  great  number  of  bayous  only  need  to  have  the  timber 
cleared  out  of  them  to  be  navigable  by  steam  boats. 

There  are  a  corporation  and  funds  provided  for  rendering  Bayou  Boeuf 
navigable  by  steam  boats  to  Red  river.  It  would  require  no  great  arti- 
ficial labor  to  connect  this  bayou  with  the  Teche,  and  furnish  steam  beat 
navigation  through  Opelousas.  The  country  is  so  level,  and  the  water 
courses  so  interlocked  by  nature,  that  little  more  is  necessary  for  this,  in 
most  instances,  than  the  digging  a  broad  and  navigable  ditch.  At  the 
same  time,  that  transport  is  thus  rendered  easy,  the  country  is  drained, 
swamps  are  reclaimed,  and  health  is  as  much  subserved  as  utility. 

When  this  state  shall  once  have  imbibed  the  spirit  and  feeling  of  the 
northern  and  middle  states  upon  this  subject,  almost  every  cotton  planter 
in  the  country  will  be  able  to  ship  his  cotton  on  board  a  steam  boat  directly 
from  his  gin.  The  country  being  level,  the  roads,  that  generally  run  on 
the  margins  of  the  rivers  and  bayous,  are  for  the  most  part  good.  When 
the  roads  diverge  to  any  distance  from  the  bayous  and  rivers,  they  soon 
touch  the  swampy  soil,  and  in  wet  weather  are  intolerably  deep,  muddy, 
and  heavy. 

Constitution  and  Laws.  The  Constitution  varies  little  from  that  of 
the  other  western  states.  The  state  senators  are  elected  for  four  years, 
one-fourth  vacating  their  seats  annually.  They  must  possess  an  estate 
of  one  thousand  dollars  in  the  parish  for  which  they  are  chosen.  The 
representatives  have  a  biennial  term,  and  must  possess  five  hundred  dol- 
lars worth  of  property  in  the  parish,  to  be  eligible.  The  governor  is  cho- 
sen for  four  years,  and  is  ineligible  for  the  succeeding  term.  His  duties 
are  the  same  as  in  the  other  states,  and  his  salary  seven  thousand  dollars 
a  year.  The  judiciary  powers  are  vested  in  a  supreme  and  circuit  fourt, 
together  with  a  municipal  court,  called  the  parish  court.  The  salaries 
are  ample.     The  elective  franchise  belongs  to  every  free  white  man  of 


LOUISIANA.  273 

tweiuv-one  years  and  upwards,  who  has  had  a  residence  of  six  months  in 
the  parish,  and  who  has  paid  taxes. 

The  code  of  laws  adopted  hy  this  state,  is  not  what  is  called  the 
'common  law,'  which  is  the  rule  of  judicial  proceedings  in  all  the  other 
states,  but  the  civil  law,  adopted  with  some  modifications  from  the  judicial 
canons  of  France  and  Spain.  So  much  of  the  common  law  is  interwoven 
with  it  as  has  been  adopted  by  express  statute,  and  the  criminal  code  is 
for  the  most  part  regulated  by  it.  All  the  laws  of  the  civil  code  purport 
to  be  written,  and  they  are  principally  selected  from  that  stupendous  mass 
of  legal  maxims  and  edicts,  called  the  Justinian  code.  Parishes  in  this 
state  nearly  correspond  to  counties  in  the  other  states;  and  the  parish 
judge  under  the  civil  code,  and  according  to  the  judicial  arrangements  of 
this  state,  is  one  of  the  most  responsible  and  important  judicial  function- 
aries. 

It  would  be  rather  amusing  than  useful,  to  go  into  much  detail  respect- 
ing the  modes  of  administering  justice  under  the  French  and  Spanish 
regime.  The  commandant  or  governor  general  was  at  the  head  of  the 
judiciary  and  military  departments.  His  code  was  the  Roman  law,  or 
rhat  of  the  Indies;  and  he  represented  the  king.  The  department  of 
finance  was  administered  by  an  officer  called  the  intendant  general.  The 
office  of  procureur  general  was  one  of  high  consequence,  and  had  an 
analogy  to  that  of  our  prqjfecuting  attorneys.  But  of  all  the  tribunals  of 
the  Spanish  in  their  colonies,  the  most  important  and  popular  was  the 
cabildo.  The  cabildos  awarded  the  decisions  in  common  civil  suits,  and 
were  a  kind  of  general  conservators  of  the  peace.  Subordinate  ministers 
of  justice  to  them  were  alcaides,  regidors,  syndics,  and  registers.  Sub- 
ordinate to  the  department  of  finance  were  the  contadors,  treasurer,  inte- 
rentor,  auditor-,  and  assessor.  Most  of  these  offices  were  venal,  or 
acquired  by  purchase.  The  processes  were  simple,  but  rigorous  and 
summary ;  and  many  of  their  maxims  of  law  were  founded  in  the  highest 
wisdom  and  equity.  From  whatever  cause  it  happened,  the  yoke  of 
their  government  always  sat  easy  on  the  neck  of  the  Anglo-Americans, 
who  lived  under  it,  and  still  speak  of  Spanish  times  as  the  golden  age. 
Crimes  were  rare.  The  forefathers  of  the  present  race  of  Creoles  were 
a  mild  and  peaceable  race,  as  are  their  descendants  at  the  present  day. 
The  ancient  inhabitants  attached  more  importance  to  a  criminal  prosecu- 
tion, and  felt  more  keenly  the  shame  of  conviction,  than  the  inhabitants 
of  the  present  day.  Summary  justice,  the  terror  of  the  Mexican  mines, 
or  the  dungeons  of  Havana,  had  their  share  in  producing  this  spirit  of 
submissive  quietness  and  subordination.  The  penal  laws  were  not  more 
sanguinary  than  those  of  most  of  the  states  of  our  union.  Only  four 
crimes  were  declared  capital.     Persons  sentenced  to  death  for  the  com- 


274  LOUISIANA. 

mission  of  those  crimes,  often  remained  long  in  the  prisons  of  Cuba, 
either  through  the  lenity  or  caution  of  the  officers  of  justice.  The  code 
under  which  governor  O'Reilly  administered  justice,  is  a  most  singular 
specimen  of  jurisprudence.  Among  the  most  frequent  crimes  against 
which  it  provides,  are  crimes  of  lust  committed  by  priests,  or  professed 
religious,  and  the  heaviest  punishments  are  those  annexed  to  those  crimes. 
There  are  enumerated  some  amusing  cases,  in  which  pecuniary  mulcts 
are  substituted  for  corporeal  punishment,  in  instances  of  conviction  for 
these  crimes. 

Character.  If  any  distinct  national  character  can  be  predicated  of 
the  people  of  this  state,  it  will  apply  with  the  same  shades  of  difference 
to  all  the  people  of  the  south-western  states.  We  consider  the  Creoles 
generally  a  mild  and  amiable  people,  with  less  energy  and  less  irasci- 
bility than  the  immigrants  from  the  other  states.  The  descendants  of 
the  French  have  all  the  peculiar  and  distinctive  marks  of  that  people  in 
all  countries.  They  possess  mild  vivacity,  and  show  rather  the  ingenui- 
ty of  successful  imitation,  than  the  boldness  and  hardihood  of  inventive 
minds.  The  parents  of  the  present  race  were  insulated  from  the  rest  of 
the  world;  were  plunged  in  the  woods;  had  no  object  of  ambition,  no 
political  career  before  them ;  and  they  were  content  to  hunt,  make  voy- 
ages in  their  canoes,  and  smoke  and  traffic  with  the  savages.  Many  of 
them  knew  neither  how  to  read  nor  to  write.  •It  is  otherwise  with  their 
descendants.  They  are  generally  born  to  fortunes ;  have  a  career  be- 
fore them,  and  are  early  taught  to  perceive  the  necessity  of  being  edu- 
cated; and  the  children  of  the  French  are  now  as  generally  instructed 
as  those  of  the  Americans.  They  are  fond  of  shows,  the  theatre,  balls, 
and  assemblies ;  are  extremely  polite ;  and  generally  more  sober  and 
moral  than  the  Americans.  The  women  arc  remarkable  for  becoming 
excellent  wives  and  mothers;  and  are  extremely  domestic  and  economi- 
cal in  their  habits.  Many  of  the  more  wealthy  planters  cross  the  sea  to 
spend  the  summer,  and  to  educate  their  children  in  France.  The  Amer- 
ican planters  are  generally  high  minded,  irascible,  social,  and  generous; 
much  addicted  to  the  sports  of  the  turf  and  the  gambling  table.  They 
are  fond  of  hunting  and  keeping  large  packs  of  dogs.  Having  overseers 
for  the  most  part  over  their  plantations,  they  have  much  leisure  time  on 
their  hands,  and  are  too  apt  to  become  dissipated.  There  is  a  rising- 
spirit  of  literature,  and  a  disposition  to  read  among  them,  which  will  in- 
nocently, if  not  usefully  and  happily  employ  many  of  the  hours  that  used 
to  be  spent  around  the  gambling  table.  The  people  generally  are  averse 
to  care,  deep  thinking,  and  profound  impressions ;  and  are  volatile,  gay, 
benevolent,  easily  excited  to  joy  or  sorrow ;  and  the  common  maxim  in  a 
sickh  elimato,  where  life  is  precarious,  is  '  a  short  life  and  a  merry  one? 


LOUISIANA.  '21j 

There  is  a  prevalent  and  fatal  propensity  to  decide  quarrels,  and  even 
trivial  disputes  by  duels ;  and  many  wanton  and  fatal  duels  occur,  as  one 
of  the  deepest  stains  upon  the  moral  character  of  this  people.  In  many 
respects,  no  people  are  more  amiable.  They  carry  the  duties  of  hospi- 
tality to  great  lengths,  and  extend  the  kindness  of  consanguinity  almost 
as  far  as  the  Scotch  are  said  to  do.  The  luxury  of  the  table  is  carried  to 
great  extent.  They  are  ample  in  their  supply  of  wines,  though  claret  is 
generally  drunk.  In  drinking,  the  guests  universally  raise  their  glasses 
and  touch  them  together,  instead  of  a  health. 

No  state  in  the  union  has  made  more  ample  and  munificent  appropria- 
tions, according  to  its  numbers,  for  the  advancement  of  common  school 
education.  For  this  purpose,  eight  hundred  dollars  are  annually  appro- 
priated in  every  parish  in  the  state.  But  the  act  of  appropriation  is 
darkly  worded.  The  application  of  appropriations  is  indistinctly  defined , 
and  it  is  much  to  be  feared,  that  the  generous  purpose  of  the  laws  has  not 
yet  produced  the  fruits  that  were  intended  to  grow  from  it.  There  are 
in  the  state,  many  professional  characters  of  high  respectability.  Social 
libraries  are  introduced  into  many  of  the  villages.  The  improving  spirit 
of  the  age  is  doing  much  for  the,m.  The  rapid  communication  by  steam 
boats,  brings  the  luxuries,  comforts,  and  improvements  of  society  imme- 
diately to  their  doors,  and  along  with  them,  more  refinement,  a  higher 
order  of  thought,  and  better  tone  of  feeling.  The  influence  of  this  course 
of  things  upon  the  moral  habits  of  the  planters,  is  very  perceptible  in 
introducing  more  liberal  pleasures,  more  innocent  modes  of  spending  their 
time,  and  especially,  and  above  all,  more  enlightened  humanity  and  poli- 
cy in  their  ways  of  managing  their  slaves. 

Religion.  The  Catholic  is  the  predominant  religion  of  Louisiana. 
There  are  catholic  churches  in  all  the  considerable  villages.  But  there 
is  probably  less  protestant  worship,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers,  than  in 
any  other  state  in  the  union.  We  know  of  but  one  Presbyterian  church 
in  the  state,  and  that  is  in  New  Orleans.  The  Baptists  have  some  soci- 
eties, and  the  Methodists  have  labored  here  with  the  same  zeal  as  in  other 
places.  They  have  a  number  of  societies,  and  some  very  res*pectable 
members  in  the  state. 


ARKANSAS  TERRITORY. 


Greatest  length,  500  miles.  Medial  length,  300.  Breadth,  240. 
It  contains  more  than  50,000  square  miles.  Between  33°  and  36°  30'  N. 
latitude;  and  13°  and  23°  W.  longitude  from  Washington.  Bounded 
north  by  Missouri  and  the  territory  beyond;  east  by  the  Mississippi, 
which  separates  it  from  Tennessee  and  Mississippi ;  south  by  Louisiana 
and  the  Mexican  states ;  west  by  those  states.  It  was  erected  into  a 
territorial  government  in  1819,  and  contains  25,667  whites,  and  4,678 
blacks ;  total  30,383.  The  limits  of  this  great  region  are  strongly  defined 
by  physical  and  geographical  lines.  These  lines  are  for  the  most  part 
large  rivers,  and  the  ocean  of  prairies  beyond. 


CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 

Counties. 

Chief  Towns. 

Distance  from  Acropolis 

Arkansas, 

Arkansas  Post, 

136 

Chicot, 

Villemont, 

184 

Clark, 

Clark  C.  H. 

87 

Conway, 

Harrisonburgh, 

40 

Crawford, 

Crawford  C.  H. 

136 

Crittenden, 

Greenock, 

168 

Hempstead, 

Hempstead  C.  H. 

130 

Independence, 

Batesville, 

102 

Izard, 

Izard  C  H. 

172 

La  Fayette, 

La  Fayette  C.  H. 

182 

Lawrence, 

Jackson, 

152 

Miller,  * 

Miller  C.  H. 

228 

Monroe, 

Jacob's  Staff, 

84 

Phillips, 

Helena, 

124 

Pope, 

Scotia, 

81 

Pulaski, 

Little  Rock  or  Acropolis, 

St.  Francis, 

Franklin, 

Sevier, 

Paraclifta, 

168 

Union, 

Corea  Fabre, 

Warm  Spring, 

Warm  Spring, 

60 

Washington, 

ARKANSAS    TERRITORY.  277 

Acropolis  is  1,068  miles  from  Washington,  522  from  New  Orleans, 
and  397  from  St.  Louis. 

Face  of  the  Country.     In  this  view,  Arkansas  is  an  epitome  of  the 
world.     For  some  distance  up  the  waters  of  Arkansas  and  White  rivers, 
the  country  is  an  extensive,  heavily  timbered,  and  deeply  inundated 
swamp.     Near  the  St.  Francis  hills  and  at  Point  Chico,  the  eastern  front 
along  the  Mississippi  is  above  the  overflow.     The  remainder  of  the  east- 
ern line  is  a  continued  and  monotonous  flooded  forest.     It  has  large  and 
level  prairie  plains.     It  possesses  a  great  extent  of  rocky  and  sterile 
ridges,  and  no  inconsiderable  surface  covered  with  mountains.     Perhaps 
no  section  of  our  country  is  more  diversified  in  regard  to  its  surface. 
Its  northern  line  is  intersected  by  a  range  of  hills,  which  are  commonly 
denominated  '  The  Black  mountains,''  a  line  of  elevations  running  from 
Black  river  to  the  western  extremity  of  the  territory,  and  separating  be- 
tween the  waters  of  White  river  and  Arkansas.     There  are  ranges  of 
hills,  that  have  the  name  of  mountains,  which  separate  the  waters  of 
Arkansas  from  those  of  Washita.     Near  the  Warm  Springs,  these  ridges 
spring  up  into  elevated  peaks,  which  in  the  eye  of  a  visitor  at  the  springs, 
from  the  level  country  of  Louisiana,  have  the  aspect  of  lofty  mountains. 
At  the  south-western  extremity  of  the  territory,  there  are  three  parallel 
ranges  of  hills,  that  divide  the  waters  of  Red  river  from  those  of  Washita. 
There  are,  also,  many  detached  hills  and  flint  knobs.     On  some  of  these 
is  found  the  whortleberry.  '  vaccinium,''  of  the  north,  in  great  perfection 
and  abundance.     These  hills  exhibit  red  cedars  and  savines,  such  as  grow 
on  hills  of  a  similar  appearance  on  the  Atlantic  shore.     In  the  central 
parts  of  the  territory,  and  intermediate  between  Arkansas  and  Washita 
rivers,  on  the  waters  of  the  latter,  is  that  singular  detached  elevation, 
called  '  Mount  Prairie.'     On  the  waters  of  White  river  and  St.  Francis, 
the  country  generally  is  rolling.     But,  take  the  extent  of  the  territory 
together,  it  is  either  very  level  or  very  hilly.     In  some  places,  the  hills 
rise  at  once  from  level  prairies  and  plains.     A  very  considerable  portion 
of  the  country  is  broken  land,  and  unfit  for  cultivation.     A  great  part  of 
the  'barrens'  of  this  state  are  what  their  name  imports.     There  are  four 
considerable  detached  bodies  of  good  upland.     But  it  may  be  assumed  as 
a  general  fact,  that  the  high  prairies  and  timbered  lands  are  sterile.     That 
part  of  the  course  of  the  Washita  which  runs  in  this  territory,  has  narrow, 
though  in  some  places,  rich  bottoms.     Here  are  cane  brakes,  birch,  ma- 
ple, holly,  and  muscadine  grape  vines.     The  tender  soil  on  the  banks  is 
often  torn  away  by  the  sweeping  and  rapid  course  of  the  full  river. 
Rugged  hills,  covered  with  stinted  pines  and  cedars,  come  in  close  to  the 
river;  and  the  valley  is  so  deep,  and  its  boundaries  so  abrupt,  that  the  sun 
is  seen  but  a  few  hours  in  the  dav. 


278  ARKANSAS    TERRITORY. 

There  is  a  large  tract  of  country  on  the  upper  waters  of  White  river, 
which  has  sometimes  been  denominated  New  Kentucky,  either  from  its 
being  fertile,  rolling,  and  abundant  in  limestone  springs,  or  from  its  being 
more  congenial  to  the  staple  products  of  Kentucky  than  the  country 
lower  down.  It  is  sheltered  on  the  north  by  mountains.  The  fertile 
tracts  are  valleys  embosomed  between  high  hills ;  and  the  productions  of 
the  north  and  the  south,  for  the  most  part,  succeed  in  this  soil.  It  has 
one  great  inconvenience.  The  streams  that  run  along  its  precipitous 
hills,  receive  the  waters  of  the  powerful  showers  that  occasionally  fall, 
and  pour  these  waters  from  an  hundred  shelving  declivities  into  the 
streams.  They  have  been  known  to  rise  forty  feet  in  perpendicular 
height,  in  a  few  hours.  The  standing  corn  and  cotton  is  submerged,  and 
the  hope  of  the  year  destroyed. 

Rivers.  Red  river  has  the  greater  part  of  its-  whole  length  of  course 
in  this  territory.  There  is  no  other  river  of  equal  length  and  importance 
in  our  country,  about  whose  sources  and  upper  waters  so  little  is  known 
with  exactness  and  certainty  as  this.  It  rises  at  the  bases  of  a  line  of 
spurs  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  called  the  Caous  mountains,  near  Santa 
Fe.  Blue  river  and  Fausse  Wachitta  rise  near  the  sources  of  the  main 
river,  and  join  it  three  or  four  hundred  miles  from  its  head  spring.  There 
are  a  number  of  considerable  nameless  tributary  streams  below  these 
principal  branches.  Some  of  them  have  courses  of  between  one  and 
two  hundred  miles.  The  Pawnees  are  the  principal  inhabitants  on  this 
undescribed  part  of  the  river.  Below  their  towns  and  the  limits  of  Lou- 
isiana, come  in  Kimichie,  near  which  is  situated  the  United  States'  gar- 
rison, Vasseux,  and  Little  river  of  the  north;  and  on  the  other  side, 
Bois  d'Arc  and  Little  river  of  the  south.  The  south  bank  of  this  river, 
for  a  long  distance,  is  the  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  the 
province  of  Texas.  Every  traveller  has  remarked,  that  this  river,  at  the 
Kimichie,  nearly  a  thousand  miles  from  its  mouth,  is  a  broader  and 
apparently  a  larger  stream  than  at  the  point  where  it  mingles  its  waters 
with  Ihc  Washita.  The  reason  is,  that  in  the  hilly  region  of  the  prairies 
it  rolls  along  in  one  channel,  a  broad  river,  not.  pouring  its  surplus  waters 
into  bayous  or  lakes.  After  it  enters  Louisiana,  its  whole  course,  as  we 
have  already  remarked,  is  chequered  on  cither  hand  with  numberless 
bayous  and  lakes.  We  have  already  mentioned  that  its  waters  are  red, 
turbid,  and  unpotablc,  from  the  impregnation  of  salt  mixed  with  it.  Above 
the  raft,  it  is  a  fine  stream  for  steam  boat  navigation.  The  country  on 
the  American  side  is  diversified  with  prairies,  woodlands,  hills,  and 
valleys,  with  a  red  bolored  soil.  This  region  is.healthy  and  pleasant. 
It  is  affirmed   that  it  produces  good  wheat,  and  even  productive  apple 


ARKANSAS     TERRITORY.  279 

orchards.     From  the  abundance  of  peccan  and  other  nut  bearing  trees, 
it  is  a  fine  country  lor  swine,  and  opens  inviting  prospects  to  immigrants. 

Washita  rises  in  mountainous  prairies,  intermediate  between  Arkansas 
and  Red  river,  not  far  from  34°.  The  Fourche  Caddo,  Little  Missouri, 
and  Saline  rise  at  no  great  distance  from  the  sources  of  the  principal 
stream.  It  runs  through  a  country  generally  sterile  and  mountainous. 
Pine  and  that  species  of  oak  known  in  those  regions  by  the  name  of  pin 
oak,  and  generally  denoting  an  inferior  soil,  are  the  most  common  kinds 
of  timber.  In  the  richer  and  alluvial  tracts  are  found  the  trees  common 
to  that  latitude.  That  beautiful  kind  called  Bois  cfArc,  is  here  found  in 
greater  abundance  than  any  where  else  in  our  country.  In  high  stages 
of  the  water,  it  is  navigable  by  steam  boats  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
Hot  springs,  that  is  to  say,  a  distance  from  its  mouth  of  nearly  six  hun- 
dred miles.  An  hundred  salines,  some  of  which  are  impregnated  with 
salt,  are  found  near  the  river.  Its  bottoms  are  very  fertile  after  it  enters 
Louisiana.  When  it  unites  itself  with  Red  river,  it  strikes  the  eye  as  the 
larger  one  of  the  two.     It  has  a  course  of  nearly  eight  hundred  miles. 

The  principal  river  of  this  territory,  whence  it  derives  its  name,  and 
the  next  largest  western  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  after  the  Missouri, 
is  the  Arkansas.  The  extent  of  this  mighty  stream,  which  is  said  to 
meander  a  long  distance  in  the  Rocky  mountains,  is  commonly  given  at 
two  thousand  five  hundred  miles.  This  is  probably  an  extravagant  cal- 
culation. It  is  believed  that  its  distance  from  a  point  where  it  has  a 
volume  of  waters  to  entitle  it  to  the  name  of  river  to  its  entrance  into  the 
Mississippi,  measuring  its  curves,  is  about  two  thousand  miles.  In  sum- 
mer it  pours  a  broad  and  deep  stream  from  the  mountains  upon  the  arid, 
bare,  and  sandy  plains.  The  sand  and  the  dry  surrounding  atmosphere 
so  drink  up  the  water,  that  in  the  dry  season  it  may  be  crossed  many 
hundred  miles  below  the  mountains,  without  wading  as  high  as  the  knees. 
The  tributary  streams  are  far  from  being  so  well  known  as  to  render 
them  susceptible  of  an  accurate  description.  The  chief  of  them  are  the 
Verdigris,  Negracka,  Canadian  Fork,  Grand  river,  Six  Bull,  &c.  Some 
of  them  remarkable  for  being  impregnated  with  salt  to  such  a  degree, 
that  we  have  tasted  the  waters  of  the  main  river  so  salt  as  to  be  unpota- 
ble.  The  whole  alluvion  earth  along  the  banks  is  so  strongly  impregnated 
with  salt,  that  the  cattle  sometimes  kill  themselves  by  eating  it.  For  a 
distance  of  many  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth,  it  receives  no  tributaries 
of  any  length  of  course,  owing  to  the  configuration  of  the  country  through 
which  it  passes,  and  to  the  vicinity  of  Red  river  and  Washita  on  one 
side,  and  the  Yellow  Stone,  Kansas,  and  Osage  on  the  other.  When  it 
has  arrived  within  four  hundred  miles  of  the  Mississippi,  it  begins  to 

36 


280  ARKANSAS    TERKITOBT. 

assume  the  character  of  Red  river,  in  the  numbers  of  its  bayous  and 
lakes.  The  belt  of  high  land  between  the  river  and  the  cypress  swamps, 
is  by  no  means  so  wide  as  that  on  the  other  river.  The  alluvial  soil  is 
of  the  same  color  and  qualities,  though  it  is  not  generally  so  fertile.  It 
has  a  broader  channel,  and  generally  a  narrower  valley.  We  believe 
that  it  does  not  carry  so  much  water ;  and  the  rapidity  of  its  ordinary 
current  is  less.  When  it  is  full,  its  waters  have  a  still  deeper  color.  Its 
curves,  that  is  to  say,  its  points  and  bends,  are  broader  and  deeper.  It 
surpasses  the  Mississippi,  or  any  river  of  the  west,  in  the  perfect  regu- 
larity of  these,  and  in  the  uniformity  and  beauty  of  the  young  cotton  wood 
groves  that  spring  up  en  the  convex  sand  tars.  In  other  respects  it  has 
a  surprising  resemblance  to  Red  river.  Arkansas  has  decidedly  the 
advantage  in  the  extent  of  its  navigation.  In  the  spring  floods,  steam 
boats  can  ascend  it  nearly  to  the  mountains.  The  first  thirty  or  forty 
miles  of  its  course  is  through  a  heavy  inundated  forest,  with  very  little 
land  sufficiently  above  the  floods  to  admit  of  cultivation.  Forty  or  fifty 
miles  of  the  course  of  the  river  above  the  Post,  bluffs  crowned  with  pine 
come  in  to  the  river.  Between  that  distance  and  the  Post,  only  a  narrow 
belt  along  the  river  is  above  the  overflow ;  and  even  through  this  belt 
the  river  has  torn  great  numbers  of  crevasses,  through  which,  in  high 
floods,  its  waters  escape  into  the  swamps.  Directly  beyond  these  belts 
are  gum  trees  and  other  vegetation  denoting  swampy  soil.  Beyond  these 
are  vast  cypress  swamps ;  and  in  all  its  course,  from  the  bluffs  to  the 
mouth,  like  Red  river,  it  has  its  net-work  chequering  of  bayous  and 
lakes.  The  lakes,  on  the  subsidence  of  the  river,  are  covered  with  the 
vast  leaves  of  the  Nymphca  Nelumbo.  The  bayous,  when  filled  with 
the  river  waters,  have  the  same  curves  as  the  river;  and  while  the  river 
is  full,  the  same  color;  and  until  wc  observe  their  want  of  current,  might 
easily  be,  as  they  have  a  thousand  times  been,  mistaken  for  the  river 
itself. 

White  river  has  its  sources  in  the  ridge  called  the  Black  mountains, 
which  divides  its  waters  from  those  of  the  Arkansas.  Its  northern  and 
eastern  branches  almost  interlock  with  the  western  ones  of  the  Osage, 
Maramcc,  and  St.  Francis.  The  western  branches  rise  and  run  a  long 
distance  in  Missouri.  It  enters  this  territory  at  its  north-west  angle,  and 
receives  the  very  considerable  tribute  of  Black  river,  Thomas'  Fork,  Red 
river,  Spring  river,  Strawberry,  and  other  streams,  which  run  through  a 
pleasant,  healthy,  and  fertile  country,  abounding  in  pure  springs  and 
brooks,  and  furnishing  great  numbers  of  mill  seats.  Spring  river  is  re- 
markable for  being  formed,  as  its  name  imports,  by  the  junction  of  numer- 
ous large  springs,  that  gush  out  of  the  ground  near  each  other,  which 


ARKANSAS     TERRITORY.  281 

form  a  stream,  at  once  wide  and  boatable,  abounding  in  fish,  and  from 
its  never  freezing  near  these  springs  in  the  winter,  being  visited  by 
great  numbers  of  water  fowls.  Bslow  ihc  junction  of  the  western  branch, 
the  main  river  receives  Red  river,  Eau  Cachcc,  Big  creek,  and  some 
others.  It  is  called  in  its  Indian  appellation  by  a  name  denoting  White 
river,  from  the  transparency  of  its  water?,  compared  with  those  of  Ar- 
kansas and  the  Mississippi.  It  is  uncommonly  circuitous  in  its  course, 
winding  three  or  four  hundred  miles  to  make  one  hundred  in  direct  ad- 
vance towards  its  debouchc.  It  meets  the  inundation  of  the  Mississippi 
a  great  distance  from  its  mouth,  and  makes  the  remainder  of  its  course 
through  a  deep  swamp. 

About  seven  miles  from  its  mouth  is  a  lateral  bayou,  apparently  of  the 
width  of  the  river  itself,  which  runs  out  of  the  river  almost  at  right  angles 
to  its  course.  This  bayou  flows  through  a  deep  and  inundated  forest  six 
or  seven  miles  and  unites  with  the  Arkansas.  Ii  is  not  boatable  in  the 
latter  part  of  summer ;  but  in  moderate  s:ages  of  the  water  is  universally 
used  by  boats  descending  the  Mississippi  and  intending  to  ascend  the 
Arkansas,  in  order  to  reach  that  stream.  It  strikes  that  river  thirty  miles 
above  its  mouth.  In  this  bayou  the  current  sets  from  one  river  to  the 
other,  according  as  the  flood  of  one  preponderates  over  that  of  the  other. 
It  is  three  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth.  Its  reputed  boatable  length 
is  one  thousand  two  hundred  miles ;  and  its  course  is  so  sinuous  that  in 
this  length  it  only  makes  five  hundred  miles  of  direct  distance.  Its  upper 
and  middle  courses  arc  through  a  delightful  country  of  hills  and  valleys, 
rich  alluvions,  and  pure  mountain  streams,  abounding  in  limestone,  gyp- 
sum, stonecoal,  and  iron  ore.  The  soil  in  many  places  compares  with 
the  best  parts  of  the  western  country.  From  its  abundant  timber,  its 
useful  fossils  and  earths,  its  mill  streams,  salubrity,  and  facilities  for  a 
manufacturing  region,  it  will  probably  one  day  become  the  seat  of  the 
manufacturers  of  this  country.  Its  sheltering  line  of  mountains  on  the 
north,  and  its  frequent  and  precipitous  hills  secure  it  from  the  influence 
of  the  sharper  air  of  ihe  Missouri  country  above,  and  cause  that  in  many 
places  on  the  bottoms  of  this  river  and  its  tributaries,  cotton  is  success- 
fully cultivated  as  a  crop. 

St.  Francis  rises  in  Missouri.  It  is  formed  from  two  main  branches, 
which  form  their  junction  just  within  the  northern  limits  of  this  territory. 
The  eastern  branch  has  its  source  below  Cape  Girardeau,  and  but  a  few 
yards  from  the  bluff  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  It  receives  the  White  Water 
from  the  German  settlement,  in  the  county  of  Cape  Girardeau  in  Missouri, 
and  creeps  for  a  great  distance  through  what  is  called  the  ''Big  Swamp,'' 
between  Cape  Girardeau  and  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Francis.     In  this  course 


282  ABKAKSAS    TERRITORY. 

it  passes  within  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  New  Madrid.  From  this  point 
to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  miles,  it  used 
to  be  boatable  by  large  keel  boats ;  and  as  its  current  was  much  gentler 
than  that  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  in  this  distance,  is  peculiarly  swift 
and  difficult  of  ascent,  boats  for  New  Madrid  used  to  enter  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Francis,  and  work  up  that  river  to  a  portage  about  twelve  miles 
back  of  that  place,  and  thence  cart  their  goods  to  that  town.  The  great 
earthquake  of  1811  and  '12  completely  obstructed  the  channel,  and  inun- 
dated its  waters  over  the  banks  to  find  their  way  in  wide  plashes  through 
the  swamp.  A  vast  number  of  lakes  and  irreclaimable  sunken  swamps 
along  the  valley  of  this  river,  were  created  at  the  same  time.  It  is  navi- 
gable in  high  waters,  nearly  two  hundred  miles.  There  is  a  respectable 
settlement  about  seventy  miles  up  this  river.  Its  waters,  notwithstanding 
it  passes  through  such  an  extensive  country  of  swamps,  are  remarkably 
pellucid.  It  abounds  in  fine  fish;  and  we  have  no  where,  except  in  Lou- 
isiana, seen  finer  sport  for  the  angler,  than  in  the  St.  Francis.  In  the 
high  lands  on  the  banks  of  this  river,  there  are  many  delightful  and 
healthy  positions  for  farmers,  who  desire  such  a  medial  climate.  It  has 
the  disadvantage  of  being  intermediate  between  the  wheat  and  the  cotton 
country;  but  it  is  believed  that  it  would  be  an  admirable  country  for  the 
vine  and  the  silk  worm.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  river  is  the  northern 
limit  of  the  muscadine  grape  in  its  natural  state.  There  are  a  number  of 
inconsiderable  tributaries  to  the  Arkansas,  and  streams  that  have  short 
courses  and  empty  into  the  Mississippi  on  the  Arkansas  shore,  that  are 
not  here  enumerated. 

Soil  and  Productions.  The  territory  of  Arkansas  is  the  northern  limit 
of  the  cotton  growing  country.  The  rich  lands  on  the  Arkansas,  bring 
cotton  of  the  same  staple  and  luxuriance  as  those  of  Red  river;  but  hav- 
ing a  season  somewhat  shorter,  it  cannot  ripen  so  well.  Nevertheless, 
the  planters  assert,  that  even  here,  they  can  raise  more  than  their  hands 
can  'pick  out,'  as  (he  phrase  is;  consequently,  they  affirm  that  they  lose 
nothing  by  the  shortness  of  their  season.  We  have  seen  as  large  cotton 
growing  at  Bairdstown,  on  the  Arkansas,  as  we  have  seen  in  any  other 
place.  Cotton  becomes  an  uncertain  crop  north  of  the  river  St.  Francis. 
As  we  ascend  the  Arkansas  towards  the  high  table  prairies,  the  tempera- 
ture diminishes  more  rapidly  than  would  be  indicated  by  the  latitude ;  and 
cotton  ceases  to  be  a  sure  crop  beyond  34°  in  that  direction.  It  is  at 
present  the  staple  article  of  cultivation.  The  rich  lands  bring  fine  maize, 
sweet  potatoes,  and  the  vegetables  generally  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 
In  the  high  country  abovo  34°,  wheat  does  well.  Rye  and  barley  will 
thrive  almost  in  any  parts  of  the  country.  Mulberry  abounds ;  and  on 
the  bases  of  the  precipitous  hills  of  White  river,  we  would  suppose  would 


ARKANSAS    TERRITORY.  '2t3 

be  the  happiest  soil  and  climate  for  the  vine.  Muscadine  and  pine  wood's 
grapes  abound ;  as  do  pawpaws  and  persimons.  Figs  are  raised,  but 
with  difficulty;  and  the  tree  is  often  killed  to  the  ground  by  the  frost. 
Peaches  are  raised  in  great  excellence  and  abundance.  Apple  orchards 
do  well  at  Mount  Prairie,  and  in  the  open  and  high  lands  above  Peccan 
Point,  on  Red  river;  -and  no  doubt,  will  thrive  in  all  the  higher  and  more 
northern  regions  of  this  territory.  In  the  lower  and  more  settled  parts  of 
it,  they  have  no  where  succeeded  well.  Chickasaw  and  prairie  plumbs 
grow  in  abundance;  and  the  woods  and  prairies  abound  in  native  fruits 
and  berries. 

The  soil  is  of  all  qualities  from  the  best  to  the  most  sterile.  The  settle- 
ment of  Point  Chico,  on  the  Mississippi,  has  a  soil  of  the  best  quality,  and 
is  noted  for  the  productiveness  of  its  cotton  plantations.  The  bottoms  of 
the  Arkansas  are  not  generally  as  rich  as  those  of  Red  river.  The  belt 
of  cultivated  land  below  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  called  'the  coast,'  does, 
indeed,  somewhat  resemble  the  delightful  country  so  called  above  New 
Orleans,  in  appearance.  The  resemblance  ceases  here.  It  has  a  soil 
of  but  moderate  richness,  and  needs  manuring  to  produce  large  cotton  or 
Indian  corn.  To  one  emerging  from  the  inundated  and  mephitic  swamps 
below,  this  line  of  open,  contiguous  plantations,  dotted  with  beautiful 
clumps  of  the  fine  trees  of  this  climate,  and  French  habitations,  which 
generally  have  a  very  picturesque  appearance,  this  tract,  called '  the  coast? 
has  a  charming  appearance.  There  is  a  great  extent  of  cotton  lands  of 
the  first  quality  in  the  country  along  the  river,  above  the  Post,  in  the 
'Quawpaw  purchase.'  The  country  five  or  six  hundred  miles  up  the 
Arkansas,  where  the  American  garrison  used  to  be,  and  that  where  it 
now  is,  and  the  country  where  the  Arkansas  mission  is  settled,  have  large 
prairies  interspersed  with  forest  bottoms,  and  great  extents  of  excellent 
soil.  There  is  much  fine  country  in  this  territory  above  Peccan  Point, 
on  Red  river.  Mount  Prairie,  which  rises,  like  a  prodigious  Indian 
mound,  from  the  subjacent  plains,  may  be  reckoned  among  the  striking 
spectacles  of  the  country.  It  is  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  diameter,  and  is 
situated  on  the  waters  of  the  Washita.  It  has  a  soil  of  great  fertility,  and 
of  the  blackness  of  ink ;  rather  exposed,  however,  to  '  bake,'  as  the  phrase 
is,  in  the  hot  and  dry  weather.  They  obtain  water  from  wells,  which 
require  to  be  dug  of  very  great  depth.  In  the  whole  depth,  vast  quanti- 
ties of  sea  shells  appear.  In  a  state  of  pulverization  they  are  mixed  with 
the  soil,  communicating  a  mawkish  and  unpleasant  taste  to  the  water, 
and  very  great  fertility  to  the  soil.  On  While  river  are  some  of  the  finest 
lands  and  the  healthiest  sites  for  planters  in  this  country.  In  short,  this 
territory  possesses  great  bodies  of  the  best  soil.  There  are  vast  tracts, 
too,  of  precipitous  knobs,  sterile  ridges,  aandy  or  muddy  prairies,  and 


884  ARKANSAS TEERITOBT. 

miserable  barrens.  The  country  on  the  Mississippi  between  White 
river  and  St.  Francis,  is  in  many  places  above  the  overflow,  and  of  tho 
highest  fertility.  Wappanocka  bottom,  opposite  Memphis,  is  an  uncom- 
monly high,  rich,  and  extensive  bottom.  The  soil  of  the  St.  Francis  is 
very  fertile,  and  is  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  beech,  generally  de- 
noting a  rich  soil ;  but  the  hills  are  so  precipitous,  and  exposed  to  wash, 
as  hardly  to  be  susceptible  of  cultivation.  On  the  whole,  this  territory 
has  a  sufficiency  of  excellent  lands  to  become  a  rich  and  populous  state. 
In  its  eastern  front,  and  near  the  Mississippi  and  the  Arkansas,  it  is  ex- 
posed to  excessive  annoyance  from  its  myriads  of  mosquitos. 

Climate  and  Salubrity.  This  climate  is  a  compound  of  that  of  Missouri 
and  Louisiana.  Until  we  advance  two  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, in  its  humidity  it  more  nearly  resembles  the  latter.  The  season, 
in  point  of  the  forwardness  of  vegetation  in  the  spring,  is  also  much  more 
like  that  of  Louisiana.  The  season  of  planting  is  three  weeks  later  than 
on  the  coast  above  New  Orleans,  and  is  more  than  that  in  advance  of  the 
climate  of  Missouri.  The  distribution  of  rain  is  extremely  unequal.  We 
witnessed  drenching  rains  and  thunder  every  day,  for  thirty -six  days  in 
succession.  At  other  times,  it  is  remarkable  for  having  long  droughts. 
Planting  of  corn  commences  by  the  middle  of  March,  and  cotton  by  the 
first  of  April.  By  this  time,  the  forests  of  Arkansas  are  in  full  leaf,  and 
the  shores  of  no  river  show  a  deeper  tangle  of  vines  near  the  soil,  and  of 
noble  forest  trees  above. 

The  shores  of  Arkansas  as  far  up  as  Little  Rock,  arc  decidedly  un- 
healthy. Great  tracts,  on  all  sides,  are  covered  with  sleeping  lakes  and 
stagnant  bayous.  The  country  is  a  dead  level.  The  falling  waters  of 
the  rains  cannot  be  drained  off.  In  the  commencement  of  summer  they 
are  exposed  to  the  intense  ardors  of  the  sun.  Sickness  is  the  natural 
result.  On  the  vast  prairie  which  commences  just  above  the  Post,  and 
extends  ninety  miles  up  the  country,  it  is  more  healthy,  and  there  is  less 
annoyance  from  the  mosquitos.  This  long  sweep  of  country  is  thorough- 
ly ventilated.  But  the  air  in  the  timbered  bottoms  is  close  and  unelastic, 
and  the  mosquitos  arc  excessively  troublesome.  There  is  but  too  often 
an  abundant  visitation  of  bilious  and  remittent  fevers  in  the  latter  part  of 
summer  and  the  first  of  autumn.  Farther  up  the  country,  and  on  the 
open  prairies,  it  is  as  healthy  as  in  any  other  country  in  the  same  climate. 
It  is  a  very  absurd  idea,  that  a  country  of  the  extensiveness  of  this,  should 
all  be  alike  sickly.  In  this  territory  there  arc  many  positions,  but  a  few 
miles  apart,  one  of  which  may  be  as  sickly  as  the  shores  of  Surinam,  and 
the  other  as  healthy  as  any  country  in  America. 

Settlements.  The  chief  settlements  on  this  river  are  at  Point  Chico, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas,  at  Mount  Prairie,  at  Peccan  Point,  on  Red 


ARKANSAS   TEBEITOKT,  t85 

river,  and  at  Mulberry,  six  hundred  miles  up  the  river,  between  the  mouth 
of  White  and  St.  Francis  rivers,  and  the  White  River  and  St.  Francis 
settlements.  They  are,  as  most  of  the  settlements  in  the  southern  coun- 
tries are,  from  the  configuration  of  the  country,  in  isolated  and  detached 
situations,  generally  with  great  extents  of  unsettled  country  intervening. 

Chief  Towns.  The  Pest  is  a  small  village  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Arkansas,  about  fifty  miles  above  its  mouth.  The  position  is  a  kind  of 
bluff  bottom,  en  a  fine  bend  of  the  river.  The  soil  is  poor,  but  the  situa- 
tion pleasant.  The  overflow  of  White  river  approaches  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  Arkansas ;  and  ihe  swamps  of  both  rivers  can  be  seen 
from  the  court  house  below  the  village  at  the  same  time.  Directly  above 
the  village,  a  bayou  is  occasionally  inundated.  The  descent  of  the  bench, 
on  which  the  village  is  situated,  to  this  bayou,  is  marked  with  some  of 
those  striking  red  pillars  of  earth,  where  the  lighter  soil  has  been  washed 
away,  and  left  these  singular  columns  of  clay  standing.  The  same  ap- 
pearances are  seen  elsewhere  on  the  Arkansas.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
Post  and  its  vicinity  are  chiefly  the  remains  or  the  descendants  of  the 
first  settlers;  and  they  arc  for  the  most  part  of  French  extract.  The 
population  cannot  exceed  six  hundred  in  the  village  and  the  country 
round  it.  Acropolis,  the  seat  of  government,  is  at  a  point  about  three 
hundred  miles,  by  the  course  of  the  river,  and  little  more  than  half  the 
distance  by  land,  above  the  Post.  It  is  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river, 
on  a  very  high  stone  bluff,  ludicrously  called  Little  Rock,  from  the  pro- 
digious masses  of  stone  about  it.  The  situation  is  healthy  and  pleasant, 
and  the  circumstance  of  its  being  the  metropolis,  has  created  a  considera- 
ble village.  There  are  a  number  of  incipient  villages  in  the  places  where 
the  county  courts  are  held  in  other  parts  of  the  territory,  but  none  that 
merit  the  name  of  town,  if  we  except  the  growing  village  above  the  mouth 
of  White  river.  From  this  place,  outfils  are  made  by  boats  preparing  to 
ascend  White  river  and  the  Arkansas.  It  is  also  noted  as  a  steam  boat 
landing. 

Among  the  curiosities  of  this  country,  may  be  mentioned  the  vast 
masses  of  sea  shells  that  are  found  dispersed  over  different  tracts  of  it. 
They  arc  generally  found  in  points  remote  from  lime  stone,  and  answer 
a  valuable  purpose  to  the  inhabitants,  who  collect  and  burn  them  for  lime. 
Far  above  the  political  limits  of  (he  territory,  and  towards  the  sources  of 
the  Arkansas,  is  the  sublime  elevation  which  we  hope  will  always  retain 
the  name  of  Pike's  mountain.  The  prairies  are  bounded  in  that  direction 
by  the  stupendous  ridges  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  There  are  very  con- 
siderable mountains  near  the  Warm  Springs.  These  springs  are  among 
the  most  interesting  curiosities  of  the  country.  They  are  in  great  num- 
bers.   One  of  them  emits  a  vast  quantity  of  water.     The  ordinary  tern- 


286  ARKANSAS    TERRITORY. 

perature  is  that  of  boiling  water.  When  the  season  is  dry,  and  the  volume 
of  water  emitted  somewhat  diminished,  the  temperature  of  the  water 
increases.  The  waters  are  remarkably  limpid  and  pure,  and  are  used 
by  the  people,  who  resort  there  for  health,  for  culinary  purposes.  They 
have  been  analyzed,  and  exhibit  no  mineral  properties  beyond  common 
spring  water.  Their  efficacy  then — for  they  are  undoubtedly  efficacious 
to  may  invalids  that  resort  there — results  from  the  shade  of  adjacent 
mountains,  and  from  the  cool  and  oxygenated  mountain  breeze ;  the  con- 
veniences of  warm  and  tepid  bathing;  the  novelty  of  fresh  mountain 
scenery ;  and  the  necessity  of  temperance,  imposed  by  the  poverty  of  the 
country  and  the  difficulty  of  procuring  supplies.  The  cases  in  which 
the  waters  are  supposed  to  be  efficacious,  are  those  of  rheumatic  affections, 
general  debility,  dyspepsy,  and  cutaneous  complaints.  The  common 
supposition  that  they  are  injurious  in  pulmonary  complaints,  seems  to  be 
wholly  unfounded.  It  is  a  great  and  increasing  resort  for  invalids  from 
the  lower  country,  Arkansas,  and  the  different  adjoining  regions.  During 
the  spring  floods  of  the  Washita,  a  steam  boat  can  approach  within  thirty 
miles  of  them.  At  no  great  distance  from  them,  is  a  strong  sulphur 
spring,  remarkable  for  its  coldness.  In  the  wild  and  mountain  scenery 
of  this  lonely  region,  there  is  much  grandeur  and  novelty  to  fix  the  curi- 
osity of  the  lover  of  nature.  There  are  no  houses  of  accommodation,  but 
temporary  sheds.  The  visitants  spend  their  time  in  walking,  hunting, 
and  playing  cards.  Two  miles  from  the  springs  is  the  famous  quarry  of 
stone,  called  oil  stone.  Stones  from  this  quarry  are  already  extensively 
known  and  used  in  the  western  country  for  the  same  purposes  as  the 
Turkey  oil  stones.  The  point  of  possession  of  this  extensive  and  valua- 
ble quarry,  is  a  matter  in  litigation. 

The  mountains  in  the  vicinity  of  these  springs  are  probably  volcanic. 
The  inhabitants  affirm  that  they  have  heard  noises  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  mountains  like  those  which  attend  volcanic  eruptions.  There  are 
many  volcanic  appearances  about  them,  though  none  of  recent  eruption. 
Messrs.  Hunter  and  Dunbar  explored  this  country,  and  published  a  de- 
tailed account  of  its  geological  formation.  It  exhibits  many  mineral 
appearances,  though  no  ores  but  those  of  iron  have  been  detected. 

Indians.  The  Quawpaws,  intermixed  with  many  fugitive  Chactaw 
Indians,  reside  on  the  Arkansas  not  far  above  the  Post.  That  portion  of 
the  Cherokee  nation  which  has  immigrated  west  of  the  Mississippi,  has 
its  chief  settlements  on  the  Arkansas.  Beyond  this  territory,  on  White 
river,  are  congregated  the  Shawnese  and  Delawares  that  have  emigrated 
from  Ohio  and  Missouri.  Above  the  Cherokees,  on  the  Arkansas,  are 
the  Osages;  and  still  higher,  the  Pawnees.  In  the  vast  waste  of  prairies 
that  interposes  between  this  territory  and  the  Rocky  mountains,  roam  dif- 


ARKANSAS   TERRITORY.  287 

ferent  tribes  of  Indians,  among  which  are  often  seen  the  Indians  from  the 
Mexican  country,  who  come  here  to  hunt  the  buffalo. 

History.  This  territory  was  erected  out  of  that  of  Missouri  in  1819, 
and  soon  passed  into  what  is  called  the  second  grade  of  territorial  govern- 
ment. Many  of  the  recent  settlers  were  turbulent  and  unmanageable 
spirits.  There  seems  to  be  a  strong  tendency  in  American  laws  and 
institutions,  to  create  docility  and  habits  of  peace.  The  laws  are  admin- 
istered among  these  people,  strangers'  to  the  country  and  to  each  other, 
as  quietly,  in  most  instances,  as  they  are  in  the  more  populous  and  regu- 
lated regions.  The  inhabitants  about  the  Post  were  settlers  of  the  coun- 
try in  Spanish  times.  Many  anecdotes  of  great  interest  might  be  given 
of  individuals,  of  Spanish  and  Indians,  under  the  Spanish  regime.  But 
they  are  necessarily  excluded  from  the  limits  of  this  work.  The  Spanish 
and  French,  at  early  dates  in  the  history  of  this  country,  had  establish- 
ments on  the  Arkansas ;  and  they  had  a  settlement  at  the  Post  more  than 
half  a  century  ago.  No  settlement,  from  its  commencement  .down  to  this 
day,  has  been  marked  with  fewer  incidents. 


37 


MISSOURI- 


LENGTH,  270.  Breadth,  220  miles.  It  contains  60,000  square  miles, 
and  38,000,000  acres.  Between  36°  and  40°  30'  N.  latitude,  and  be- 
tween 11°  17'  and  17°  30'  W.  longitude.  Bounded  north  and  west  by 
the  Missouri  territory;  east  and  north-east  by  the  Mississippi,  which 
separates  it  from  Illinois ;  south-east  by  the  Mississippi,  which  separates 
it  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee ;  south  by  Arkansas  territory. 


CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 

Counties. 

County  Towns. 

Distances  from  Jefferson. 

Boone, 

Columbia, 

56  miles. 

Callaway, 

Fulton, 

32 

Cape  Girardeau, 

Jackson, 

208 

Chariton, 

Chariton, 

79 

Clay, 

Liberty, 

190 

Cole, 

Jefferson  city, 

Cooper, 

Booneville, 

51 

Crawford, 

Little  Piney, 

97 

Franklin, 

Union, 

79 

Gasconade, 

Gasconade, 

47 

Howard, 

Fayette, 

65 

Jackson, 

Independence, 

177 

Jefferson, 

Herculaneum, 

164 

Lafayette, 

Lexington, 

138 

Lincoln, 

Troy, 

97 

Madison, 

Fredericktown, 

170 

Marion, 

Palmyra, 

190 

Montgomery, 

Lewistown, 

67 

M  I  S  9  O  V  U  I  . 


289 


Distances  from  Jefferson. 
278 


187 
133 
107 

96 
149 
123 
152 
168 
134 

85 

236 

127 

110 

Whites,  112,065.     Slaves, 


Counties.  County  Towns. 

New  Mudrid,  New  Madrid, 

Perry,  Perry  ville, 

Pike,  Bowling  Green, 

Ralls,  New  London, 

Randolph,  Randolph, 

Ray,  Richmond, 

St.  Charles,  St.  Charles, 

St.  Francis,  Farmington, 

St.  Genevieve,  St.  Genevieve, 

St.  Louis,  St.  Louis, 

Saline,  Walnut  Farm, 

Scott,  Benton, 

Washington,  Potosi, 

Wayne,  Greenville, 

The  census  for  1830  gives  its  population : 
24,820.     Total,  137,427. 

Face  of  the  Country.  A  large  extent  of  this  great  state,  in  its  south- 
east angle,  commencing  above  New  Madrid  and  extending  down  the 
great  swamp,  and  through  the  alluvial  region,  a  considerable  distance 
back  from  the  Mississippi,  is  low,  swampy,  full  of  lakes,  and  in  many 
places  subject  to  be  inundated.  Beyond  that  region,  which  is  generally 
marked  by  a  bold  line  of  rolling  and  fertile  high  lands,  the  country  gradu- 
ally swells  into  high  flint  knobs,  still  rising  beyond  that  region  to  the 
mountainous  country  of  the  lead  mines.  This  country  extends  to  the 
Osage  and  its  tributaries.  Beyond  this,  the  country  is  broken  and  hilly, 
until  we  open  upon  the  boundless  belt  of  prairies,  which  spreads  beyond 
the  western  limits  of  this  state.  The  best  portion  and  the  most  inhabited 
parts  of  the  state  are  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Mississippi.  This 
vast  tract  is  no  where  mountainous.  It  contains  great  tracts  of  alluvial 
and  high  prairies.  It  has,  for  the  most  part,  a  surface  delightfully  rolling 
and  variegated.  There  is  no  part  of  the  globe,  in  a  state  of  nature, 
where  greater  extents  of  country  can  be  traversed  more  easily  and  in 
any  direction,  by  carriages  of  any  description. 

Soil.  One  specific  difference  between  the  soil  of  this  country  and  that 
bordering  on  the  Ohio,  is,  that  the  land  here  contains  a  greater  proportion 
of  sand,  is  more  loamy  and  friable,  and  the  soil  not  so  stiff.  There  are 
tracts  all  over  this  country  where  we  find  the  clayey  soils  of  Ohio  and 
Kentucky.  But  they  are  small.  The  roads  generally  run  where  the 
falling  rain  and  snow  are  so  readily  absorbed,  even  in  the  winter,  that  the 
people  are  not  troubled  with  the  deep  and  almost  impassible  roads  that 
we  find  in  those  states.     The  rich  uplands  are  of  a  darkish  gray  color, 


290 


MISSOURI. 


with  the  exception  of  the  great  tract  about  the  lead  mines,  where  the  soil 
of  decomposed  pyrite  is  reddish,  and  of  a  color  brighter  than  Spanish 
brown.  The  poorer  uplands  are  generally  covered  with  white  oak,  and 
that  small  species  of  oak  denominated  pin  oak.  It  is  usually  a  stiffer 
and  more  clayey  soil  than  the  other,  and  of  a  light  yellow  color.  There 
are  two  extensive  tracts  of  that  fine  kind  of  timbered  upland  alluvion 
which  constitutes  the  finest  central  portions  of  Kentucky.  The  one  is 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  in  extent.  It  is  south-west  of  the  mine  country, 
and  is  called  Bellevue  settlement.  The  other  tract  is  much  larger,  and 
is  called  Boone's  Lick  settlement.  There  are  smaller  extents  of  this 
kind  of  land  spread  over  all  the  state.  In  a  state  of  nature  it  strikes  the 
eye  delightfully.  The  surface  rolls  gently  and  almost  imperceptibly. 
It  has  the  same  trees  and  shrubs  and  the  grand  vegetation  that  designate 
the  rich  alluvions;  and  at  the  same  time  it  has  the  diversified  surface, 
and  the  associated  ideas  of  health,  and  springs  of  water,  that  are  naturally 
connected  with  the  notion  of  uplands.  These  lands  are  timbered  with 
the  same  trees  as  the  alluvions.  Like  those,  they  are  surmounted  with 
grape  vines,  and  free  from  under  brush.  The  pawpaw,  persimon,  and 
wild  cherry  tree,  all  denoting  rich  soils,  abound  in  these  regions;  and 
are  nearly  as  fertile  as  the  bottoms  of  the  Missouri  or  the  Mississippi. 

The  prairies  are  generally  level,  and  of  an  intermediate  character 
between  the  richer  and  poorer  uplands.  The  alluvial  prairies  are  uni- 
versally rich,  and  nearly  as  fertile  as  the  bottoms.  Some  tracts  of  the 
upland  prairies  are  rich.  There  are  scarcely  any  lands  in  this  state 
sufficiently  level  for  cultivation,  that  have  not  fertility  enough  to  bring 
good  crops  of  corn  without  manure;  and  in  many  instances  the  poorer 
lands  are  better  for  wheat  than  the  richer.  The  bottoms  of  all  the  water 
courses  are  rich.  There  is  a  specific  difference  in  the  soils  of  the  two 
wide  alluvial  belts  along  the  two  great  rivers  of  this  state.  The  bottoms 
of  the  Missouri  arc  generally  loamy,  with  a  large  proportion  of  sand. 
But  even  where  (he  proportion  of  sand  seems  in  excess,  the  soil  is  of  the 
richest  character,  and  at  first  more  productive  than  that  of  the  upper 
Mississippi.  Intermixed  with  the  glaize,  or  earth  of  a  greasy  and  adhe- 
sive feeling,  is  a  considerable  proportion  of  marie  or  dissolved  lime, 
which  communicates  to  the  soil — which  is  compounded  in  no  small  share 
with  dissolved  vegetable  matter — an  astonishing  fertility. 

The  lands  of  the  upper  Mississippi  bottoms  arc  blacker,  more  clayey, 
less  marly  and  sandy,  and  if  not  so  immediately  fertile,  are  more  inex- 
haustible, and  better  fitted  to  sustain  the  high  heats  and  the  drought  of 
summer.  The  bottoms  of  the  smaller  streams  partake  of  the  character 
of  the  region  through  which  they  flow ;  and  are  composed  of  more  or 
less  sand,  marl,  or  clay,  according  as  the  hills,  acclivities,  or  soils,  along 


MISSOURI.  291 

which  they  flow,  have  more  or  less  of  these  ingredients.  On  the  whole, 
the  good  lands  of  this  country  generally  have  a  great  degree  of  fertility. 
The  vegetable  mould  is  friable,  tender,  and  deep;  and  in  many  instances 
the  soils  thrown  from  the  bottoms  of  the  deepest  wells,  appear  no  less 
fertile  than  that  on  the  surface.  The  rank  and  abundant  vegetation 
every  where  indicates  the  prolific  character  of  nature  working  at  the 
root.  On  the  richer  prairies  and  bottoms,  tall  and  coarse  grass,  and  weeds 
resembling  hemp,  rise  up  of  such  a  thickness,  size,  and  height,  as  almost 
to  make  it  impracticable  to  travel  on  horseback.  The  leaves  of  the  trees 
and  shrubs,  by  their  unusal  size  and  verdure,  every  where  indicate  the 
prolific  vigor  and  power  of  nature.  The  upper  Mississippi  is  skirted 
with  a  prairie,  commencing  ten  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 
and  extending  along  the  west  bank  of  the  river  sixty  or  seventy  miles, 
with  an  average  width  of  between  four  and  five  miles.  The  uplands  on 
the  upper  Mississippi  are  also  extremely  rich;  but  interspersed  with 
round  flint  knobs,  which  often  rise  in  regular  cones  two  or  three  hundred 
feet  high.  There  are  large  tracts  of  poor  land  in  the  south-west  division 
of  the  state,  covered  with  yellow  pine,  bald  and  rocky  hills,  and  even 
moving  sands.  In  fact,  this  state  abounds  with  the  strongest  contrasts  of 
soil,  from  the  best  to  the  worst;  and  there  are  very  extensive  tracts  of 
each. 

Productions.  Hitherto  wheat  and  corn  have  been  the  staples  of  this 
country.  The  warmth  and  looseness  of  the  soil,  the  large  proportions  of 
dissolved  limestone  in  it,  and  even  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere,  render 
it  an  admirable  country  for  wheat.  The  season  of  the  year  in  which 
wheat  matures,  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  culture  of  this  rich  grain. 
This  period  is  warm  and  dry,  and  seldom  has  any  rains  except  transient 
showers.  The  wheat,  however,  receives  such  an  impulse  from  the  spring 
rains,  that  it  matures  and  fills,  even  during  the  severest  droughts.  Twen- 
ty-five bushels  to  an  acre  is  an  average  crop,  though  it  sometimes  rises 
as  high  as  thirty.  Rye,  barley,  and  oats,  though  not  extensively  cul- 
tivated, succeed  equally  well.  Corn  is  also  cultivated  in  the  highest 
perfection.  The  intense  heats  of  summer  agree  with  it.  It  throws  such 
deep  and  strong  roots  into  the  soil,  that  it  soon  shelters  them,  by  its  shade, 
from  the  burning  ardors  of  the  sun;  and  ihc  crop  has  nevBr  been  known 
to  fail  from  drought.  From  fifty  to  seventy-five  bushels  to  the  acre  is  an 
average  crop,  although  a  hundred  are  often  raised.  The  droughts  are 
often  severe,  yet  such  is  the  depth  and  looseness  of  the  soil,  that  a  crop 
matures.  Flax  is  raised  in  considerable  quantities,  and  no  country  will 
produce  better  hemp.  Its  defect  is,  that  it  grows  too  coarse  and  rank. 
Tobacco  has  become  an  article  of  extensive  culture,  and  its  quality  is 
excellent,  as  the  yield  is  most  abundant.     Cotton  is  raised  in  the  warm 


292  Missouri. 

prairies  back  of  New  Madrid.  It  yields  a  tolerable  crop.  Sweet  and 
Irish  potatoes  succeed  sufficiently  well.  This  state  has  lands  already  fit 
for  the  plough,  sufficient  to  produce  wheat  enough  for  the  whole  United 
States.  Prairies  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  first  rate  wheat 
lands,  covered  with  grass  and  perfectly  free  from  shrubs  and  bushes,  in- 
vite the  plough ;  and  if  the  country  were  cultivated  to  a  proper  extent,  it 
might  be  the  granary  of  the  world. 

Cultivated  grasses  have  not  yet  succeeded  as  well  as  the  other  articles 
of  culture.  The  only  kind  yet  experimented  to  any  considerable  degree 
is  timothy;  and  this  requires  a  close  and  wet  soil,  which  is  a  very  un- 
common one  in  Missouri.  It  appears  to  possess  in  the  highest  degree 
the  requisites  for  the  use  of  plaster.  Abundant  crops  of  red  clover  might 
be  made  by  this  manure.  Plaster  is  found  of  the  best  quality,  and  in 
inexhaustible  quantities,  on  the  waters  of  the  Missouri.  From  analogy, 
and  the  character  of  the  natural  grasses,  we  infer  that  St.  Foin,  and  the 
coarser  and  more  succulent  grasses  will  flourish  abundantly  in  this  deep 
and  rich  soil.  Turnips  and  bulbous  rooted  vegetables  grow  to  a  great 
size.  Pumpkins,  squashes,  and  melons  are  raised  no  where  in  greater 
abundance.  At  present,  the  fodder  provided  for  the  stable  in  winter,  is 
chiefly  corn,  its  leaves  and  husks,  and  what  is  called  prairie  grass.  This 
is  a  coarse  and  tall  grass,  covering  the  prairies  in  the  greatest  abundance. 
In  the  early  stages  of  its  growth,  it  resembles  young  wheat;  and  in  this 
state  furnishes  a  succulent  and  rich  feed  for  cattle.  They  have  been 
seen,  when  running  in  wheat  fields,  where  the  young  wheat  covered  the 
ground,  to  choose  the  prairie  grass  on  the  margins  of  the  fields  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  wheat.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  better  butter  than  is  made 
while  the  grass  is  in  this  stage.  Cattle  and  horses,  that  have  lived 
unsheltered  and  without  fodder  through  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring 
scarcely  able  to  mount  the  hills,  through  leanness  and  weakness,  when 
feeding  on  this  grass,  arc  transformed  to  a  healthy  and  sleek  appearance, 
as  if  by  a  charm.  But  as  (he  summer  advances,  it  becomes  tough  and 
wiry.  By  a  strange  mistake,  this  grass  is  not  mowed  until  after  the 
autumnal  frosts.  Of  course,  it  is  then  a  harsh  and  coarse  fodder.  Were 
it  cut  before  it  has  thrown  out  its  seeds  and  become  wiry,  it  would  be 
equally  valua#e,  and  perhaps  'supciior  to  timothy.  It  creates  an  ex- 
tremely tough  sward,  but  is  soon  ki'led  by  being  close  fed.  An  abun- 
dant crop  of  coarse  and  tall  weeds  takes  its  place. 

In  the  meadows,  bottoms,  and  wet  prairies,  arc  observed  a  great  variety 
of  grasses,  most  of  them  nondescripts.  Some,  no  doubt,  would  be  found 
worthy  of  cultivation,  and  the  rather  so,  as  they  are  naturalized  to  the 
soil  and  climate.  Above  all  countries,  this  is  the  land  of  flowers.  In 
the  season,  every  prairie  is  an  immense  flower  garden.     In  the  early 


Missouri.  293 

stages  of  spring,  rises  a  generation  of  flowers,  whose  prevalent  tint  is 
peach  blow.  The  next  is  a  deeper  red.  Then  succeeds  the  yellow,  and 
to  the  latest  period  of  autumn,  the  prairies  exhibit  a  brilliant  golden  hue. 

This  state  spreads  a  wide  belt,  on  which  are  found  many  trees  and 
shrubs,  different  from  those  common  in  the  more  southern  parts  of  the 
valley.  They  differ,  also,  from  those  in  the  same  latitudes  on  the  Ohio. 
Crab  apple  trees,  pawpaws,  and  persimons  are  abundant.  We  have  no 
where  seen  such  quantities  of  red  and  yellow  prairie  plums.  Wild  hops 
cover  whole  prairies.  Peccans,  hazlenuts,  and  nuts  of  the  different  tribes 
of  the  hickories,  are  found  in  great  abundance.  There  are  three  species 
of  the  vine  common  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  first  is  the  June 
grape,  that  ripens  in  that  month.  It  is  small,  sweet,  and  uncommon;  not 
being  found  except  in  untrodden  islands  in  the  rivers,  or  remote  places 
beyond  the  reach  of  domestic  animals.  The  French  formerly  made  a 
pleasant  wine  from  it.  It  ought  to  be  more  known.  The  summer  grape 
is  small,  purple,  and  a  tolerably  rich  fruit  in  the  month  of  October. 
When  carefuny  dried  in  the  sun,  these  grapes  are  not  much  inferior  to 
raisins.  When  ripe,  they  are  too  dry  to  make  wine.  The  winter  grape 
is  small,  austere,  and  sour.  When  matured  by  the  winter  frosts,  it  be- 
comes tolerably  pleasant. 

From  the  temperature  of  the  climate,  the  warmth  and  looseness  of  tho 
soil,  and  more  than  all,  the  dryness  of  the.  atmosphere,  we  would  suppose 
this  country  as  favorable  for  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  as  any  other  in 
the  United  States.  The  atmosphere  is  drier  here  than  in  Ohio,  Kentucky, 
and  Indiana.  The  fault  of  the  fruit  there,  is  to  grow  too.  abundant  and 
succulent.  The  few  attempts  that  have  been  made  to  cultivate  the  vine 
here,  warrant  the  conclusion  that  one  day  the  southern  exposures  of  the 
gentle  eminences  will  be  covered  with  vines.  All  the  fruits  of  the 
northern  and  middle  states  thrive  in  an  uncommon  degree.  The  apple 
tree  attains  its  utmost  development  "and  beauty.  An  inhabitant  from  the 
northern  states  is  struck  with  surprise  to  see  tins  tree  in  three  years  from 
the  time  of  its  transplanting,  and  as  soon  as  it  attains  the  size  of  a  man's 
wrist,  loading  itself  with  fruit.  Peach  trees  break  down  from  the  weight 
of  their  fruit.  Pear  trees,  apricots,  and  nectarines,  though  they  have 
been  introduced  in  but  few  instances,  prosper.  This  seems  to  -be  the 
native  country  of  fruit  trees.  Few  attempts  have  yet  been  made  to 
inoculate  and  engraft  good  kinds  of  fruit  trees,  and  every  thing,  in  most 
instances,  has  been  left  to  nature.  Apples  are  already  abundant  in  the 
older  settlements.  Barley  yields  a  fine  crop ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  not 
many  years  will  elapse,  before  beer  and  porter,  drinks  so  proper  for  this 
hot  climate,  will  take  the  place  of  that  murderer  both  of  soul  and  body, 
whiskey.     The  mulberry  tree  is  common  in  the  woods ;  and  this  is,  un- 


294  Missouri. 

doubtedly,  among  the  best  of  the  middle  climates  for  breeding  the  silk 
worm  and  making  silk.  In  short,  every  production  of  the  northern  and 
middle  states  thrives  here.  The  heats  of  summer  and  the  dryness  of  the 
atmosphere,  peculiarly  fit  this  soil  for  the  cultivation  of  the  medicinal 
plants,  rhubarb,  palma  christi,  and  the  poppy. 

Animals.  Bears,  wolves,  and  panthers,  are  as  common  as  in  the  more 
southern  regions.  The  prairie  wolf,  the  most  mischievous  of  the  species, 
is  but  too  frequent.  Buffaloes  and  elk  are  only  found  in  the  prairies 
beyond  the  limits  of  this  state.  Deer,  as  the  Indians  retire,  and  as  culti- 
vation becomes  more  common,  are  seen  to  increase  in  numbers.  They 
are  so  frequently  noted,  from  four  to  twenty  in  a  drove,  even  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  cf  the  populous  villages,  as  to  be  no  objects  of  curiosity. 
That  large  and  mischievous  species  of  the  mole,  called  gopher,  is  extreme- 
ly annoying  on  the  prairies  and  barrens.  It  is  seldom  seen  on  the  tim- 
bered bottoms.  These  animals  live  in  communities,  in  the  vicinity  of 
which  they  raise  thousands  of  eminences.  They  form  these  eminences 
by  removing  the  earth  from  their  holes,  by  a  pouch  with^hich  nature 
has  furnished  them  on  each  side  of  their  mouth.  They  are  extremely 
mischievous  in  corn  and  potato  fields;  and  in  gardens  they  prey  upon  all 
kinds  of  bulbous  roots.  Their  bite  is  said  to  be  poisonous.  The  prairie 
dog  begins  to  be  seen  in  the  western  extremities  of  this  state. 

Rattle  snakes,  copper  heads,  and  ground  vipers  are  found  in  the  unset- 
tled regions,  and  especially  near  the  flint  knobs  and  ledgy  hills.  The 
small  and  pernicious  rattle  snakes,  called  snappers,  live  in  great  numbers 
in  particular  places  on  the  prairies.  Poisonous  reptiles  are  not  so  com- 
mon, as  in  unsettled  regions  of  the  same  latitude,  where  the  country  is 
generally  timbered.  Burning  the  prairies,  undoubtedly  destroys  multi- 
tudes of  them.  The  ponds,  lakes,  and  rivers,  during  the  spring  and 
autumn,  and  during  the  migrating  season  of  water  fowls,  are  literally 
covered  with  swans,  pelicans,  cranes,  geese,  brants,  and  ducks,  of  all  the 
tribes  and  varieties.  Many  of  these  fowls  rear  their  young  on  the  islands 
and  sand  bars  of  the  large  rivers.  In  the  autumn,  multitudes  of  them 
arc  killed  for  their  quills,  feathers,  and  flesh.  The  birds  called  quails  in 
New  England,  and  partridges  here,  are  numerous,  as  is  also  a  bird  some- 
what larger  than  a  domestic  hen,  called  the  prairie  hen.  In  the  autumns 
of  some  seasons  they  are  seen  hovering  over  the  corn  fields  in  flocks  of 
hundreds.  They  are  easily  taken,  and  when  fat,  are  fine  for  the  table. 
There  are  two  larger  and  still  more  beautiful  species  of  the  grouse  tribe 
found  far  up  the  Missouri.  Turtle  doves  are  always  numerous,  as  in 
some  seasons  are  the  wild  pigeons.  Singing  birds,  a/e  not  so  common  as 
in  the  country  farther  south,  or  the  more  settled  and  cultivated  regions  of 
the  north.     It  is  a  striking  fact,  that  they  become  more  common  in  any 


Missorni  295 

region,  as  cultivation  advances.  The  robin  red  breast  is  seen  in  flocks 
in  the  autumn,  but  docs  not  rear  its  young  here.  The  magpie  or  French 
black  bird,  that  is  so  frequently  heard  chattering  its  notes  in  the  meadows 
of  New  England  in  spring,  has  only  been  observed  here  since  the  country 
has  begun  to  be  peopled  and  cultivated.  The  red  bird  or  Virginia  night- 
ingale, rears  its  young  and  spends  the  winter  here,  and  on  a  mild  day  in 
winter,  its  mild  whistle  is  delightful  in  the  deep  forests.  The  blue  bird 
is  heard  in  all  the  mild  days  of  winter.  The  beautiful  parroquet  frequents 
the  sycamore  bottoms,  and  poorly  compensates  by  the  extreme  beauty  of 
its  plumage  for  the  injury  it  does  .he  orchards. 

The  domestic  animals  arc  the  same  as  elsewhere  in  the  United  States. 
The  wide  prairies,  every  where  covered  with  grass,  invite  the  raising  of 
cattle.  Many  of  the  farmers  possess  great  droves ;  and  they  may  be 
multiplied  to  an  indefinite  extent.  The  cattle  are  fine,  and  the  beef  good. 
When  the  same  attention  is  here  bestowed  upon  rearing  the  best  kind  of 
horses,  that  is  given  to  the  subject  by  the  Pennsylvania  farmer,  that  noble 
animal  will  be  raised  in  the  utmost  perfection.  Sheep  prosper,  nordoea 
the  fleece  degenerate.  North  of  40°,  on  the  prairies  between  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi,  shepherds  will  one  day  find  their  homes,  and  their  sheep 
will  yield  the  finest  and  best  wool.  At  present,  the  wolf  is  a  fatal  enemy 
to  them,-  and  the  number  of  weeds  that  bear  burs  is  so  great,  that  their 
fleeces  become  matted  and  tangled  with  them,  and  in  detaching,  the 
staple  of  the  fleece  is  injured.  Swine  are  raised  with  greater  facility 
than  in  Ohio.  Hickory  and  acorn  bearing  trees  are  more  abundant 
than  in  that  state.  On  the  whole,  for  rearing  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses, 
this  state  and  Illinois  have  advantages  over  any  other  of  the  western 
states. 

Agriculture.  There  is  no  country  in  which  a  farm  is  made  with  less 
difficulty,  or  where  tillage  is  more  easy.  A  great  proportion  of  the  land 
is  fit  for  the  plough.  The  soil  is  easy  to  work.  The  greatest  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  present  farming,  is  the  want  of  good  fencing  materials.  Stones 
are  seldom  to  be  found,  and  no  where,  except  in  quarries  and  ledges;  and 
when  found,  they  are  not  used  for  the  purpose  of  fencing.  Unless  forests 
are  planted,  there  will  soon  be  an  absolute  want  of  a  sufficiency  of  any 
kind  of  timber  for  fencing.  The  substitute  ought  to  be  found  in  hedges. 
Whenever  the  farmers  of  this  country  understand  their  true  interests, 
they  will  immediately  commence  the  planting  of  hedges.  The  subject 
has  as  yet  engaged  the  contemplation  of  onJy  a  few  intelligent  husband- 
men. They  have  thought  that  the  native  gooseberry,  which  here  grows 
wild,  and  of  a  tangled  luxuriance  unknown  in  the  country  east  of  the 
Alleghanies,  would  be  sufficiently  thorny  and  impenetrable  for  a  hedge. 
Others  have  recommended  the  thorny  locust,  or  acacia,  the  crab  apple 

38 


20G  /  MISSOURI, 

tree,  the  privet,  a  most  beautiful  shrub  of  the  laurel  class,  used  in  the* 
middle  states  to  form  borders  and  walks.  There  seems  no  good  reason 
why  the  British  hawthorn  or  the  Columbian  thorn  should  not  be  adopted 
for  this  purpose.  It  would  grow  here  more  rapidly  than  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware,  where  it  soon  becomes  a  fence  sufficient  to  turn  cattle. 
The  beauty  of  a  wheat  field  in  full  verdure  in  autumn,  in  contrast  with 
the  brown  of  the  prairies,  is  a  striking  feature  in  the  cultivated  landscape. 
It  would  be  more  so,  when  its  outline  was  skirted  with  a  living  and  ver- 
dant hedge.  The  planting  of  the  Alleghany  white  pine  and  the  chesnut 
ought  also  to  be  objects  of  immediate  attention.  The  scarcity  of  wood 
and  timber  imperiously  calls  upon  those  who  have  any  thought  for  the 
generations  to  come,  to  attend  to  this  sort  of  improvement. 

Houses,  8$c.  But  a  few  years  since,  a  house  of  better  structure  than 
a  temporary  log  cabin,  was  a  rare  object.  The  ease  of  obtaining  subsist- 
ence was  so  great,  and  there  was  for  a  considerable  time  so  little  emula- 
tion among  the  people,  that  they  hardly  consulted  comfort,  much  less 
ornament.  Most  of  the  first  settlers  were  backwoodsmen,  used  to  the 
hardships  of  a  laborious  life.  Indolent,  and  satisfied  with  the  supply  of 
the  most  common  wants  of  nature,  they  lived  in  open  and  miserable 
habitations  which  neither  excluded  the  rain,  heat,  or  cold.  It  was  a  long 
time  before  the  country  had  mills,  and  the  materials  for  building  bore  a 
high  price.  Sites  for  water  mills  are  not  common.  But  such  have  been 
found.  Mills  on  the  principle  of  the  inclined  plane,  and  steam  mills  have 
been  commenced.  Good  houses  have  been  reared,  not  only  in  the  towns 
and  villages,  but  in  the  country.  Log  cabins  and  log  houses  are  disap- 
pearing in  all  directions,  and  better  houses  are  taking  their  place.  Rival- 
ry and  emulation  have  been  inspired;  and  the  people  have  been  often 
tempted  to  build  more  showy  houses  than  were  requisite  either  for  com- 
fort or  conformity  to  the  circumstances  of  the  builder.  Brick  and  stone 
houses  have  been  generally  preferred. 

Climate.  Soon  after  we  descend  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  the 
climate  begins  to  verge  towards  a  southern  one.  This  state  occupies  a 
medial  position,  and  has  a  temperature  intermediate  between  that  of  New 
York  and  Louisiana.  From  the  circumstance  that  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  spreads  like  an  immense  inclined  plane  towards  the  gulf  of 
Mexico,  it  results  that  north  and  south  winds  alternate  through  this  valley. 
This,  fact  applies  most  strongly  to  the  immediate  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
As  the  prevailing  winds  blow  cither  up  or  down  the  valley,  the  changes 
are  great  and  sudden.  When  the  breeze,  for  any  length  of  time,  descends 
the  Mississippi,  the  weather  becomes  cold ;  and  if  the  same  direction  of 
the  wind  continues  for  successive  days,  and  it  be  winter,  the  Missouri 
and  the  Mississippi  are  frozen,  and  the  mercury  falls  below  zero.     After 


MISSOURI.  297 

this  wind  has  prevailed  for  a  length  of  time,  the  opposite  wind  gets  the 
ascendency  again,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  have  days  when  one  can 
sit  at  the  open  window  with  comfort  in  January.  Hence,  the  climate  is 
extremely  fickle  and  variable.  The  transitions  are  so  rapid,  as  not  only 
to  be  uncomfortable,  but  to  have  an  unfavorable  effect  upon  the  consti- 
tution. But  the  country  is  always  exempt  from  those  damp,  and  if  it  be 
winter,  piercing  north-east  breezes,  that  prevail  so  much  on  the  Atlantic 
shore. 

The  winter  commences  about  Christmas,  and  is  frequently  so  severe 
as  to  bridge  the  mighty  current  of  the  Missouri  so  firmly  that  it  may  be 
passed  for  many  weeks  with  loaded  teams.  In  the  winter  of  1818,  this 
was  the  case  for  nine  weeks.  During  this  period,  however,  there  are 
often  truly  warm  days,  with  a  sky  perfectly  brilliant,  and  destitute  of  that 
leaden  hue  which  it  has  at  the  same  period  on  the  Atlantic  shore.  Snow 
seldom  falls  more  than  six  inches  deep,  and  generally  does  no  more  than 
cover  the  ground,  disappearing  after  two  or  three  days.  Its  severity 
ceases  with  February.  Through  the  months  of  March  and  April,  there 
are  frequent  summer  days,  and  the  trees  sometimes  blossom  in  the  former 
month.  But  it  seldom  happens,  that  there  are  not  alternations  of  cold 
even  into  May.  On  the  whole,  instead  of  the  climate  becoming  more 
mild  as  we  advance  west  on  the  same  parallel,  it  is  believed  that  the 
reverse  is  the  case.  The  greater  part  of  the  summer  is  intensely  hot. 
The  country  is  bare  and  open  to  the  full  influence  of  the  sun.  The  soil, 
moreover,  is  of  a  warm  and  sandy  texture,  strongly  imbibing  the  sun's 
rays.  The  sky,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  summer,  is  brilliant  and 
cloudless.  All  these  circumstances  concur  to  give  this  country  a  warm 
summer.  Nevertheless,  the  openness  of  the  country  and  its  freedom 
from  mountains,  which  impede  the  course  of  the  winds,  always  creates 
more  or  less  of  a  breeze,  which  tempers  the  heat  and  renders  it  more 
endurable. 

Another  circumstance  which  distinguishes  this  climate  from  most  others 
on  our  continent,  is  its  extreme  dryness  and  purity.  Evaporation  takes 
place  with  great  rapidity.  It  differs  in  this  respect  from  the  wooded 
valley  of  the  Ohio,  and  still  more  from  that  of  the  Mississippi  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Polished  steel,  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  contracts  rust  in  a  few  hours,  and  the  dews  are  like  rains. 
The  three  years,  1816,  '17,  and  '18,  gave  an  average  of  only  fifty  cloudy 
days  in  the  season,  and  not  more  than  twenty-five  that  were  rainy.  The 
average  amount  of  rain  that  falls  in  Missouri,,  does  not  exceed  eighteen 
inches  a  year.  There  are  exceptions,  however,  as  in  the  year  1811, 
commonly  called  by  the  French,  Vannee  des  eavjr,  in  which  year  it  was 
thought  there  fell  more  than  forty  inches,     The  two  great  rivers  that 


^9S  MISSOURI. 

year  filled  their  bottoms  in  some  places  quite  to  the  bluffs ;  and  their 
courses  were  often  five  or  six  miles  wide.  The  Missouri  country  may 
be  pronounced,  in  the  general,  a  dry  one.  The  steady  rains  are  from 
the  south-west.  The  long  rains  that  occur  in  the  Atlantic  country  with- 
out thunder,  seldom  happen  here.  The  summer  rains  are  generally 
thunder  showers.  They  rise  near  the  courses  of  the  great  rivers,  and 
appear  to  be  supplied  by  evaporation  from  them.  The  lightning  is  vivid, 
and  the  thunder  loud  and  frequent.  The  autumn  of  Missouri,  in  com- 
mon with  the  whole  Mississippi  valley,  is  serene,  temperate,  and 
delightful. 

Such  is  the  general  aspect  of  the  climate.  But  in  a  countiy  so  large 
and  open,  seasons  sometimes  occur  very  wide  from  this  general  character. 
The  uniformity  of  the  autumns  is  indeed  almost  invariable.  But  the 
general  character  of  this  climate  is,  that  less  reliance  can  be  placed  upon 
the  analogy  of  the  past  as  a  clue  to  the  future,  than  on  almos t  any  other 
of  which  we  have  read. 

Salubrity  of  the  Country.  When  it  was  first  settled  by  the  Americans, 
there  were  some  years  of  extraordinary  mortality,  which  acquired  for  the 
country  a  character  of  sickliness.  A  part  of  this  fatality  may  be  fairly 
attributed  to  the  circumstance,  that  the  immigrants  were  unsheltered, 
except  by  miserable  hovels,  and  that  there  were  few  mills  to  supply  the 
people  with  bread.  The  diet  was  changed.  The  modes  of  life  were 
changed.  The  people  were  imprudent  and  exposed.  The  season  was 
uncommonly  rainy.  On  the  level  lands  and  in  the  hollows,  rested  im- 
mense quantities  of  stagnant  water,  which  escaped  only  by  the  evapora- 
tion of  a  powerful  sun.  One  or  two  sickly  seasons  have  occurred  since. 
In  the  neighborhood  of  inundated  bottoms,  where  waters  escape  during 
the  floods  from  the  rivers,  and  are  reiained  in  the  gullies  and  ponds  in 
the  vicinity  of  small  lakes  and  stagnant  waters,  the  effect,  is  the  same 
here  as  elsewhere,  with  the  added  inconvenience,  that  the  heats  of  sum- 
mer and  the  powerful  evaporation  consequent  upon  the  heat  and  dryness 
of  the  atmosphere,  increase  the  noxious  activity  of  the  causes  of  disease. 
Whenever  an  unacclimated  family  fixes  itself  in  the  vicinity  of  such 
collections  of  water,  it  may  calculate  upon  sickness.  Intermitting  fevers 
are  the  consequence  of  inhaling  the  miasm  of  swamps  and  decaying  vege- 
tation, the  change  of  temperature  from  the  coolness  of  the  night  to  the 
heats  of  day,  exposure  to  the  heavy  dews,  and  various  other  mixed  causes. 
Intermittents  are  the  most  common  diseases  of  the  country.  The  ten- 
dency of  all  complaints  in  the  summer  is  to  assume  a  bilious  type. 
Bilious  fevers  are  apt  to  prevail  in  the  autumn.  In  some  seasons  they 
are  endemic  in  particular  districts.  They  sometimes  take  the  form  of 
continued  fevers,  and  are  then  dangerous.     More  frequently  they  ar« 


uissoubi.  'J-J'J 

remittents,  and  when  properly  managed,  yield  readily  to  meuicine.  If 
the  attendance  of  a  judicious  physician  is  early  and  constant,  they  are 
seldom  fatal.  Pleurisy  and  lung  fevers  sometimes  prevail  in  the  winter. 
Pulmonic  complaints,  attended  with  cough  and  terminating  in  consump- 
tion, notwithstanding  the  inconstancy  of  the  weather,  are  uncommon. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  increase  of  population  and  cultivation,  by  draining 
stagnant  waters  and  removing  the  redundant  vegetation,  directly  tends 
to  increase  the  salubrity  of  a  new  country.  In  process  of  time,  this  must 
become  a  healthy  country.  It  cannot  be  accounted  a  sickly  one  at  pres- 
ent. Except  in  deep  bottoms  and  unfavorable  situations,  the  chances  of 
life  and  health  are  as  favorable  here  as  in  most  countries  which  are  re- 
puted healthy. 

Scenery,  Roads,  6$c.  The  hills,  or,  as  they  are  called,  the  Ozark 
mountains  of  the  mine  country,  are  sufficiently  precipitous  and  grand  to 
add  the  sublimity  of  mountain  scenery  to  the  prospect.  In  the  bottoms 
and  along  the  mountain  streams,  contrary  to  the  common  assertion  in 
books,  the  soil  has  uncommon  fertility ;  and  we  have  not  witnessed  scenery 
of  a  character  more  solitary,  wiid,  and  beautiful,  than  in  the  mine  country. 
Along  all  the  considerable  water  courses,  there  are  those  bluffs  that  in 
the  western  country  mark  the  alluvial  outline  of  streams.  In  some  places, 
especially  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  they  swell  to  high  hills,  which  run 
out  at  right  angles  from  the  river,  and  seem  like  mountainous  waves  of 
the  sea,  ruddenly  arrested  and  fixed.  Compared  with  the  northern  states, 
and  these  partial  exceptions  aside,  the.  habitable  part  of  Missouri  is  one 
vast  plain.  We  have  already  described  the  prairies  of  the  west.  All 
know  that  the  name  is  a  French  one,  importing  a  meadow.  Those  who 
have  not  seen  a  prairie,  may  easily  form  a  conception  of  one.  Yet  the 
grandest  objects  of  nature  will  not  excite  more  surprise  in  the  mind  of  a 
traveller  from  the  Atlantic  states,  than  the  first  view  of  a  prairie.  Riding 
day  after  day  through  forests,  where  the  small  improvements  made  in  the 
wilderness  scarcely  interrupt  the  unbroken  continuity  of  woods,  he  opens 
at  once  upon  the  view  of  a  boundless  horizon.  He  beholds,  outstretched 
under  his  eye,  a  perfectly  level  plain,  of  the  most  soft  and  beautiful  ver- 
dure, covered  with  flowers  of  every  scent  and  hue.  Here  and  there,  in 
the  skirts  of  the  prairies,  and  often  in  their  centre,  are  clumps  of  oaks, 
peccans,  and  black  walnuts,  disposed  in  forms  so  regular,  and  generally 
circular,  as  cannot  fail  to  fill  the  eye  of  an  admirer  of  the  ancient  style 
of  gardening.  He  is  unprepared  for  a  view  in  such  strong  contrast  with 
the  dark  and  lonely  forests.  It  is  impossible  to  convey  by  description, 
the  impression  which  these  views  create.  In  the  vast  prairies,  or  on  the 
verge  of  the  bluffs  that  overlook  them,  taking  into  view  the  verdant  ocean 
of  grass,  the  vast  rivers,  rolling  their  mighty  masses  of  waters  through 


300  MISSOURI. 

the  dark  forests,  the  romantic  hills  stretching  away  in  the  distance,  and 
here  and  there  a  cabin  or  a  house  throwing  up  its  column  of  smoke,  and 
the  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep,  sleeping  about  it,  this  country  furnishes 
enchanting  landscapes  for  the  pencil. 

There  are  as  yet  few  roads,  that  are  wrought.  Nature  has  been  more 
indulgent  to  this  country,  in  this  respect,  than  perhaps  to  any  other.  It 
is  neither  a  boundless  sandy  plain,  nor  a  tame  and  level  prairie ;  but  a 
diversified  surface  of  gentle  hills  and  easy  slopes.  Wherever  the  current 
of  passing  has  marked  a  road,  it  is  generally  a  good  one.  If  a  person  in 
a  carriage  is  dissatisfied  with  the  beaten  one,  he  selects  one  for  himself, 
andean  travel  with  ease,  in  most  instances,  through  the  untrodden  forest. 
The  roads  are  passable  at  all  times  of  the  year;  and  seldom  muddy  more 
than  two  or  three  days  in  succession.  This  circumstance  eminently  dis- 
tinguishes this  country  from  that  on  the  Ohio. 

Minerals,  Fossils,  8$c.  The  Rocky  mountains,  which  are  a  continua- 
tion of  the  mineral  mountains  of  New  Mexico,  so  abundant  in  the  precious 
metals,  probably  contain  them  too.  Travellers,  who  have  ascended  the 
Missouri  to  its  sources,  say  that  gold  dust  is  mingled  with  its  sands,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Roche  Jaune,  or  Yellow  Stone.  Fossil  coal  is  found  in 
great  abundance  along  the  Missouri.  It  abounds  near  St.  Charles  and 
St.  Louis.  The  extent  of  the  veins  and  the  quality  of  the  coal  have  not 
been  much  tested.  In  a  region  so  bare  of  wood,  these  internal  provisions 
for  that  deficiency  will  one  day  be  thoroughly  explored,  and  found  to 
constitute  one  of  its  essential  resources.  Most  beautiful  specimens  of 
plaster  are  brought  from  the  Platte.  Immense  bodies  of  iron  are  found 
in  Bellevue,  on  Big  river  and  its  waters,  and  in  various  points  back  of 
Herculaneum,  and  on  the  St.  Francis  and  Black  rivers ;  and  iron  ore  is 
indicated  in  all  points  of  this  state.  Maganese,  zinc,  antimony,  and  co- 
balt, are  dug  along  with  lead  ore  in  the  lead  mines.  Red  and  white 
chalk,  flint,  ochres  of  different  colors,  common  salt,  nitre,  steatite,  marl, 
plumbago,  porphyry,  jasper,  chalcedony,  ponderous  barytes,  and  pumice 
stone  are  found  in  the  country.  It  is  affirmed  that  cinnabar,  or  the  red 
ores  of  mercury,  are  found  here.  Marble  and  blue  limestone  abound; 
and  the  lime  made  from  it  is  of  the  best  quality.  Porcelain  clay,  of  the 
finest  quality  abounds  near  Cape  Girardeau.  Along  the  banks  of  the 
Missouri,  in  many  places  the  bluffs  are  composed  of  thin,  smooth,  and 
perfectly  regular  strata  of  rock,  apparently  composed  of  iron  and  lime- 
stone. They  resemble  slate,  and  it  is  believed  would  answer  the  same 
purpose  for  covering  houses.  The  flint  knobs  are  curiosities.  They 
abound  in  the  south-west  part  of  the  state,  and  along  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi. They  are  frequently  in  the  shape  of  cones,  rising  three  hundred 
feet  with  a  base  often  less  than  a  mile  in  diameter.     They  are  composed 


MISSOURI.  301 

of  siliceous  masses  of  stone,  among  which  are  thousands  of  jleche,  or 
arrow  stones,  which  serve  the  Indians  for  gun  flints.  Pumice  stones,  of 
the  most  beautiful  specimens,  are  often  seen  floating  on  the  Missouri. 
The  Indian  pipe  stone,  so  abundant  on  the  river  St.  Peter,  is  said  to  be 
found  in  this  state.  It  is  of  beautiful  dark  red  color,  and  receives  a  polish 
equal  to  alabaster.  Pyrite  of  copper  is  found  dispersed  over  the  country., 
in  various  places.  The  river  Cuivre  was  so  named  by  the  French,  from 
supposing  that  its  banks  abounded  in  copper  ore.  Masses  of  pure, 
mailable  copper,  weighing  from  three  to  ten  pounds,  are  shown  as  native 
curiosities.     Splendid  specimens  of  chrystal  are  often  discovered. 

But  the  mineral,  for  which  this  region  is  more  particularly  noted,  is 
that  of  lead.  Lead  ore  is  dug  in  various  parts  of  the  state;  and  there  is 
no  doubt  but  it  may  be  found  every  where  in  a  line  of  hills  reaching  from 
the  Illinois  lead  mines,  near  Rock  river,  quite  across  the  Missouri.  These 
mines  will  more  properly  be  described  under  the  head  of  the  state  of 
Illinois.  In  speaking  of  the  lead  mines  of  Missouri,  we  shall  confine 
ourselves  to  those  which  are  in  the  county  of  Washington  and  the  region 
contiguous.  This  district  extends  nearly  a  hundred  miles  in  length,  and 
forty  miles  in  width ;  though  discoveries  as  they  are  called,  are  constantly 
making  in  the  regions  adjoining,  in  the  one  direction  quite  to  the  Missouri, 
and  in  the  other  to  White  river.  But  the  principal  *  diggings'  are  inclu- 
ded in  an  extent  of  fifteen  miles  in  one  direction,  and  thirty  in  the  other. 
The  centre  of  this  district  is  from  fifty  to  seventy  miles  south-west  from 
St.  Louis,  and  little  more  than  half  that  distance  from  Herculaneum  on 
the  Mississippi,  and  thirty  to  fifty  from  St.  Genevieve.  The  lead  is  prin- 
cipally wagoned  from  the  mines  to  both  places,  to  be  thence  transported 
down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio.  A  great  number  of  wagons 
are  constantly  employed  in  this  occupation.  This  tract  is  abundantly 
watered  by  Big  river  and  its  branches.  No  part  of  the  country  west  of 
the  Mississippfis  watered  by  a  greater  number  of  clear  and  full  mountain 
streams.  These  streams  are  branches  of  Big  river,  which  is  itself  one 
of  the  principal  branches  of  the  Maramec.  The  hills,  or  mountains,  lie 
in  alternate  ridges.  Some  are  sterile;  and  some  have  a  rich  and  pro- 
ductive soil.  The  valleys  between  them  are  almost  uniformly  fertile. 
The  declivity  of  one  ridge  is  covered  with  masses  of  chrystalized  spar 
of  every  form  and  size.  This  is  called  'mineral  blossom.'  Most  beau- 
tiful samples  may  be  easily  selected  from  this  infinite  variety.  It  is  the 
custom  not  to  dig  where  it  lies  on  the  surface.  The  ore  is  sought  where 
this  spar  is  found  about  two  feet  below  the  surface.  The  earth  is  of  a 
bright  color,  between  red  and  yellow,  and  the  ore  is  generally  found 
imbedded  in  rock  and  hard  gravel. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  although  a  vast  extent  has  been  dug  over  through 


S02  MISSOURI. 

all  this  district,  nothing  like  a  continued  vein  has  yet  been  found.  At  a 
depth  of  nearly  eighty  feet,  to  which  Mr.  Austin  sank  a  shaft,  a  vein  was 
found  which  seemed  to  have  more  resemblance  to  those  continued  veins 
or  matrices  of  ore,  where,  in  the  language  of  mineralogist?,  the  ore  is 
in  situ,  or  in  place.  Bat  the  water  came  in  upon  this  digging,  and  it  was 
abandoned.  Of  all  the  immense  amounts  of  lead  that  have  been  smelted 
here,  the  ore  has  hitherto  been  found  in  detached  masses,  not  in  situ;  and 
apparently  transported  there  by  some  inexplicable  and  prodigious  changes 
that  have  changed  the  structure  of  the  earth  in  all  this  region.  These 
masses  are  found  with  every  degree  of  dip  to  the  horizon,  and  from  two 
to  twenty  feet  below  the  surface.  The  operative  miners  lease  a  certain 
tract  of  land,  which  is  staked  out  to  them.  They  fall  to  digging  upon  this 
spot.  Sometimes  a  single  man  will  dig  a  ten  of  ore  in  a  day;  and  again 
he  will  dig  a  week  without,  lighting  upon  a  single  pound.  The  digging 
itself  is  a  species  of  gambling,  and  there  are  few  miners  who  are  not 
steadily  addicted  to  this  practice.  Immorality  is  naturally  inspired  by 
the  pursuit,  so  like- gambling  itself,  and  by  all  that  is  seen  or  felt  in 
example.  Few  attempts  have  yet  been  made  to  mine  upon  scientific 
principles.  Adventurers  go  as  fancy  directs  them.  There  are  creeds  of 
mineralogy  peculiar  to  these  wild  people ;  and  not  a  few  believe  implicitly 
in  bletonism,  or  the  mysteries  of  the  divining  rod.  Some  who  have  long 
resided  here,  and  observed  keenly  and  noted  the  circumstances  that 
usually  accompany  the  finding  of  ore,  have  acquired  a  great  fund  of 
practical  knowledge  upon  the  subject.  Discoveries  are  continually 
making,  and  the  adventurers  flock  from  one  place  to  another,  according 
as  the  fame  of  recent  success  has  blazoned  it.  The  names  of  the  prin- 
cipal diggings  are  as  follow:  Barton,  Shibboleth,  Lebaum's,  Old  Mines, 
Bryan's,  Pratt's,  Robbins1,  Astraddle,  La  Motte,  a  Joe,  Renault's,  New 
Diggings,  Liberty,  Canon's,  Silver's,  A.  Martin,  &.c.  The  business  of 
digging  has  increased  and  diminished  many  times,  according  to  the 
changing  circumstances  of  the  country.  Fifty  diggings  are  occupied. 
Something  more  than  3,000,000  pounds  are  annually  smelted,  giving 
employment  to  nearly  1,200  hands.  The  ore  is  principally  of  that,  class 
called  galena,  and  is  very  rich,  yielding  from  75  to  80  per  cent.  So 
much  lead  remains  in  the  slag,  that  there  arc  people  who  purchase  it  to 
smelt  it  anew.  A  considerable  portion  of  arsenic  is  driven  from  the  lead 
while  it  is  smelting.  The  fumes  of  the  smelting  masses  of  ore  are  poison- 
ous; and  cattle  die  from  licking  the  slag  that  is  thrown  out.  In  digging 
the  lead  ore,  zinc,  calamine,  and  maganese,  are  dug  with  it,  and  are 
thrown  by  as  useless.  Barytes  is  also  common  among  the  lead  ore.  Its 
great  specific  gravity,  its  whiteness  and  susceptibility  of  being  ground  to 
an  impalpable  powder,  render  it.  a  valuable  addition  to  white  lead.     The 


missoi/ki.  303 

quality  of  the  paint  is  supposed  to  be  improved  by  the  addition.  The 
manufacture  of  red  lead  has  been  attempted.  But  the  making  of  white 
lead,  or  even  sheet  lead,  has  not  been  carried  to  any  extent.  Shot  towers 
are  erected  at  Herculaneum  and  at  other  places ;  and  great  quantities  are 
exported.  The  mine  country  is  remarkable  for  its  salubrity,  the  number 
of  its  sites  for  water  mills,  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  and  the  enterprise  of 
its  farmers.  No  part  of  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  so  earnestly 
invites  manufactures,  especially  those  of  lead.  Those  of  iron  have  been 
commenced  on  a  large  scale.  These  mines,  if  worked  to  the  extent  of 
which  they  are  capable,  would  not  only  supply  lead  enough  for  the  United 
States,  but  for  the  world.  The  country  where  the  diggings  have  been 
made,  exhibits  a  curious  spectacle.  Coarse  and  dilapidated  air  furnaces, 
immense  piles  of  slags,  and  all  the  accompaniments  of  smelting,  show  in 
how  many  deserted  places  these  operations  have  been  performed.  The 
earth  thrown  up  in  the  diggings  contains  portions  of  oxided  minerals, 
and  acquires  in  the  air  a  brilliant  reddish  hue ;  and  the  numberless  exca- 
vations have  the  appearance  of  being  graves  for  giants.  It  is  an  hundred 
years  since  the  French  began  to  dig  lead  ore  in  this  region.  Salt  is 
made  in  large  quantities  at  Boone's  Lick,  near  St.  Genevieve,  and 
Herculaneum. 

Rivers.  This  state  takes  its  name  from  the  Missouri,  which  empties 
into  the  Mississippi  on  its  eastern  limit.  This  is  by  far  the  largest  tribu- 
tary of  the  Mississippi,  bringing  down  more  water  than  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi itself.  In  fact,  it  is  a  longer  river  than  the  Mississippi,  from  its 
farthest  source  to  the  Mexican  gulf.  There  are  many  circumstances 
which  render  it  one  of  the  most  interesting  rivers,  and  it  is  clearly  the 
longest  tributary  stream  on  the  globe.  Many  have  thought  that  from  its 
length,  the  amount  of  its  waters,  and  the  circumstance  of  its  communi- 
cating its  own  character,  in  every  respect,  to  the  Mississippi  below  the 
junction,  it  ought  to  have  been  considered  the  main  river,  and  to  have 
continued  to  bear  its  own  name  to  the  sea.  In  opposition  to  this  claim, 
we  remark,  that  the  valley  of  the  Missouri  seems,  in  the  grand  scale  of 
conformation,  to  be  secondary  to  the  Mississippi.  The  Missouri  has  not 
the  general  direction  of  that  river,  which  it  joins  nearly  at  right  angles. 
The  valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  wider  than  that  of  the  Missouri,  and  the 
river  is  broader.  The  course  of  the  river  and  the  direction  of  the  valley 
are  the  same  above  and  below  the  junction  of  the  Missouri.  From  these 
and  many  other  considerations,  the  'father  of  waters'  seems  fairly  enti- 
tled to  his  name. 

The  Missouri  has  a  course  of  between  four  and  five  hunched  miles  in 
this  state,  and  the  whole  of  the  remainder  in  the  territory  of  Missouri. 
It  seems  proper,  therefore,  that  we  should  give  a  general  description  of 

39 


80 1  MISSOURI. 

this  river,  as  belonging  to  this  state.  Its  prodigious  length  of  course,  its 
uncommon  lurbidness,  its  impetuous  and  wild  character,  and  the  singular 
country  through  which  it  runs,  impart  to  it  a  natural  grandeur  belonging 
to  the  sublime.  We  have  never  crossed  it  without  experiencing  a  feeling 
of  that  sort,  nor  without  a  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  trace  it  along  its 
immense  distances  through  its  distant  regions,  to  the  lonely  and  stupen- 
dous mountains  from  which  it  springs.    ' 

It  rises  in  the  Rocky  mountains,  nearly  in  the  same  parallel  with  the 
Mississippi.  The  most  authentic  information  of  the  sources  of  this 
mighty  river,  is  from  its  first  intrepid  American  discoverers,  Lewis  and 
Clark.  What  may  properly  be  called  the  Missouri,  seems  to  be  formed 
by  three  considerable  branches,  which  unite  not  far  from  the  bases  of  the 
principal  ranges  of  the  mountains.  To  the  northern  they  gave  the  name 
of  Jefferson,  to  the  middle,  Gallatin,  and  to  the  southern,  Madison.  Each 
of  these  branches  fork  again  into  a  number  of  small  mountain  streams. 
It  is  but  a  short  distance  from  some  of  these  to  the  head  waters  of  the 
Columbia,  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains.  A  person  may  drink  from 
the  spring  sources  of  each,  without  travelling  more  than  a  mile.  After 
this  junction,  the  river  continues  a  considerable  distance  to  be  still  a 
foaming  mountain  torrent.  It  then  spreads  into  a  broad  and  comparative- 
ly gentle  stream,  full  of  islands.  Precipitous  peaks  of  blackish  rock, 
frown  over  the  river  in  perpendicular  elevations  of  1,000  feet.  The 
mountains,  whose  bases  it  sweeps,  are  covered  with  terebinthines,  such 
as  pines,  cedars,  and  firs ;  and  mountain  sheep  are  seen  bounding  on 
their  summits,  where  they  are  apparently  inaccessible.  In  this  dis- 
tance, the  mountains  have  an  aspect  of  inexpressible  loneliness  and 
grandeur. 

The  river  then  becomes  almost  a  continued  cataract  for  a  distance  of 
about  seventeen  miles.  In  this  distance,  its  perpendicular  descent  is 
382  feet.  The  first  fall  is  98  feet;  the  second,  19;  the  third,  47;  the 
fourth,  26.  It  continues  rapid  for  a  long  distance  beyond.  Not  far  below 
these  falls,  enters  Maria's  river  from  the  north.  This  is  a  very  consid- 
erable stream.  Still  farther  down,  on  the  opposite  side,  enter  Dearborn 
and  Fancy,  each  about  150  yards  wide.  Manoles,  100;  Big  Horn,  100; 
Muscle  Shell :  1<J0;  Big  Dry,  400;  Dry,  100;  Porcupine,  112;  all  these 
enter  from  the  south  side.  Below  these  enters  the  Roche  Jaune  or  Yellow 
Stone,  probably  the  largest  tributary  of  the  Missouri.  It  rises  in  the 
^ume  ranges  of  mountains  with  the  main  river,  and  has  many  points  of 
resemblance  to  it.  It  enters  from  the  south,  by  a  mouth  850  yards  wide. 
It  is  a  broad,  deep,  and  sweeping  river;  and  at  its  junction,  appears  the 
Jargest  of  the  two.  Its  course  is  commonly  calculated  at  1,600  miles. 
But  the  sizes'  and  lengths  of  all  .these  tributaries  are  probably  overrated. 


MISSOURI.  305 

Its  shores,  for  a  long  distance  above  its  entrance,  are  heavily  timbered, 
and  its  bottoms  wide  and  of  the  finest  soil.  lis  entrance  is  deemed  to  be 
1,880  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  was  selected  by  the 
government  as  an  eligible  situation  for  a  military  post,  and  an  extensive 
settlement.  White  bears,  elk,  and  mountain  sheep,  are  the  principal 
animals  seen  along  this  part  of  the  river. 

At  the  point  of  junction  with  the  Yellow  Stone,  the  Missouri  has  wide 
and  fine  bottoms.  Unfortunately,  its  banks  are  for  the  most  part  destitute 
of  timber,  and  this,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  Avill  prevent  its  capacity  for 
habitancy.  White  Earth  river,  from  the  north,  is  a  small  stream.  Goose 
river,  300  yards  wide,  comes  in  from  the  south  side.  Little  Missouri  is 
shallow  and  rapid,  and  is  about  130  yards  wide.  Knife  river  comes  in 
from  the  south  side,  just  above  the  Mandan  villages.  Cannon  Ball  river 
enters  from  the  south  side,  and  is  140  yards  wide.  Winnipenhu,  south 
side.  Sewarserna,  south  side.  Chienne  is  represented  to  be  beatable 
nearly  800  miles,  and  enters  from  the  south  side  by  a  mouth  400  yards 
wide,-  Tyber's  river  enters  from  the  same  side.  White  river,  boatable 
600  miles,  south  side,  is  a  very  beautiful  stream,  and  has  a  mouth  300 
yards  wide.  Poncas,  south  side.  Qui-Courre,  a  fine  stream,  with  a 
short  course,  south  side,  and  Riviere,  a  Jaque,  a  noted  resort  for  traders 
and  trappers;  White  Stone,  Big  Sioux,  and  Floyd's  rivers.  La  Platte 
enters  from  the  south,  and  has  a  longer  course  than  any  other  river  of  the 
Missouri.  It  rises  in  the  same  ranges  of  mountains  with  the  parent 
stream,  and  measured  by  its  meanders,  is  supposed  to  have  a  course  of 
2,000  miles  before  it  joins  that  river.  It  is  nearly  a  mile  in  width  at  its 
entrance ;  but  is,  as  its  name  imports,  shallow,  and  not  boatable  except  at 
its  highest  flood.  Nodawa,  north  side.  Little  Platte,  north  side.  Kansas 
is  a  large  tributary  from  the  south,  has  a  course  of  1,200  miles,  and  is 
boatable  most  of  the  distance.  Blue  Water,  and  two  or  three  small  streams 
below,  come  in  on  the  south  side.  Grand  river  is  a  large,  long,  and  deep 
stream,  boatable  for  a  great  distance,  and  enters  on  the  north  side.  The 
Charatons  come  in  on  the  same  side.  The  La  Mine  enters  on  the  south 
side.  Bonne  Femme  and  Manitou  enter  on  the  north  side,  and  Salt  river 
on  the  south. 

The  Osage,  which  enters  on  the  south  side,  is  a  large  and  very  impor- 
tant stream  of  the  Missouri,  boatable  600  miles,  and  interlocks  with  the 
waters  of  the  Arkansas.  Three  or  four  inconsiderable  streams  enter  on 
the  opposite  side,  as  Miry,  Otter,  and  Cedar  rivers.  On  the  south  side 
enters  the  Gasconade,  boatable  for  GO  miles,  and  is  important  for  having 
on  its  banks  extensive  pine  forests,  from  which  the  great  supply  of  plank 
and  timber  of  that  kind  is  brought  to  St.  Charles  and  St.  Louis.  On  the 
south  side,  below  the  Gasconade,  are  a  number  of  inconsiderable  rivers, 


306  MISSOURI. 

as  Buffalo,  St.  John's,  Wood  river,  and  Bonhomme ;  and  on  the  other  side, 
the  Charette,  Femme  Osage,  and  one  or  two  other  small  branches,  be- 
fore it  precipitates  itself  into  the  Mississippi. 

The  bottoms  of  this  river  have  a  character  very  distinguishable  from 
those  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  They  are  higher,  not  so  wet,  more  sandy, 
with  trees  which  are  not  so  large,  but  taller  and  straighter.  Its  alluvions 
something  narrower;  that  is  to  say,  having  for  the  first  five  hundred  miles 
a  medial  width  of  something  more  than  four  miles.  Its  bluffs,  like  those 
of  the  other  river,  are  generally  lime  stone,  but  not  so  perpendicular,  and 
have  more  tendency  to  run  into  the  mamelle  form.  The  bottoms  abound 
with  deer,  turkeys,  and  small  game.  The  river  seldom  overflows  any 
part  of  its  banks  in  this  distance.  It  is  little  inclined  to  be  swampy. 
There  are  much  fewer  lakes,  bayous,  and  small  ponds,  than  along  the 
Mississippi.  Prairies  are  scarcely  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  within 
the  distance  of  the  first  four  hundred  miles  of  its  course.  They  are 
heavily  timbered,  and  yet,  from  the  softness  of  the  wood,  easily  cleared. 
The  water,  though  uncommonly  turbid  with  a  whitish  earth,  which  it 
holds  in  suspension,  soon  and  easily  settles,  and  is  then  remarkably  pure, 
pleasant,  and  healthy.  The  river  is  so  rapid  and  sweeping  in  its  course, 
and  its  bed  is  composed  of  such  masses  of  sand,  that  it  is  continually 
shifting  its  sand  bars.  A  chart  of  the  river,  as  it  runs  this  year,  gives 
little  ground  for  calculation  in  navigating  it  the  next.  It  has  numerous 
islands,  and  generally  near  them  is  the  most  difficult  to  be  stemmed. 
Still  more  than  the  Mississippi  below  its  mouth,  it  tears  up  in  one  place, 
and  deposits  in  another;  and  makes  more  powerful  and  frequent  changes 
in  its  channel,  than  any  other  western  river. 

Its  bottoms  are  considerably  settled  for  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles 
above  its  mouth.  That  of  Charaton  is  the  highest  compact  settlement. 
But  the  largest  and  most  populous  settlement  in  the  state,  is  that  called 
Boone's  Lick  or  Franklin  county.  Indeed,  there  are  American  settlers, 
here  and  there,  on  the  bottoms  above  Platte,  and  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  state  of  Missouri.  Above  the  Platte,  the  open  and  prairie  character 
of  the  country  begins  to  develop.  The  prairies  come  quite  in  to  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  stretch  from  it  indefinitely,  in  naked  grass  plains, 
where  the  traveller  may  wander  for  days  without  seeing  either  wood  or 
water.  The  '  Council  Bluffs '  are  an  important  military  station,  about 
six  hundred  miles  up  the  Missouri.  Beyond  this  point,  commences  a 
country  of  great  interest  and  grandeur,  and  denominated,  by  way  of 
eminence,  the  Upper  Missouri.  The  country  is  composed  of  vast  and 
almost  boundless  grass  plains,  through  which  stretch  the  Platte,  the  Yel- 
low Stone,  and  the  other  rivers  of  this  ocean  of  grass.  The  savages  of 
this  region  have  a  peculiar  physiognomy  and  modes  of  life.    It  is  a  coun- 


MissorRi.  307 

try  where  commence  new  tribes  of  plants.  It  is  the  home  of  buffaloes, 
elk,  white  bears,  antelopes,  and  mountain  sheep.  Sometimes  the  river 
washes  the  bases  of  tho  dark  hill  of  a  friable  and  crumbling  soil.  Here 
are  found,  as  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  other  respectable  travellers  relate, 
large  and  singular  petrifactions,  both  animal  and  vegetable.  On  the  top 
of  one  of  these  hills,  they  found  the  petrified  skeleton  of  a  huge  fish,  forty- 
five  feet  in  length.  The  herds  of  the  gregarious  animals,  particularly 
the  buffaloes,  are  innumerable.  Such  is  the  general  character  of  the 
country,  until  we  come  in  contact  with  the  spurs  of  the  Rocky  mountains. 

As  far  as  the  limits  of  the  state,  this  river  is  capable  of  supporting  a 
dense  population  for  a  considerable  distance  from  its  banks.  Above 
those  limits,  it  is  generally  too  destitute  of  wood  to  become  habitable  by 
any  other  people  than  hunters  and  shepherds.  All  the  great  tributaries 
of  this  river  are  copies,  more  or  less  exact,  of  the  parent  stream.  One 
general  remark  applies  to  the  whole  country.  The  rivers  have  narrow 
margins  of  fertility.  The  country,  as  it  recedes  from  the  river,  becomes 
more  and  more  arid,  sandy,  and  destitute  of  water,  until  it  approximates 
in  character  the  sandy  deserts  of  Arabia. 

The  Osage  is  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  in  this 
state.  It  comes  in  on  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi.  At  its  mouth  it  is 
nearly  four  hundred  yards  wide.  Its  general  course  is  from  south  to 
north;  and  the  best  cotton  country  in  the  state  of  Missouri  is  on  its  head 
waters.  Its  principal  branches  are  Mary's,  Big  Bone,  Yungar,  Potato, 
and  Grand  Fork  rivers.  Yungar  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  parent  stream, 
and  is  navigable  for  small  crafts,  except  at  its  grand  cascade,  for  nearly 
an  hundred  miles.  The  cascade  is  a  great  cataract  of  ninety  feet  fall. 
When  the  river  is  full,  the  roar  is  heard  far  through  the  desert.  It  is  a 
fine  country  through  which  the  river  runs.  The  banks  are  timbered, 
and  abound  with  game,  particularly  bears.  An  interesting  missionary 
station  is  situated  on  its  waters.  This  station  is  under  the  care  of  the 
;  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,'  and  has  many  Indian  children 
in  its  school,  and  is  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  Maramec  is  a  beau- 
tiful river,  which  runs  through  the  mineral  region,  and  enters  the  Missis- 
sippi eighteen  miles  below  St.  Louis.  It  is  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  boatable  in  time  of  high  water  two 
hundred  miles.  Big  river,  Bourbon,  and  Negro  Fork  are  branches  of 
this  river,  which  in  their  turn  are  fed  by  numerous  mountain  streams. 
Bonhomme  is  an  inconsiderable  stream,  and  enters  the  Missouri  twenty- 
eight  miles  above  its  mouth.  We  have  already  named  the  Gasconade, 
so  important  to  this  country  from  the  supplies  of  pine  plank  and  lumber, 
with  which  it  furnishes  the  country  below  it.    There  is  a  great  number 


308  MISSOURI. 

of  considerable  streams,  which  enters  the  Missouri  and  the  Misssissipi 
from  the  south,  whose  names  we  have  already  mentioned.  The  princi- 
pal are  the  Swashing,  Gabourie,  Saline,  and  Apple  creek.  St.  Francis 
and  White  river,  with  their  numerous  branches,  rise  in  this  state.  Above 
St.  Louis,  on  the  eastern  limits  of  the  state,  a  number  of  considerable 
rivers  enter  the  upper  Mississippi,  as  Dardenne,  Cuivre,  Salt  river,  and 
Two  rivers.  Of  these,  Salt  river  is  the  most,  considerable,  having  a  boat- 
able  course  of  forty  or  fifty  miles.  .  This  river  waters  as  fine  a  tract  of 
country  as  any  in  the  state.  The  lands  are  also  excellent  about  Two  rivers- 
There  are  fifty  other  streams  in  the  state,  that  in  the  winter  carry  con- 
siderable water,  and  in  summer  become  dry.  This  circumstance,  com- 
mon to  the  smaller  streams  over  all  the  west,  is  peculiarly  so  here,  where 
the  intense  ardor  of  the  summer's  sun,  the  sandy  nature  of  the  soil,  the 
unfrequency  of  summer  rains,  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
untimbered  and  open  face  of  the  country,  all  conspire  to  dry  up  all 
streams  but  those  that  are  supplied  by  perennial  springs,  or  by  continued 
ranges  of  high  hills.  From  this  cause,  and  from  the  levelness  of  the 
general  face  of  the  country,  mill  seats  commanding  a  lasting  water  power 
are  uncommon.  It  is  well  known,  that  western  husbandmen  universally 
prefer  a  spring  to  a  well,  where  they  can  obtain  the  one  or  the  other. 
It  is  considered  an  essential  requisite  in  the  capability  of  a  tract  of  land 
to  be  settled,  that  it  should  have  a  spring  on  it.  There  are,  however, 
large  tracts  of  the  richest  land  in  this  state  so  level  as  to  be  incapable  of. 
springs;  and  here  the  farmers  are  obliged  to  resort  to  wells. 

Game,  8$c.  The  hunter  will  find  in  no  country  a  finer  field  for  his 
pursuits.  In  the  unsettled  parts,  bears  are  still  sufficiently  common  to 
be  hunted  as  an  employment.  The  oil  of  the  bear  is  an  article  of  exten- 
sive culinary  use.  Deer  are,  in  some  places,  almost  as  numerous  as  the 
domestic  cattle.  Wild  turkeys  furnish  admirable  sport  to  the  gunner.  In 
the  last  of  autumn  and  the  first  of  winter,  prairie  hens  are  seen  in  flocks. 
Pai'tridges  are  frequent  all  the  year.  Squirrels,  ground-hogs,  wood- 
chucks,  and  raccoons  abound.  Wolves,  panthers,  and  wild  cats  are  but 
too  common.  In  all  the  considerable  rivers  fish  are  abundant.  But  they 
are  generally  large,  coarse,  and  &f  an  inferior  quality. 

Chief  Towns.  St.  Louis  is  the  commercial  capital  of  Missouri,  and 
the  largest  town  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  situated  eighteen  miles 
below  the  mou+h  of  the  Missouri,  between  thirty  and  forty  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois,  and  nearly  two  hundred  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio.  Nature  seldom  offers  a  more  delightful  site  for  a  town.  In  many 
respects  it  resembles  that  of  Albany  in  New  York.  It  is  on  a  kind  of 
second  bottom,  that  rises  gently  from  the  water  to  a  second  bank.  The 
ascent  to  this  is  not  at  all  precipitous.     Having  surmounted  this  bank, 


S 


MISSOURI.  309 

an  extensive  plain  opens  to  view.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  town, 
this  plain  is  covered  with  bushes  and  shrub  oaks.  Beyond  is  an  exten- 
sive belt  of  grassy  plain,  or  naked  prairie.  The  timber  within  nine  or 
ten  miles  has  been  cut  away  for  fuel.  In  summer,  the  eye  reposes  with 
pleasure  upon  this  sweep  of  verdure,  bounded  on  the  verge  of  the  hori- 
zon with  forests.  But  in  winter  the  prospect  is  bleak  and  desolate.  The 
eye  always  dwells  with  delight  upon  the  level  bottom  and  the  noble  forest 
upon  the  opposite  shore  of  the  river.  In  1814  there  were  but  few  Amer- 
ican houses  in  the  place.  There  were  a  few  stone  houses  covered  with 
plaster.  The  circular  stone  forts  beyond  the  town,  white  with  plaster 
and  the  hoariness  of  age,  together  with  the  whiteness  of  houses  in  general, 
from  the  French  fashion  of  annual  white-washing,  gave  the  town  a  ro- 
mantic and  imposing  appearance,  when  seen  from  a  distance.  With  the 
exception  of  two  or  three  aristocratic  establishments,  when  contemplated 
near  at  hand,  the  houses  were  mean,  frail,  and  uncomfortable  establish- 
ments. The  streets  were  narrow  and  dirty,  and  it  was  in  fact  a  disagree- 
able town.  A  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  town,  by  American  laws, 
enterprise,  and  occupancy.  Most  of  the  houses  that  have  been  added 
within  the  last  ten  years,  have  been  of  brick  or  stone.  Some  of  the 
public  buildings  are  handsome.  There  are  two  respectable  protestant 
churches.  The  catholic  cathedral  was  intended  to  be  a  magnificent 
structure.  It  is  not  yet  completed.  A  spacious  town  house  is  a  great 
ornament  to  the  city.  The  town  has  extended  itself  along  the  hill?  and 
some  of  the  best  houses  are  on  that  delightful  elevation.  The  houses, 
in  1820,  were  reckoned  at  more  than  six  hundred.  By  the  census  of 
1830,  it  contained  2,503  free  males;  1,880  free  females;  1,668  slaves; 
287  free  persons  of  color.  Total,  6,694.  The  town  was  then  stationary, 
or  perhaps  retrograde.  But  since  that  time  the  lead  business  has  been 
reanimated  by  a  protecting  duty  upon  foreign  lead.  The  fur  trade  has 
received  a  new  impulse.  The  town  has  recovered  from  the  shock  caused 
by  the  failure  of  its  banks.  It- has  at  present  a  branch  of  the  United 
States  bank.  A  healthy  circulation  has  been  restored,  and  the  town  is 
now  rapidly  increasing  in  business  and  population.  In  the  year  IS  18, 
one  hundred  houses  were  added  to  the  place.  The  principal  street  is  more 
than  a  mile  in  length.  Three  or  four  gazettes  are  printed  here.  There 
is  an  academy,  a  catholic  seminary,  and  a  number  of  respectable  schools. 
The  French  have  communicated  to  the  people  a  taste  for  gardening ;  and 
there  are  a  number  of  very  handsome  gardens  in  and  about  the  town. 
Very  few  towns  in  the  Uniied  States,  or  the  world,  have  a  more  mixed 
population.  Among  the  original  population,  there  is  no  inconsiderable 
sprinkling  of  Indian  blood.  The  American  population  predominates  over 
the  French,  and  is  made  up  of  immigrants  from  all  the  states.     It  is  a 


310  MISSOURI. 

central  point  in  the  Mississippi  valley  for  immigrants  and  adventurers  of 
every  character.  Making  due  allowance  for  this  circumstance,  the  peo- 
ple are  generally  quiet  and  decent  in  their  manners.  Many  adventurers 
come  here,  and  find  themselves  in  a  position  to  claim  a  standing  in  society 
which  they  have  not  been  accustomed  to  possess.  Hence  the  occasions  for 
broils,  from  supposed  neglect,  contempt,  or  questioning  of  character,  are 
numerous ;  and  fatal  recontres,  denominated  '  affairs  of  honor,'  are  a 
bloody  stain  upon  the  character  of  the  place.  There  is  a  Presbyterian, 
Baptist,  Methodist  and  Catholic  society  in  the  town ;  and  the  institutions 
of  religion  are  beginning  to  have  considerable  effect  upon  the  manners 
and  moral  character  of  the  people.  Whoever  observes  the  position  of  this 
town  on  the  map,  will  see  that  it  is  very  favorably  situated  to  become  a 
town  of  supply  of  merchandise  to  a  vast  tract  of  country.  In  the  centre 
of  the  Mississippi  valley,  commanding  the  trade  of  the  Missouri,  the 
upper  Mississippi,  and  the  Illinois,  the  capital  of  a  very  extensive  fur 
trade,  and  the  depot  for  as  rich  lead  mines  as  are  in  the  world,  it  must 
necessarily  become  a  large  town.  It  has  one  obvious  advantage  over 
any  town  on  the  Ohio.  Steam  boats  can  come  to  St.  Louis  from  New 
Orleans  in  the  lowest  stages  of  water.  It  is  very  common  for  travellers 
from  the  Atlantic  country,  who  are  bound  in  the  autumn  to  New  Orleans, 
to  take  passage  from  Cincinnati  across  the  country  to  St.  Louis,  in  order 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantage  of  a  direct  passage  to  New  Orleans 
in  a  steam  boat.  The  lowness  of  the  water  in  the  Ohio,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  passing  over  the  falls  at  Louisville,  render  a  direct  steam  boat 
passage  from  Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans,'at  that  season  of  the  year,  an 
uncommon  occurrence.  A  great  number  of  keel  boats,  and  river  crafts 
of  all  descriptions,  bound  to  all  points  of  the  boatable  waters  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, are  seen  at  all  seasons  lying  in  the  harbor  at  St.  Louis.  Miners, 
trappers,  hunters,  adventurers,  immigrants,  and  people  of  all  characters 
and  languages,  with  all  kinds  of  views  and  objects,  meet  here,  and  in 
pursuit  of  their  various  projects  scatter  hence  to  the  remotest  points  of 
the  valley.  The  moral  character  of  this  town,  so  rapidly  approaching 
the  rank  and  consequence  of  a  city,  is  rising.  It  still  furnishes  a  tempo- 
rary home  to  desperate  and  abandoned  characters,  who  hope,  in  crossing 
the  Mississippi,  to  fly  beyond  law  and  conscience.  The  character  of  the 
permanent  inhabitants  is  respectable.  Good  regulations  of  every  sort 
are  advancing.  The  Sabbath  is  respected;  and  a  wholesome  police  is 
establishing.  Such  a  stream  of  immigrants  is  continually  pouring  in, 
and  the  people  have  so  learned  the  habit  of  distrust,  that  hospitality  to 
strangers  is  not  a  characteristic  of  the  people. 

Si.  Genevieve  is  situated  at  the  upper  extremity  of  a  beautiful  alluvial 
prairie,  about  a  mile  west  of  the  Mississippi.     It  is  built  on  the  Gabourie, 


MISSOURI.  311 

a  small  creek  which  is  occasionally  boatable.  The  town  contains  a  Cath- 
olic church,  some  neat  French  houses,  a  great  many  indifferent  ones, 
and  but  few  American  establishments.  The  situation  of  the  village  is 
happy.  Much  lead  is  brought  here  for  exportation ;  and  yet  the  town 
does  not  appear  to  thrive,  not  possessing  more  inhabitants  than  it  did 
thirty  years  ago.  The  present  number  is  about  1,500.  The  prairie 
below  the  town  is  of  extreme  fertility,  containing  0,000  acres,  fenced 
and  cultivated  in  common.  On  the  hill  west  of  the  town,  is  a  handsome 
building  erected  for  an  academy.  From  this  place,  is  a  magnificent 
view  of  the  village,  the  bluffs  above,  the  prairie  below,  and  the  Mississippi 
sweeping  along  in  the  distance.  The  Catholic  worship  is  the  prevailing 
one,  and  the  inhabitants  are  principally  French. 

Jackson,  the  county  town  of  Cape  Girardeau  county,  twelve  miles 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  is  a  respectable  village,  containing  100  houses, 
some  of  them  handsomel)"  built  of  brick.  It  is  in  the  centre  of  one  of 
the  most  populous  and  thriving  counties  in  the  state. 

Cape  Girardeau  is  on  a  beautiful  bluff  on  the  Mississippi,  fifty  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  It  has  a  fine  harbor  for  boats,  and  com- 
mands a  noble  view  of  the  river  above  and  below.  It  exhibits  symptoms 
of  decay.  About  this  town,  that  beautiful  tree,  called  yellow  poplar,  or 
tulipifera  liriodcndron,  attains  its^  utmost  development.  Potosi  is  the 
county  town  of  Washington,  and  the  centre  of  the  mine  district.  It  is 
situated  in  a  pleasant  valley,  surrounded  by  hills,  sixty-five  miles  south- 
west from  St.  Louis,  and  forty -five  west  from  St.  Genevieve.  St.  Michael 
is  an  old  French  village  among  the  mines.  There  are  a  number  of  other 
small  villages  in  the  mine  district.  Herculancum  is  situated  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  thirty  miles  below  St.  Louis,  on  a  narrow  allu- 
vial plain,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  but  the  river,  by  high  and  romantic 
bluffs,  rendered  still  more  imposing  by  a  number  of  shot  towers  placed 
on  their  summits.  This  is  the  chief  place  of  deposit  for  the  lead  of  the 
lead  mines.  New  Madrid  is  situated  on  the  Mississippi,  fifty  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  This  small  village  was  once  much  more  consid- 
erable than  it  now  is.  It  is  memorable  for  the  romantic  history  of  its 
origin  under  General  Morgan,  in  the  times  of  the  Spanish  regime,  and 
for  the  terrible  earthquakes  which  it  experienced  in  1811  and  1812. 
Those  earthquakes  were  more  severe  than  any  on  the  records  of  our 
part  of  the  continent.  The  western  country  was  shook  in  every  direc- 
tion. Thousands  of  acres  were  sunk,  and  multitudes  of  lakes  and  ponds 
were  created.  The  church  yard  of  this  village,  with  all  its  sleeping  ten- 
ants, was  precipitated  into  the  river.  The  trees  lashed  together,  were 
thrown  down,  or  bent  in  every  direction.  The  earth  burst,  in  what  were 
called  sand  blows.     Earth,  sand,  and  water,  were  thrown  up  to  great 

40 


312  MISSOURI. 

heights  in  the  air.  The  river  was  dammed  up  and  flowed  backwards. 
Birds  descended  from  the  air  and  took  shelter  in  the  bosoms  of  people 
that  were  passing.  The  whole  country  was  inundated.  A  great  num- 
ber of  boats,  passing  on  the  river,  were  sunk.  One  or  two  that  were  fas- 
tened to  islands,  were  sunk  with  the  islands.  The  country  was  but 
sparsely  peopled,  and  most  of  the  buildings,  fortunately,  were  cabins  or 
of  logs ;  and  from  these  circumstances,  few  people  perished.  No  country 
can  recount  a  history  of  earthquakes,  attended  with  more  terrific  circum- 
stances of  commotion  in  the  elements,  and  threatening  more  extermina- 
ting war  with  man  and  nature,  than  this.  The  thriving  country  about 
this  village  was  desolated ;  and  as  the  earthquakes  continued  in  gentler 
shocks,  and  have  not  ceased  even  to  this  time,  there  seemed  to  be  good 
reason  for  abandoning  the  country.  The  people  are  becoming  more 
assured  with  respect  to  the  future,  and  New  Madrid  is  gradually  emerg- 
ing from  its  prostration. 

There  is  a  large  and  fine  tract  of  alluvial  and  prairie  country  back  of 
t||is  village.  The  Big  Prairie,  about  twelve  miles  distant,  is  a  charming 
spot  for  farmers.  But  from  the  number  of  lakes,  created  by  the  earth- 
quake, and  from  the  extent  of  the  swampy  and  inundated  country  in  its 
vicinity,  the  country  about  New  Madrid  has  the  reputation  of  being  un- 
healthy. A  bayou,  that  enters  the  river  just  above  the  village,  creates 
a  great  eddy  and  an  admirable  harbor;  and  New  Madrid  is,  next  to 
Natchez,  the  most  noted  landing  place  for  boats  on  the  Mississippi  above 
New  Orleans. 

St.  Charles,  on  the  Missouri,  is  a  pleasant  village  of  about  1,200  in- 
habitants. There  is  one  long  street,  on  which  arc  a  number  of  hand- 
some brick  buildings.  It  is  situated  twenty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri,  and  the  same  distance  north-west  of  St.  Louis.  The  banks  be- 
tween the  village  and  the  river  are  of  solid  lime  stone;  and  above  the 
village  wc  ascend  by  a  moderate  acclivity  to  a  beautiful  plateau  of  great 
extent.  These  bluffs  command  a  noble  view  of  the  Missouri  and  its 
islands.  Back  of  the  village,  is  a  large  extent  of  level  country,  covered 
with  hazle  copses,  yielding  abundance  of  wild  hops,  grapes,  and  prairie 
plums.  Two  miles  below  the  town,  opens  the  beautiful  Point  Prairie. 
We  know  of  no  place  in  the  western  country,  that  has  a  more  interesting 
country  adjoining  it,  than  this  village.  There  is  a  protestant  and  a  cath- 
olic church  here.  It  was  for  a  number  of  years  the  political  metropolis 
of  the  state.  There  arc  fine  farms  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  inhabitants 
are  noted  for  their  sober  and  orderly  habits.  About  one  third  of  them 
are  French.  Carondclet  is  a  small  French  village,  six  miles  below  St. 
Louis.  Many  of  the  garden  vegetables  sold  in  St.  Louis  market,  are 
raised  here.     Troy,  Louisianaville,  and  Petersburgh,  are  small  villages 


MISSOURI.  313 

on  the  upper  Mississippi  and  its  waters.  Jefferson,  a  new  town  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Osage,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri,  since  the  seat 
of  government  was  removed  there,  has  become  the  position  of  the  public 
buildings  j  but  not  being  a  fortunate  selection,  lias  not  greatly  prospered. 
Franklin  is  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  by  land  above  St.  Louis,  and  more  than  two  hundred  by  the 
river.  It  is  estimated  to  contain  over  two  hundred  houses ;  and  about 
1,200  inhabitants.  It  is  surrounded  by  the  largest  body  of  rich  land  in 
the  state ;  and  is  the  centre  of  a  populous  region  of  rich  and  respectable 
farmers.  Booneville,  opposite  Franklin,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Missouri, 
was  originally  settled  by  Col.  Boone,  the  patriarch  of  Kentucky.  Char- 
aton  is  a  small  village  at  the  mouth  of  a  river  of  the  same  name.  Bluffton 
is  a  village  upon  the  same  side  of  the  river,  and  still  higher  on  it,  being 
in  fact,  but  a  little  distance  within  the  western  territorial  limits  of  the 
state. 

Constitution,  Laics,  Sfc.  This  state  adopted  her  constitution,  and  was 
admitted  into  the  union  in  1820.  In  its  general  features  it  resembles 
those  of  the  other  states.  The  senators  are  elected  for  four  years,  and 
the  representatives  for  two.  The  governor  is  elected  for  four  years. 
The  judiciary  is  vested  in  a  supreme  court,  a  chancellor's  court,  and  cir- 
cuit and  other  subordinate  courts,  the  judges  of  which  hold  their  offices 
during  good  behaviour.  Every  free  citizen  who  has  resided  a  year  in 
the  state,  and  the  last  three  months  preceding  the  election,  in  the  district, 
is  entitled  to  Ins  vote  in  that  district.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  article 
which  allowed  slavery  in  the  constitution,  was  long  and  bitterly  contested 
in  the  national  legislature. 

Maimers,  Sfc.  The  same  provisions  are  made  for  education,  as  in 
most  of  the  other  western  states.  In  the  towns  and  villages,  there  are 
respectable  schools.;  and  the  people  generally  are  impressed  with  the 
importance  and  necessity  of  educating  their  children.  But  there  are  too 
many  rude  and  ignorant  people  here,  as  in  all  the  western  country,  who 
affirm  that  they  have  been  enabled  to  go  through  life  comfortablv  without 
education,  and  that  their  children  are  as  able  to  do  so  as  they  were. 
There  are  schools,  dignified  with  the  name  of  academies,  in  different 
parts  of  the  state.  The  Catholics  have  two  or  three  establishments  of 
religious,  who  receive  young  ladies  for  instruction.  There  is  a  theologi- 
cal school  of  some  distinction  in  the  barrens  below  St.  Genevieve,  for  the 
preparation  of  Catholic  elcves  for  the  ministry.  In  St.  Louis,  society 
exhibits  the  same  aspect  as  in  other  towns  of  a  like  size  in  the  United 
States.  It  must  be  admitted,  that  in  the  interior,  there  is  a  perceptible 
shade  of  the  roughness  of  people,  who  are  far  removed  from  the  bosom  of 
society.     The  roughness  of  the  backwoodsmen  is  often,  however,  accom- 


314  MISSOURI. 

panied  with  an  open  hospitality,  an  honest  simplicity,  a  genuine  kindness  i 
of  heart,  which  render  a  residence  among  them  quite  as  pleasant  as  in  I 
those  regions  where  observance  and  public  opinion  have  created  a  great- 
er degree  of  apparent  refinement.  It  might  be  expected,  that  a  country 
almost  boundless,  with  few  barriers  of  laAV,  or  local  limits  of  habitancy 
and  property,  an  extent  of  nearly  one  thousand  leagues  towards  the 
western  sea,  would  be  the  natural  resort  of  wild  and  adventurous  spirits, 
whose  object  was,  as  they  often  express  it,  to  fly  i  beyond  Sabbath?  It  is 
so  in  fact.  But  there  is  more  order  and  quietness,  regulated  society,  and 
correct  public  opinion,  than  in  such  a  state  of  things  we  should  have  a 
right  to  expect.  There  is  an  increasing  number  of  religious  societies, 
among  which  the  Methodists  are  the  most  numerous.  The  Presbyterians 
and  Baptists  have  also  many  congregations  and  churches.  The  Cumber- 
land Presbyterians  are  making  considerable  progress.  The  French  and 
Irish  people  are  for  the  most  part  Catholics.  The  number  of  Catholic 
congregations,  probably,  exceeds  that  of  any  particular  denomination  of 
the  protestants.  The  spirit  of  religious  tolerance  prevails  to  an  excellent 
degree.  Neighbors  and  relatives  worship  in  churches  of  different  denom- 
inations, without  disturbing  the  intercourse  of  common  life. 

The  French  of  this  country  have  their  characteristic  national  manners, 
and  are  the  same  gay  and  happy  people.  Those  among  them  that  have 
standing,  wealth,  and  education,  show  no  other  differences  of  character 
from  the  same  classes  of  other  nations,  except  such  as  result  from  their 
national  temperament  and  manners.  The  poorer  French  have  an  unique 
and  peculiar  character.  Tlie}^  vcre  born  in  the  woods,  or  at  least,  far 
from  society.  They  have  been  accustomed  from  infancy  rather  to  the 
life  of  huntsmen,  trappers,  and  boatmen,  than  of  husbandmen.  They 
generally  make  indifferent  fanners.  Their  cabin,  indeed,  shows  well  at 
a  distance,  and  the  mud  daubing  is  carcfidh  white  washed.  They  have 
gardens  neatly  laid  out,  and  kept  clean  of  weeds.  Beyond  this,  the  es- 
tablishments of  the  pctits  pay  sans  are  generally  sterile  and  comfortless. 
Their  ancestors  were  accustomed  to  continual  intercourse  with  the  sav- 
ages, and  in  habits  of  travelling  many  hundred  leagues  from  their  habi- 
tations in  canoes,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  streams,  to  hunt,  procure  furs  and 
honey,  or  to  traffic  with  the  Indians.  They  were  accustomed  to  the 
prompt  and  despotic  mandate  of  a  commandant.  They  were  prepared  to 
entertain  but  very  inadequate  ideas  of  the  inestimable  value  of  the  mild, 
but  protracted  dispensation  of  justice  in  our  courts.  They  regarded  our 
laws  as  a  bottomless  gulf;  and  had,  for  a  long  time  after  they  came  under 
our  government,  a  salutary  dread  of  a  jn'oces,  which  had  a  happy  influence 
to  deter  them  from  litigation.  Familiarity  with  our  decisions  has  gradu- 
ally lessened  this  dread ;  and  when  they  once  acquire  a  passion  for  litiga- 


MISSOURI  315 

tion,  they  are  more  keen  in  pursuit  of  their  object  than  the  Americans. 
It  is  an  unpleasant  reflection,  that  while  we  have  given  them  political 
consideration,  and  learned  them  the  value  of  land,  and  the  necessity  of 
cultivation,  the  comforts  of  municipal  life,  and  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion, we  have  also  communicated  to  them  a  passion  for  litigation,  and  a 
fondness  for  ardent  spirits.  They  arc  intermarrying  and  amalgamating 
with  the  Anglo-Americans.  But  even  yet,  on  entering  a  village  com- 
posed of  equal  divisions  of  French  and  American  population,  the  French 
are  seen  as  a  distinct  people,  by  their  stature,  gait,  complexion,  houses, 
and  the  appearance  of  their  children.  They  are  smaller  in  stature,  have 
a  different  costume,  walk  quicker,  have  more  meagre  forms,  and  more 
tanned  and  sallow  complexions.  They  bow  with  more  grace,  are  more 
fluent  in  conversation,  and  these  are  universal  traits.  The  Kentuckian 
who  lives  beside  them,  is  heavier,  has  a  rounder  and  fuller  face,  a  more 
clear  and  ruddy  complexion,  bows  less  gracefully,  or  perhaps  not  at  all. 
He  pays  no  compliments.  But  we  place  greater  reliance  upon  his  word 
and  the  sincerity  of  his  friendship.  The  wives  of  the  French  of  this 
class  are  accustomed  to  more  drudgery  and  submission  than  those  of  their 
American  neighbors,  and  there  is  a  nearer  assimilation  to  Indian  thoughts 
and  habits  than  there  is  in  our  people.  They  are  slow  in  adopting  our 
improvements  in  dress,  agriculture,  and  all  that  concerns  their  domestic 
establishment.  They  are  strongly  attached  to  the  ways  of  their  fore- 
fathers; and  are  generally  bigotted  Catholics.  They  have  the  national 
gaiete  du  cceur,  the  French  enviable  cheerfulness,  under  all  circumstances. 
Tbey  are  generally  temperate  and  sober;  and  from  their  manner  of  life 
better  calculated  to  endure  the  extremes  cf  heat  and  cold  than  the  Ameri- 
cans. They  support  the  vicissitudes  of  climate  better,  and  are  not  so 
much  exposed  to  diseases  of  the  country.  They  make  excellent  boats- 
men,  huntsmen,  and  courcurs  du  bois.  Their  fondness  for  conversation 
and  tracasscric,  prevents  their  living  in  detached  and  solitary  houses  like 
the  Americans,  and  they  generally  fix  themselves  in  compact  villages. 

The  Catholic  worship  has  the  same  hold  of  their  affections,  which  it 
had  of  the  hearts  of  their  forefathers,  two  centuries  ago.  Their  vene- 
ration for  their  priests  is  unlimited,  and  the  latter  dare  rely  upon  a  credu- 
lity, which,  in  other  Catholic  countries,  has  long  since  passed  away.  For 
instance,  they  had,  not  many  years  since,  processions  to  pray  the  Missis- 
sippi down,  when  it  threatened  a  desolating  inundation,  and  to  banish  the 
locusts  by  the  intercession  of  the  saints.  So  firmly  are  they  fixed  in  their 
religious  opinions,  that  they  arc  apt  to  regard  protestant  efforts  to  convert 
them,  not  as  arrogant  only,  but  impious.  To  all  attempts  which  protestant 
missionaries  have  made  to  change  them  to  our  faith,  they  find  a  reply, 
but  too  unanswerable,  in  the  dissipated  and  immoral  life  of  their  protestant 
neighbors. 


316  Missouri. 

History.  The  general  annals  of  upper  Louisiana  have  already  been 
given.  St.  Louis  was  founded  in  1764,  by  Pierre  Laclade,  Maxan,  and 
company.  The  principal  inhabitants  were  from  Canada.  It  was  con- 
ceived to  be  a  favorable  point  for  concentrating  the  fur  and  Indian  trade 
of  the  upper  and  lower  Missouri  and  Mississippi.  Among  the  first  and 
most  respectable  settlers  was  M.  Choteau,  a  name  still  respectable  in  the 
country.  In  1776  this  village  received  a  large  accession  of  inhabitants 
from  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  of  people  who  preferred  the 
regime  of  Spain  to  England.  Hunting,  trapping,  and  trading  with  the 
Indians,  was  the  great  business  of  the  country.  Spain  expended  great 
sums  of  money  in  the  country,  and  drew  little  or  nothing  from  it.  Those 
who  chose  to  immigrate  there,  could  obtain  a  settlement  right  of  six  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  for  a  trifling  douceur  to  the  commandant,  and,  provided 
they  yielded  a  decent  observance  to  the  existing  institutions  of  the  country, 
the  Spanish  yoke  sat  very  lightly  on  their  shoulders.  There  were  few 
countries  in  which  the  people  lived  more  happily,  and  to  their  own  minds, 
than  this,  until  the  attack  from  Michilimackinac,  called  in  the  annals  of 
French  tradition,  Vannce  du  coup.  After  the  attack,  St.  Louis  was  forti- 
fied with  those  circular  stone  bastions  that  at  present  give  the  town  such 
a  picturesque  appearance  in  the  distance.  From  St.  Louis  the  French 
hive  swarmed  to  Carondelct,  St.  Ferdinand,  St.  Charles,  Minca  Burton, 
St.  Michael's,  Cote  sans  dessein,  and  French  trading  and  hunting  estab- 
lishments were  made  almost  to  the  bases  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  The 
country  continued  gradually  to  settle,  until,  as  has  been  related,  it  passed 
under  the  American  government.  The  proudest  eulogium  that  ever  was 
uttered  upon  that  government,  was  the  immediate  rise  in  the  value  of 
lands,  consequent  upon  this  transaction.  French  people,  who  were  in  the 
habit  of  complaining  of  this  transfer,  and  of  our  laws,  were  not  the  less 
willing  to  take  advantage  of  the  immediate  and  triple  value  which  their 
lands  acquired.  The  settlement  rights,  which  had  been  acquired  under 
the  Spanish  regime  almost  for  asking,  became  at  once  a  competent  fortune 
to  their  owners.  Immigration  was  discouraged  by  the  sickly  season  of 
1811,  commonly  called  the  'year  of  waters.'  The  late  war,  too,  effec- 
tually repressed  the  increase  of  the  country.  Many  settlements,  as  those 
of  Boone's  Lick  and  Salt  river,  were  broken  up.  The  French  seemed, 
in  many  instances,  rather  disposed  to  take  part  with  the  Indians.  But  in 
the  progress  of  the  war,  the  indiscriminate  savage  appetite  for  slaughter 
finally  impelled  flic  ravages  to  commit  murders  in  the  French  villages; 
and  this  circumstance  induced  a  hearty  co-operation  with  the  other  pop- 
ulation in  punishing  savage  aggressions.  There  had  been  a  great  number 
of  murders  committed  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  remote  and  unprotected 
settlements.     A  considerable  force,  denominated  'rangers,'  was  raised 


MISSOURI.  317 

in  the  territory.  They  marched  promptly  into  the  Indian  country,  and 
conducted  gallantly;  and  although  they  had  few  opportunities  of  distin- 
guishing themselves,  by  coming  in  actual  contact  with  the  enemy,  this 
expedition  had  a  great  effect  in  awing  and  repressing  the  savage  marau- 
ders on  the  frontiers. 

The  tide  of  immigration,  which  had  been  arrested  during  the  war,  set 
with  greater  strength  towards  this  country  on  the  return  of  peace.  The 
mass  of  immigrants  was  constantly  accumulating  until  the  year  1817, 
when  it  seems  to  have  reached  its  height.  An  hundred  persons  have 
ibeen  numbered  in  a  day,  passing  through  St.  Charles,  either  to  Boone's 
Lick  or  Salt  river. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  march  of  improvement  in  Missouri  was  rapid. 
'The  face  of  the  country  was  visibly  changing  under  the  eye.  St.  Louis 
was  built  up  with  houses  which  would  not  have  disgraced  Philadelphia. 
St.  Charles,  and  the  villages  generally,  began  to  be  rebuilt  of  brick.  Fine 
houses  arose  in  the  country.  Tread  mills  and  steam  mills  were  erected. 
Schools  were  established;  and  important  manufactories  were  either  com- 
menced or  in  prospect.  The  rage  for  speculation  in  lands  became  a 
mania,  which  affected  the  country.  The  militia  made  progress  in  organ- 
ization.    The  population  was  supposed  to  amount  to  60,000. 

A  sudden  change,  operating  re-action  with  more  or  less  force  through 
the  whole  United  States,  was  visible  here  about  the  year  1817,  and  went 
on  increasing  four  or  five  years.  It  resulted  from  the  sudden  reduction 
of  prices  in  the  Atlantic  country,  the  pressure  of  the  tunes,  and  the  sud- 
den failure  of  the  numerous  banks  of  the  western  country. 

There  was  probably  no  part  of  the  United  States  more  severely  pressed 
than  Missouri  and  Illinois.  Improvements  of  every  sort  not  only  came 
to  a  dead  pause,  but  seemed  to  retrograde.  A  great  number  of  immi- 
grants had  been  sick  on  removing  to  this  new  climate.  Clothes,  and 
those  groceries  that  from  habitual  use  had  become  necessaries,  could 
not  be  procured.  Even  wealthy  people  felt  the  distress  of  the  times; 
for  there  was  not  sufficient  money  to  keep  up  a  circulating  medium; 
They  falsely  imputed  these  evils  of  circumstances  and  the  times  to  this 
particular  section  of  the  country.  Many  of  them  packed  up  their  move- 
ables; collected  their  cattle;  left  their  farms  unsold;  and  returned  to  the 
countries  whence  they  had  emigrated. 

Others  deemed  that  a  part  of  these  evils  resulted  from  their  being  in  a 
territorial  government.  It  appeared  by  the  census,  that  the  state  had 
more  inhabitants  than  were  required  by  the  constitution  to  form  a  state. 
Delegates  were  accordingly  chosen  in  1819  for  this  purpose.  The  great 
object  in  the  canvass,  that  preceded  the  election,  was  to  prevent  any  per- 
son from  being  returned,  who  was  adverse  to  its  becoming  a  slave-holding 


318 


M  I  s  s  o  ir  R  I . 


state.  The  slave  question  was  discussed  with  an  asperity  that  might 
naturally  be  expected  to  result  from  the  character  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  in  the  question.  By  a  very  large 
majority,  the  allowance  to  hold  slaves  was  incorporated  in  the  provisions 
of  the  constitution.  It  also  contained  an  article  interdicting  ministers  of 
the  gospel  from  being  eligible  to  any  office  in  the  state.  We  need  not 
repeat,  that  the  asperity  with  which  the  slave  question  was  discussed  was 
transferred  to  the  national  legislature,  and  was  canvassed  there  with  more 
bitterness  than  even  here.  But  the  provision  finally  prevailed,  and  this 
state  was  admitted  in  1820  into  the  union,  with  the  privilege  of  holding 
slaves. 

No  political  event  of  a  striking  character  has  since  occurred.  This 
state  continued  to  labor  under  its  pecuniary  embarrassments  for  soma 
years.  But  a  sound  circulation  of  money  was  gradually  restored.  A 
duty  placed  upon  imported  lead  gave  activity  to  the  working  of  the  mines. 
The  fur  trade  resumed  its  former  activity.  The  steam  boat  system  of 
freight  and  transport  had  a  bearing  peculiarly  favorable  upon  the  state, 
which  has  such  a  great  length  of  coast  washed  by  the  Mississippi,  and 
accessible  by  that  species  of  vessels  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  except 
when  the  Mississippi  is  impeded  by  ice.  About  the  year  1824,  it  could 
be  discovered  that  the  order  of  prosperity  was  advancing  anew.  The 
towns,  especially  St.  Louis,  began  to  improve.  The  tide  of  immigration 
once  more  set  towards  Missouri.  It  has  every  prospect  of  becoming  a 
wealthy,  populous,  and  powerful  state. 

The  legislature  has  recently  incorporated  the  Missouri  Insurance 
Company,  capital  100,000  dollars,  and  the  privilege  to  increase  it  to 
400,000;  the  St.  Louis  Marine  Rail-way  Company;  the  St.  Louis  Hospi- 
tal ;  and  the  St.  Louis  Water  Works.  The  water  is  to  be  raised  by  steam 
from  the  Mississippi  and  distributed  over  the  city. 

In  other  parts  of  the  state,  there  is  the  Boone's  Lick  Manufacturing 
Company,  near  Fayette ;  and  the  Lexington  Steam  Saw-mill  Company, 
in  La  Fayette  county.  There  is  an  iron  foundery  establishment,  on  a 
respectable  scale,  at  St.  Louis;  and  one  or  two  large  establishments  at 
Bellcviio,  in  the  mine  country,  that  smelt  their  own  iron  from  mines  in 
the  immediate  vicinity.  The  legislature  has  passed  an  enactment  to  sell 
all  the  lands  appropriated  to  the  interests  of  education,  and  apply  the  fund 
thence  arising  to  the  same  purpose.  There  are  twelve  colleges,  acade- 
mies, and  seminaries,  incorporated  by  law. 


ILLINOIS. 


Length,  350  miles.  Breadth,  180.  Between  37°  and  42°  30'  N. 
latitude,  and  20°  20'  and  14°  21'  W.  longitude.  It  contains  50,000 
square  miles,  and  nearly  40,000,000  acres.  Bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  North- Western  territory ;  east  by  lake  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  the 
river  Wabash;  south  by  the  Ohio,  which  separates  it  from  Kentucky; 
and  west,  in  its  whole  extent,  by  the  Mississippi,  which  separates  it  from 
Missouri  and  the  Missouri  territory. 


Counties. 

County  Towns. 

Distances  from  Vandalia 

Adams, 

Quincy, 

193  miles. 

Alexander, 

America, 

181 

Bond, 

Greenville, 

20 

Calhoun, 

Gilead, 

126 

Clark, 

Clark  C.  H. 

134 

Clay, 

Maysville, 

46 

Clinton, 

Carlyle, 

30 

Cole, 

Cole  C.  H. 

Cook, 

Chicago, 

Crawford, 

Palestine, 

118 

Edgar, 

Paris, 

106 

Edwards, 

Albion, 

92 

Fayette, 

Vandalia, 

Franklin, 

Frankfort, 

102 

Fulton, 

Fulton, 

133 

Gallatin, 

Equality, 

137 

Greene, 

Carrollton, 

106 

Hamilton, 

McLeansbro' 

93 

Hancock, 

Henry, 

41 


320 

ILLINOIS. 

Jackson, 

Brownsville, 

127 

Jefferson, 

Mount  Vernon, 

65 

Jo  Daviess,, 

Galena, 

326 

Johnson, 

Vienna, 

167 

Knox, 

Knox  C.  H. 

188 

La  Salle, 

Ottowa, 

Lawrence, 

Lawrenceville, 

84 

McLean, 

Bloomington, 

Macon, 

Decatur, 

70 

Macoupin, 

Carlinville, 

95 

Madison, 

Edwardsville, 

55 

Marion, 

Salem, 

26 

McDonough, 

Macomb, 

Mercer, 

Monroe, 

Waterloo, 

99 

Montgomery, 

Hillsboro', 

28 

Morgan, 

Jacksonville, 

115 

Peoria, 

Peoria, 

43 

Perry, 

Pinckneyville, 

129 

Pike, 

Atlas, 

148 

Pope, 

Golconda, 

160 

Putnam, 

Henepin, 

Randolph, 

Kaskaskia, 

59 

St.  Clair, 

Belleville, 

71 

Sangamon, 

Springfield, 

79 

Schuyler, 

Rushville, 

172 

Shelby, 

Shelbyville, 

40 

Tazewell, 

Mackinaw, 

149 

Union, 

Jonesboro', 

154 

Vermilion, 

Danville, 

150 

Wabash, 

Mount  Carmel, 

109 

Warner, 

Warren, 

Washington, 

Nashville, 

Wayne, 

Fairfield, 

69 

White, 

Vandalia  is  781  miles  from  Washington,  75  from  St.  Louis,  288  from 

Nashville,  802  from  New  Orleans,  970  from  New  York,  and  320  from 

Cincinnati. 

The  census  < 

)f  1830 

gives    the  population  of 

Illinois  as  follows: 

Whites,  155,176. 

Slave 

a,  746.     Total,  157,575. 

Face  of  the  Country. 

Next  to  Louisiana  and  Delaware  this  is  the 

most  level  state 

in  Ihe 

Union ;  although  north-west  of  Shawneetowa 

ILLINOIS.  321 

there  is  a  range  of  hills,  which  some  have  chosen  to  denominate  moun- 
tains. There  are  considerable  elevations  along  the  Illinois;  and  the 
bluffs  of  the  Mississippi  in  some  places  might  almost  pass  for  mountains. 
In  the  mineral  regions,  in  the  north-west  angle  of  the  state,  there  are 
high  hills.  But  the  far  greater  proportion  of  the  state  is  either  distribu- 
ted in  vast  plains,  or  in  barrens,  that  are  gently  rolling.  We  may  travel 
on  the  wide  prairies  for  days  without  encountering  an  elevation  that  is 
worthy  to  be  called  a  hill.  In  no  part  of  the  peopled  divisions  of  the 
United  States  are  there  such  great  sections  of  prairie  country.  One 
prairie,  with  very  little  interruption,  spreads  from  the  shores  of  die  Mis- 
sissippi to  those  of  lake  Michigan.  These  prairies,  more  distinctly  than 
the  countries  west  of  the  Mississippi  are  divided  into  wet  and  dry,  allu- 
vial and  rolling  prairies.  The  wet  and  flat  prairies  seem  once  to  have 
been  timbered  morasses.  They  contain  peat,  and  other  fossil  indications, 
logs,  and  the  bones  of  animals  some  feet  below  the  soil,  that  probably 
when  the  trees  and  the  animals  fell,  were  on  the  surface.  These  prai- 
ries constitute  the  sources  of  many  of  the  rivers.  The  alluvial  prairies 
are  high  and  dry;  of  a  rich  black  loam,  and  an  exceedingly  fertile  soil; 
and  covered  with  a  coarse  grass  of  incredible  size  and  height.  The 
high  and  rolling  prairies  are  sometimes  chequered  with  groves  of  sparse 
trees.  The  quality  of  their  soil  seldom  exceeds  second  rate,  and  they 
abound  with  springs.  Grape  vines  are  abundant ;  and  they  furnish  an 
inexhaustible  summer  range  for  cattle. 

This  vast  extent  of  level  plains  is  an  injury.  There  is  often  not  suf- 
ficient inclination  to  carry  off  the  water  that  falls  in  rains.  Even  the 
high  prairies,  when  they  happen  to  be  of  a  stiff"  soil,  are  too  wet  for  cul- 
tivation. During  the  heats  of  summer  these  lands  discharge  their  waters 
by  evaporation,  rendered  still  more  noxious  by  the  vast  quantities  of 
vegetation  which  bave  been  steeping  in  them.  Hence  it  happens,  that 
these  beautiful  countries  to  the  eye,  where  every  thing  promises  health, 
as  well  as  abundance,  are  sometimes  sickly. 

On  the  route  from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis,  the  great  road  passes 
through  this  state,  in  its  whole  extent  of  width.  More  than  one  hundred 
miles  of  it  is  high,  dry,  and  rich  prairie.  In  all  this  distance  the  mar- 
gins of  the  streams  are  almost  the  only  places  where  timbered  land 
is  found;  and  the  streams  have  only  narrow  skirts  of  wood.  The  lar- 
gest prairie  is  -"Grand  Prairie."  The  first  stratum  of  soil  in  this  wide 
extent  of  country,  is  a  black,  friable,  and  sandy  loam,  from  two  to  five 
feet  in  thickness.  The  next  is  a  red  clay,  mixed  with  fine  sand,  and  from 
five  to  ten  feet  in  thickness.  The  third  is  a  hard  blue  clay  of  a  beautiful 
appearance,  and  a  greasy  feeling,  mixed  with  pebbles,  and  when  exposed 
to  the  air,  emitting  a  foetid  smell.     In  this  stratum  the  water  of  the  wells 


322  ILLINOIS. 

is  found ;  which  is  disagreeable,  if  not  unhealthy.  The  soil  is  of  the 
first  quality.  In  the  season  of  flowers,  the  eye  and  all  the  senses  receive 
the  highest  gratification.  In  the  time  of  strawberries,  thousands  of 
acres  are  reddened  with  the  finest  quality  of  this  delicious  fruit.  But 
this  country,  which  strikes  the  eye  delightfully,  and  has  millions  of  acres 
that  invite  the  plough,  wants  timber  for  building,  fencing,  and  fuel.  It 
wants  good  water,  and  in  too  many  instances  the  inhabitants  want  health. 
Most  of  these  evils  will  be  remedied  by  the  expedients  of  cultivation. 
Forests  may  soon  be  raised  upon  the  prairies.  Coal  and  peat  may  be 
discovered  for  fuel.  Hedges  and  ditches  may  fence  it;  and  pure  water 
may  be  found  by  carrying  the  wells  below  the  stratum  of  earth  that  is 
supposed  to  impart  the  sulphureous  and  disagreeable  taste  which  it  pos- 
sesses. 

Between  Carlisle  and  St.  Louis,  an  extent  of  fifty  miles,  we  meet  with 
woods,  streams,  hills,  lime-stone  ledges,  and  a  rolling  country ;  although 
we  cross  an  occasional  prairie  quite  to  the  American  bottom.  On  the 
north  of  this  road,  and  between  it  and  the  Illinois,  the  surface  is  generally 
more  irregular.  Considerable  of  the  country  may  be  termed  broken. 
The  hills  abound  with  stone  coal.  A  range  of  hills  commences  at  the 
bluffs,  that  bound  the  American  bottom  near  Kaskaskia,  and  stretches 
north-eastwardly  through  the  state,  towards  lake  Michigan.  A  noble 
lime  stone  bluff  breaks  off  almost  at  right  angles  to  this  chain,  and  stretches 
along  the  margin  of  the  American  bottom,  to  the  point  nearly  opposite 
the  Missouri.  This  bluff  has,  in  many  places,  a  regular  front  of  perpen- 
dicular lime  stone,  not  unfrequently  three  hundred  feet  high.  Another 
line  of  river  bluffs  commences  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and 
reaches  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois.  Opposite  Portage  des  Sioux,  these 
bluffs  shoot  up  into  detached  points  and  pinnacles,  which,  with  the  hoary 
color  of  the  rocks,  have  at  a  distance  the  appearance  of  the  ancient  spires 
and  towers  of  a  town.  This  chain  of  bluff's  marks  the  limits  of  the  allu- 
vion of  the  Illinois.  As  along  the  Mississippi,  the  face  of  this  grand  wall 
of  nature  is  frequently  perpendicular.  When  the  limits  of  the  alluvion 
are  marked  on  one  side  by  this  wall,  on  the  opposite  side  they  are  bound- 
ed by  a  succession  of  singular  hills,  parallel  to  each  other,  called  by  the 
French,  'mamelles.'  What  is  singular,  is  that  a  beautiful  prairie  is  seen 
on  that  side  which  is  bounded  by  the  perpendicular  bluffs,  and  a  thick, 
tangled,  and  heavily  timbered  bottom  on  "the  side  of  the  river,  that  is 
marked  with  these  mamelles.  When  the  prairie  is  found  on  the  right  or 
left  of  the  river,  so  are  all  these  accompaniments;  and  they  regularly 
alternate,  being  found  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other. 

The  '  American  bottom,'  commences  not  far  below  Kaskaskia,  and 
stretches  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mississippi  eighty  miles,  termin- 


ILLINOIS.  323 

ating  a  little  distance  below  the  point  which  is  opposite  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri.  It  is  from  three  to  six  miles  wide,  and  divided  into  two  belts. 
The  first,  bordering  the  Mississippi,  is  a  heavily  timbered  bottom.  The 
next,  reaching  the  foot  of  the  perpendicular  bluffs,  is  prairie  of  the  richest 
quality,  covered,  in  the  season,  with  grass  and  flowers.  Parts  of  this 
tract  have  been  in  cultivation  with  the  exhausting  crop  of  maize  one 
hundred  years,  without  apparently  producing  the  slightest  exhaustion  of 
the  soil.  No  description  will  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  power  of 
vegetation,  and  the  rank  luxuriance  with  which  it  operates  along  this 
plain  of  exhaustless  fertility.  Unhappily,  here,  as  almost  universally, 
nature  has  compensated  the  prodigality  of  her  gifts  on  the  one  hand,  by 
counterbalancing  disadvantages  on  the  other.  Wherever  her  bounties 
are  offered  with  little  labor,  and  in  such  abundance  as  here,  men  will  be 
found.  But  in  the  autumn,  you  will  enter  few  houses  in  the  whole  dis- 
tance, where  some  of  the  members  of  the  family  are  not  sick. 

A  bottom  similar  to  this,  alternately  on  the  right  and  left  bank  of  the 
Illinois,  marks  its  course  almost  from  its  mouth  to  its  source.  It  is  in  the 
same  manner  bounded  by  bluffs.  The  same  line  of  hills  marks  a  belt 
beyond  its  bluffs.  In  short,  this  configuration  of  the  country  designates 
the  outlines  of  all  the  rivers  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Each  of 
the  great  rivers  has  some  distinctive  signs  impressed  upon  its  bluffs  and 
hills. 

The  military  bounty  lands  in  Illinois  are  laid  off  in  the  delta  of  the 
Illinois  and  Mississippi.  Their  shape  is  that  of  a  curvilinear  triangle. 
More  than  five  million  acres  have  been  surveyed,  to  meet  the  appropria- 
tion of  three  millions  and  a  half  acres,  which  were  assigned  by  congress, 
as  a  bounty  for  soldiers.  These  lands  embrace  all  the  varieties  of  soil 
found  in  any  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  There  are  rich  bottoms, 
inundated  swamps,  grassy  prairies,  timbered  alluvions,  perpendicular 
bluffs,  'mamelle'  and  river  hills,  barrens,  and  all  qualities  of  soil  from 
the  best  to  the  worst.  Some  portions  may  be  affirmed  healthy;  but  such 
is  not  their  general  character.  A  great  share  is  of  first  rate  quality,  as 
regards  fertility.  The  lower  portion  next  the  Mississippi,  where  the  two 
rivers,  for  a  long  distance,  are  near  each  other,  seldom  diverging  more 
than  eight  miles,  is  generally  of  extraordinary  fertility ;  but  sometimes 
inundated,  and  too  often  unhealthy.  As  we  ascend  the  Illinois,  and  the 
two  rivers  diverge,  the  character  of  the  country  becomes  more  diversified, 
less  subject  to  inundation,  more  happily  sprinkled  with  hill,  dale,  copse, 
and  prairie.  The  north-eastern  division  of  this  tract  is  in  general  a  fine 
country. 

It  would  lead  to  a  particularity  beyond  our  object,  to  go  into  a  detailed 
description  of  all  the  bodies  of  excellent  land  in  this  state.     For  not  only 


824  ILLINOIS. 

here,  but  over  all  the  western  country,  the  lands  seem  to  be  distributed 
in  bodies,  either  of  rich  or  sterile,  level  or  broken  lands.  On  Rock  river, 
the  Illinois,  the  Kaskaskia,  Embarras,  between  the  Big  and  Little  Wabash, 
on  the  Parassaw,  the  Macoupin,  the  Sangamon,  and  on  all  the  consider- 
able streams  of  this  state,  there  are  very  large  bodies  of  first  rate  lands. 
The  Grand  prairie,  the  Mound  prairie,  the  prairie  upon  which  the  Marine 
settlement  is  fixed,  and  that  occupied  by  the  society  of  Christians  from 
New  England,  are  all  exceedingly  rich  tracts. 

The  Sangamon,  in  particular,  is  an  Arcadian  region,  in  which  nature 
has  delighted  to  bring  together  her  happiest  combinations  of  landscape. 
It  is  generally  a  level  country.  The  prairies  are  not  so  extensive  as  to 
be  incapable  of  settlement  from  want  of  timber.  The  Sangamon  itself  is 
a  fine  boatable  water  of  the  Illinois,  entering  it  on  the  south  side,  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois.  All  the  waters 
that  enter  this  beautiful  river,  have  sandy  and  pebbly  bottoms,  and  pure 
and  transparent  waters.  There  is  a  happy  proportion  of  timbered  and 
prairie  lands.  The  soil  is  of  great  fertility.  The  climate  is  not  very 
different  from  that  of  New  York,  and  the  latitude  about  the  same.  The 
summer  range  for  cattle  is  inexhaustible.  The  growth  of  forest  trees  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  rich  lands  in  the  western  country  in  general.  The 
proportion  of  locust,  black  walnut,  and  peccan  trees,  that  indicate  the 
richest  soils,  is  great.  Iron  and  copper  ore,  salt  springs,  gypsum,  and 
stone  coal  are  abundant.  All  who  have  visited  this  fine  tract  of  country, 
admire  the  beauty  of  the  landscape,  which  nature  has  here  painted  in 
primeval  freshness.  So  beautiful  a  tract  of  country  was  early  selected 
by  immigrants  from  New  England,  New  York,  and  North  Carolina. 
More  than  two  hundred  families  had  fixed  themselves  here,  before  it  was 
surveyed.  It  now  constitutes  a  number  of  populous  counties,  and  is 
thickly  settled  by  thriving  farmers.  The  first  settlement  of  Greene 
county,  one  of  the  most  populous,  was  in  1817;  and  the  first  sale  of  lands 
in  1821.     It  has  now  7,854  inhabitants,  and  1,207  militia. 

A  body  of  lands,  perhaps  equally  extensive  and  fine  with  that  on  the 
Sangamon,  lies  along  the  course  of  the  Kaskaskia,  or  Okau.  This  river 
has  a  long  course  through  the  central  parts  of  the  state,  and  a  country 
happily  diversified  with  hill,  vale,  prairie,  and  forest.  The  streams  that 
fall  into  it,  have  sufficient  fall  to  be  favorable  for  the  site  of  mills.  The 
best  settled  parts  of  the  state  arc  watered  by  this  river.  On  its  banks  is 
Kaskaskia,  formerly  the  seat  of  government,  and  Vandalia,  at  present 
the  metropolis. 

Although  there  are  extensive  bodies  of  sterile  and  broken  lands  in 
Illinois,  yet  take  tho  whole  of  its  wide  surface  together,  it  contains  a 
greater  proportion  of  first  rate  land  than  any  stato  in  the  union,  and 


ILLINOIS.  325 

probably  as  great  in  proportion  to  its  extent,  as  any  country  on  the  globe. 
One  of  the  inconveniences  appended  to  this  extent  of  rich  country,  is  too 
great  a  proportion  of  prairies,  with  which  two-thirds  of  the  surface  are 
covered.  But  the  prevalence  of  coal  and  peat,  and  the  ease  and  ivapidity 
with  which  forest  trees  may  be  raised,  will  render  even  the  extensive 
prairies  habitable. 

Rivers.  It  is  only  necessary  to  look  on  the  map  of  this  state,  to  see 
what  astonishing  advantages  for  inland  navigation  nature  has  given  it. 
On  its  northern  extent,  it  has  for  a  great  distance  the  waters  of  lake 
Michigan,  and  the  boatable  streams  that  empty  into  it ;  and  by  this  vast 
body  of  waters,  a  communication  is  opened  with  the  northern  fronts  of 
Indiana  and  Ohio,  with  New  York  and  Canada.  On  the  north-west 
frontier,  it  has  Rock  river,  a  long,  beautiful  and  boatable  river  of  the 
Mississippi.  On  the  whole  western  front,  it  is  washed  by  the  Mississippi, 
and  on  its  northern,  by  the  Ohio.  On  the  east,  it  is  bounded  by  the 
Wabash.  Through  its  centre,  winds  in  one  direction,  the  Illinois,  con- 
necting the  Mississippi  with  lake  Michigan  by  the  Plein  and  Kankakee, 
a  river,  excepting  a  short  distance  of  shoals,  almost  as  uniformly  boatable 
as  a  canal;  and  in  another  direction,  the  beautiful  Kaskaskia  winds 
through  the  state.  Besides  these,  there  are  great  numbers  of  boatable 
streams,  penetrating  the  state  in  every  direction.  Such  is  the  intersec- 
tion of  this  state  by  these  waters,  that  no  settlement  in  it  is  far  from  a 
point  of  boatable  communication,  either  with  lake  Michigan,  the  Missis- 
sippi, or  the  Ohio.  It  may  be  added,  that  when  the  state  shall  have  been 
inhabited  as  it  w  ill  be,  as  no  country  affords  greater  facilities  for  making 
canals,  from  the  friability  of  the  soil,  its  levelness,  and  the  proximity  of 
the  sources  of  the  boatable  waters  to  each  other,  canals  will  complete  the 
chain  of  communications,  and  transport  will  be  almost  as  entirely  by 
water  in  Illinois,  as  it  now  is  in  Holland  or  China.  At  present,  the  state 
is  supposed  to  have  four  thousand  miles  of  boatable  waters  in  her  limits. 

The  Illinois,  which  gives  name  to  the  state,  may  be  considered  the 
most  important  river,  whose  whole  course  is  in  it.  It  rises  in  the  north- 
eastern parts  of  the  state,  not  more  than  thirty-five  miles  from  the  south- 
western extremity  of  lake  Michigan,  and  interlocking  by  a  morass  with 
the  river  Chicago,  which  empties  into  that  lake.  Its  two  main  head 
branches  are  Plein  and  Kankakee.  Thirty  miles  from  the  junction  of 
these  rivers,  enters  Fox  river,  from  the  north.  Between  this  and  the 
Vermillion,  enter  two  or  three  inconsiderable  rivers.  The  Vermillion  is 
.  a  considerable  stream,  which  enters  the  Illinois  from  the  south,  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  miles  above  the  Mississippi.  Not  far  below  this  river, 
and  two  hundred  and  ten  miles  above  the  Mississippi,  commences  Peoria 
lake,  which  is  no  more  than  an  enlargement  of  the  river,  two  miles  wide 


320  ILLINOIS. 

on  an  average,  and  twenty  miles  in  length.  Such  is  the  depth  and  regu- 
larity of  the  bottom,  that  it  has  no  perceptible  current  whatever.  It  is  a 
beautiful  sheet  of  water,  with  romantic  shores,  generally  bounded  by 
prairies ;  and  no  waters  in  the  world  furnish  finer  sport  for  the  angler. 
M'Kee's  and  Red  Bud  enter  not  far  from  this  point.  Crow  Meadow 
river  almost  interlocks,  at  its  source,  with  the  Vermillion  of  the  Wabash. 
Two  or  three  inconsiderable  streams  enter  the  river  from  the  north,  not 
far  from  the  lower  extremity  of  Peoria  lake.  Still  lower  down,  enters 
from  the  south  Michilimackinack,  a  very  considerable  stream,  boatable 
nearly  an  hundred  miles  from  the  river  into  the  interior.  Below  this, 
enter  Spoon  and  Crooked  rivers.  Still  lower  down,  on  the  same  side, 
enters  the  Sangamon,  by  a  mouth  one  hundred  yards  wide,  and  is  boata- 
ble one  hundred  and  forty  miles.  From  its  position,  and  the  excellence 
of  its  lands,  it  is  one  of  the  most  important  rivers  of  the  state.  Chariton, 
Otter,  Apple,  and  Macoupin  rivers,  are  all  considerable  streams  that 
water  fine  tracts  of  country. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  Illinois,  the  rivers  that  enter  on  that  shore, 
have  their  courses,  for  the  most  part,  in  mountainous  bluffs,  which  often 
approach  near  the  river.  For  a  great  distance  above  its  mouth,  the  river 
is  almost  as  straight  as  a  canal ;  has  in  summer  scarcely  a  perceptible 
current,  and  the  waters,  though  transparent,  have  a  marshy  taste  to  a 
degree  to  be  almost  impotable.  The  river  is  wide  and  deep;  and  for  the 
greater  part  of  its  width,  is  filled  with  aquatic  weeds  to  such  a  degree  that 
no  person  could  swim  among  them.  Only  a  few  yards  width  in  the  centre 
of  the  stream  is  free  from  them.  It  enters  the  Mississippi  through  a  deep 
forest,  by  a  mouth  four  hundred  yards  wide.  Perhaps  no  river  of  the 
western  country  has  so  fine  a  boatable  navigation  for  such  a  great  dis- 
tance", or  waters  a  richer  and  more  luxuriant  tract  of  country.  On  the 
banks  of  this  river,  the  first  French  immigrants  from  Canada  fixed  them- 
selves ;  and  here  was  the  scenery  on  which  they  founded  their  extrava- 
gant paintings  of  the  western  country.  By  a  moderate  amount  of  labor 
and  expense,  this  river  might  be  united  with  the  Chicago  of  lake  Michi- 
gan. Appropriations  have  already  been  made  by  the  state  for  the  canal 
that  is  intended  to  effectuate  this  purpose.  We  have  already  remarked, 
that  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  boats  of  five  tons  burden  already  pass 
through  the  morass,  from  one  extremity  of  which,  the  waters  are  discharg- 
ed into  the  Chicago  oi"  lake  Michigan ;  and  from  the  other,  into  the  Plein 
of  the  Illinois;  thus  furnishing  a  natural  communication  between  two 
rivers,  whose  outlets  arc  so  wide  and  opposite  from  each  other.  Indeed, 
by  the  most  obvious  appearances  along  the  Illinois  and  some  of  its  waters, 
as  the  Plein,  for  example,  it  is  manifest,  that  lake  Michigan  once  dis- 
charged, at  least,  a  part  of  its  surplus  waters  into  the  Mississippi.     This, 


ILLINOIS.  327 

too,  may  explain  the  obvious  appearance  in  that  lake,  of  being  now  many 
feet  lower  than  once  it  was.  This  fact  is  palpably  marked  every  where 
along  the  rocky  shores  of  the  lake. 

-  Rock  river  is  one  of  the  most  clear  and  beautiful  tributaries  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. It  has  its  source  beyond  the  northern  limits  of  the  state,  in  a 
ridge  of  hills  that  separates  between  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and 
lake  Michigan.  On  its  waters  are  extensive  and  rich  lead  mines.  Its 
general  course  is  south-west,  and  it  enters  the  Mississippi  not  far  above 
the  commencement  of  the  military  bounty  lands.  Opposite  the  mouth 
of  this  river,  in  the  Mississippi,  is  the  beautiful  island  called  from  the 
name  of  the  river,  on  which  is  a  military  station  of  the  United  States, 
presenting  one  of  the  most  beautiful  prospects  on  the  whole  range  of  the 
Mississippi. 

Kaskaskia  river  rises  in  the  interior  of  the  state,  nearly  interlocking 
with  the  waters  of  lake  Michigan.  It  has  a  course  in  a  south-west  direc- 
tion of  between  two  and  three  hundred  miles,  greater  part  of  which  is, 
in  high  stages  of  water,  boatable.  It  runs  through  a  fine  and  settled 
country,  and  empties  into  the  Mississippi  a  few  miles  below  the  town  of 
the  same  name.  In  its  long  course,  it  interlocks  with  the  waters  of  San- 
gamon, St.  Mary,  Big  Muddy,  Little  and  Great  Wabash.  It  receives  a 
great  number  of  tributaries,  among  which  the  most  considerable  are 
Crooked,  Horse,  Prairie,  Long,  Silver,  Sugar,  and  Shoal  creeks.  Its 
lower  course  is  known  to  the  French  people  by  the  name  of  Okau. 

Little  Wabash  rises  forty  miles  south-east  of  the  Kaskaskia,  and  runs 
in  a  southerly  direction  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles,  emptying  into  the 
main  Wabash  a  few  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Ohio.  It  is  eighty 
yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  susceptible  of  a  long  navigation,  when  the 
timber  shall  have  been  removed  from  its  bed,  and  some  of  its  sand  bars 
dug  down.  An  appropriation  has  been  made  by  the  legislature  for  this 
purpose.  It  waters  a  rich  country,  abounding  in  small  streams.  Fox 
river  is  no  more  than  a  bayou  of  the  Wabash.  Embarras,  Macontin,  St. 
Germain,  Tortue,  Brouette,  Dachette,  Erablier,  Rejoicing,  and  Tippi- 
canoe,  are  all  considerable  streams  of  this  state,  which  enter  into  the 
Wabash.  Most  of  them  have  their  sources  in  low  prairies  or  marshy 
lakes.  They  abound  in  fish  and  water  fowl.  Tippicanoe  receives  its 
name  from  a  kind  of  pike  called  piccanau,  by  the  savages,  which  abounds 
in  this  river.  It  is  famous  for  the  bloody  battle  fought  on  its  banks,  be- 
tween our  troops  under  General  Harrison,  and  the  savages,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  late  war.  As  the  Wabash  belongs,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  Indiana,  we  shall  reserve  a  further  description  of  it  for  that  state. 
Henderson  is  a  considerable  river,  entering  the  Mississippi  two  hundred 
and  forty  miles  above  St.  Louis. 

42 


328  ILLINOIS. 

Parassaw  enters  the  Mississippi  between  Portage  des  Sioux  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois.  It  has  been  but  recently  inhabited.  It  runs  through 
a  fine  tract  of  land.  A  considerable  body  of  Irish  Catholics  have  fixed 
themselves  on  this  creek.  It  has  a  course  of  nearly  fifty  miles.  Some 
little  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  enters  into  the  Mississippi, 
Wood  creek,  which  has  a  course  of  thirty  or  forty  miles,  and  has  a  num- 
ber of  mills  erected  on  it.  Cahokia  creek  has  a  considerable  length  of 
course  in  the  American  bottom,  and  enters  the  Mississippi  not  far  below 
St.  Louis.  Big  Muddy,  called  by  the  French  A  vase  or  Au  Vau,  enters 
the  Mississippi  thirty-two  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Kaskaskia.  It  is  a 
deep,  slow  stream,  carrying  a  great  body  of  water,  considering  its  width, 
which  is  not  more  than  seventy  yards.  It  is  boatable  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles.  It  flows  through  a  low  and  level  country,  and  some  parts  of 
its  alluvion  are  subject  to  inundation.  Near  its  banks  are  found  immense 
banks  of  stone  coal.  St.  Mary's  is  an  inconsiderable  stream  that  empties 
into  the  Mississippi  a  league  and  a  half  below  the  Kaskaskia. 

The  following  rivers  of  this  state  empty  into  the  Ohio.  The  Saline 
unites  its  waters  with  that  river,  thirty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wa- 
bash. It  is  navigable  to  the  United  States  saline,  back  of  Shawneetown, 
twenty  miles  from  its  mouth.  Grand  Pierre,  Lush  creek,  and  Big  Bay, 
are  inconsiderable  streams,  that  are  useful  as  furnishing  sites  for  mills. 
Cash  is  a  considerable  stream,  boatable  fifty  miles,  and  is  fifty  yards 
Avide  at  its  mouth.     It  enters  the  Ohio  five  miles  above  its  mouth. 

Minerals.  In  the  north-west  angle  of  this  state,  and  in  the  adjacent 
territories,  are  found  the  richest  veins  of  lead  ore,  probably,  in  the  world. 
The  mine  country,  like  that  in  Missouri,  is  found  to  be  more  extensive,  in 
proportion  as  more  researches  are  made.  Specimens  of  native  malleable 
copper  are  shown,  weighing  from  one  to  three  pounds.  They  were  found 
in  a  hilly  region,  at  a  considerable  distance  east  of  the  Mississippi;  and 
the  finder  represented  the  region  where  they  were  found,  as  having  the 
marks  of  volcanic  explosion  about  it.  Gypsum  and  mineral  coal  are 
abundant  in  this  state,  as  are  also  salines,  though  we  know  of  but 
one  place  in  the  state  where  salt  is  extensively  made.  Immense  quan- 
tities of  this  necessary  article  arc  manufactured  at  the  saline  back  of 
Shawncetown. 

Climate.  This  state,  in  general,  has  the  same  climate  with  Missouri, 
being  much  more  nearly  assimilated,  in  this  respect,  to  that  state,  than  to 
Indiana  or  Ohio.  But  being  something  lower  and  more  level  than  the 
Missouri  country,  and  more  subject  to  inundation,  it  is  probably  more 
humid;  and  at  its  north-eastern  extremity,  where  it  feels  the  bleak  and 
desolating  gale  of  the  lakes,  it  is  more  cold,  and  has  a  more  uncomfortable 
air  in  the  winter.     It  embraces  between  five  and  six  degrees  of  latitude. 


ILLINOIS.  329 

The  southern  parts  will  bring  cotton,  in  favorable  years,  for  domestic  use. 
While  the  climate  of  the  northern  parts  is  not  much  unlike  that  of  New 
York  and  Albany.  The  productions  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  adjoin- 
ing state  of  Missouri. 

Agriculture  and  Manufactures.  This  state,  having  a  vast  extent  of 
the  most  fertile  soil,  must  of  course  raise  with  the  greatest  ease,  all  the 
articles  to  which  her  soil  and  climate  are  favorable,  in  an  amount  far 
beyond  her  consumption.  By  her  long  line  of  coast  on  the  Mississippi, 
which  is  never  hindered  from  being  navigable,  by  the  lowness.  of  the 
waters,  she  has  facilities  for  conveying  her  articles  to  market,  which  the 
states  situated  on  the  Ohio  have  not.  From  her  immense  prairies  and 
boundless  summer  range  for  cattle,  she  has  advantages  for  raising  catile 
and  horses,  over  the  other  western  states.  Her  prairies  yield  a  variety 
of  good  fodder.  In  the  eastern  districts,  in  the  vicinity  of  French,  Indian, 
or  American  habitancy,  wherever  the  natural  prairie  grass  is  '  killed  out,' 
as  the  phrase  is,  a  fine  species  of  spear  grass,  called  blue  grass,  naturally 
takes  place  of  it.  The  eastern  parts  of  this  state  more  easily  clothe 
themselves  with  a  fine  and  verdant  turf  than  the  more  sandy  soils  of  Mis- 
souri. These  circumstances  indicate  this  to  be  naturally  a  grazing  state. 
It  already  sends  great  numbers  of  fine  cattle  and  horses  to  New  Orleans. 
Most  of  the  clothing  of  the  people  is  manufactured  in  the  domestic  way. 
The  coarser  kinds  of  manufactures  are  found  at  home.  The  number  of 
artisans,  by  the  census  of  1820,  exceeded  a  thousand. 

Chief  Toirns.  Vandalia  has  been  selected  as  the  political  metropolis 
of  this  state.  It  is  pleasantly  situated,  on  a  high  bank  of  the  Kaskaskia 
river,  in  the  centre  of  a  rich  and  thriving  country.  It  was  founded  but  a 
few  years  since;  but  respectable  houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
government  and  the  courts  have  already  been  erected.  Many  handsome 
brick  buildings  have  arisen.  A  weekly  gazette  is  issued ;  and  it  exhibits 
the  aspect  of  a  respectable  village,  having  from  eighty  to  one  hundred 
houses. 

Edwardsville,  on  Cahokia  creek,  twenty  miles  north-east  from  St. 
Louis,  is  a  county  town,  and  a  village  of  considerable  consequence.  Until 
within  a  few  year?  it  was  the  seat  of  government,  which  had  been  trans- 
ferred from  Kaskaskia  to  that  place. 

Belleville  is  in  the  centre  of  Turkey  Hill  Settlement,  eighteen  miles 
south-east  of  St.  Louis,  and  a  few  miles  cast  of  the  American  bottom.  It 
is  a  flourishing  village  in  the  midst  of  a  compact  settlement,  and  most 
excellent  lands. 

Alton  is  a  new  village,  a  little  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  In 
four  years  from  its  commencement  it  contained  one  hundred  houses,  and 
a  respectable  boarding  school.     Many  of  the  people  were  immigrants 


330  ILLINOIS. 

from  New  York.  From  the  favorableness  of  its  position,  and  from  the 
apparent  healthiness  of  its  situation,  it  Jaids  fair  to  become  a  town  of 
consequence. 

Carrollton,  the  county  town  of  Greene  county,  has  a  street  of  sub- 
stantial brick  houses,  and  six  hundred  inhabitants. 

Carlisle  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Kaskaskia,  on  the  great 
road  from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis.  The  road  from  Shawneetown  to  St. 
Louis  also  passes  through  this  place.  Boats  of  burthen,  in  good  stages 
of  water,  can  ascend  the  river  to  this  place.  There  are  few  positions  in 
the  state  more  central  to  the  resources  of  the  country. 

Cahokia,  on  the  creek  of  that  name,  is  situated  in  the  American  bottom, 
a  few  miles  below  St.  Louis.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  villages  in 
die  country.  Its  inhabitants  are  chiefly  French;  and  it  is  a  village  of 
considerable  extent. 

Prairie  du  Roche?;  twelve  miles  above  Kaskaskia,  is  a  French  village, 
in  the  American  bottom,  situated  near  a  most  beautiful  limestone  bluff. 
It  is  nearly  the  size  of  the  former  village. 

Kaskaskia  is  situated  on  an  extensive  plain,  not  far  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  American  bottom,  eleven  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  on  which  it  stands,  and  six  miles  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. This  town  was  one  of  the  first  establishments  made  by  the 
French  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  is  a  place  whose  origin  dates 
farther  back  than  Philadelphia.  It  once  was  a  place  of  great  importance, 
containing  seven  thousand  inhabitants.  At  present  it  numbers  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  houses  and  one  thousand  inhabitants.  A  more,  beautiful 
situation  for  a  town  can  hardly  be  imagined.  It  is  in  the  centre  of  a 
gently  sloping  basin,  on  a  fine  navigable  stream,  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
country  proverbial  for  its  fertility.  It  is  the  seat  of  justice  for  its  county  j 
has  a  bank,  a  printing  office,  a  Catholic  church,  and  a  land  office. 

Albion  is  situated  near  Bon  Pas  creek,  and  is  the  centre  of  what  is 
called  the  "Marine  Settlement,"  formed  by  Mr.  Birbeck,  Flower,  and 
other  English  immigrants.  There  arc  many  wealthy  farmers  in  this  vi- 
cinity, that  were  once  mariners. 

Galena  was  first  settled  in  1826.  It  was  originated  by  the  extensive 
and  rich  lead  mines  in  its  vicinity,  and  was  an  outpost  of  between  3  and 
400  miles  advance  into  the  wilderness,  north-west  of  St.  Louis.  The 
population  now  amounts  to  near  one  thousand  inhabitants.  There  are 
forty-two  stores  and  warehouses,  with  an  injurious  excess  of  groceries, 
and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  dwelling  houses.  There  is  a  weekly 
journal,  and  the  usual  concomitants  of  a  county  seat.  Fifty  steam  boat 
arrivals  arc  the  annual  average  for  the  two  past  years;  and  about  ten 
million  pounds  of  lead  arc  annually   exported  from  this   place.     The 


ILLINOIS.  331 

population  in  the  vicinity  is  estimated  at  ten  thousand.  It  is  300  miles 
north-west  of  Vandalia,  and  ahout  350  from  St.  Louis. 

Shawneetown  is  situated  on  the  Ohio,  nine  miles  helow  the  mouth  of 
the  Wabash.  The  great  United  States  saline,  situated  twelve  miles 
back  of  this  town,  contributes  to  give  it  consequence.  It  is  the  seat  of 
justice  for  its  county,  has  a  bank  with  a  large,  capital,  and  a  land  office. 
Galconda  and  America  are  inconsiderable  villages  on  the  Ohio.  Amer- 
ica, from  its  position,  it  should  seem,  must  become  one  day  of  conse- 
quence. It  is  a  point  to  which  large  steam  boats  can  ascend  from  below, 
to  wait  for  the  smaller  boats,  that  ascend  the  Ohio  in  low  stages  of  the 
water.  Oxford,  Carmi,  Palmyra,  and  Palestine  are  commencing  villages 
on  different  waters  of  tiie  Wabash. 

Diseases,  Sfc.  The  climate  is  so  nearly  the  same  with  that  of  Missouri, 
which  we  have  already  described  with  some  particularity,  that  we  need 
add  but  little  in  this  place.  It  is  generally  lower,  more  extensively 
watered,  and  something  more  humid  than  its  sister  state,  opposite  the 
Mississippi.  Its  diseases  are  similar,  though  we  think  it  more  subject  to 
intermittent  and  remittent  fevers. 

In  this  state,  as  well  as  that,  in  the  extensive  and  rich  bottoms,  the 
cows  are  subject  to  a  terrible  and  inexplicable,  or  at  least  as  yet  unex- 
plained disease,  called  milk  sickness.  It  occurs  most  frequently  in 
autumn,  and  about  that  period  of  autumn  when  the  first  severe  frosts 
happen.  From  this  circumstance,  and  the  fact  that  the  cattle  are  then 
driven  by  necessity  to  pasture  upon  the  succulent  vines  and  herbage  of 
the  forest,  that  remain  unhurt  by  the  frost,  it  is  generally  supposed  to 
be  occasioned  by  the  eating  of  some  poisonous  vegetable.  The  animal 
affected  with  it  becomes  apparently  weary  and  faint,  and  can  travel  but 
a  little  distance  without  falling.  It  seems  languid  and  stupid,  and  so 
continues  to  droop  until  it  dies.  At  this  time,  and  under  the  influence  of 
this  sickness,  the  milk  of  the  cows  taken  in  any  quantity,  seems  to  pro- 
duce the  same  disease  in  men,  or  whatever  animals  swallow  it.  The 
persons  arc  subject  to  extreme  nausea,  faintness,  vertigo,  recklessness, 
and  death.  There  are,  probably,  many  supposed  cases  of  this  disease, 
that  have  an  entirely  different  origin.  Some  have  questioned  if  it  be  not 
altogether  a  fabulous  disease.  We  have  no  doubt  upon  the  subject.  We 
have  conversed  with  so  many  who  have  had  it  and  have  recovered,  and 
have  heard  of  so  many  deaths,  that  were  well  attested  to  have  arisen 
from  this  cause,  that  we  have  no  more  doubt  of  its  having  affected  men, 
than  animals.  It  has  been  a  subject  of  earnest  local  disputation  among 
farmers  and  physicians  where  it  occurs,  and  has  recently  been  discovered 
to  be  occasioned  by  a  luxuriant  poison  vine,  which  grows  four  feet  in 
height,  and  is  abundant  in  the  richest  bottoms. 


332  Illinois. 

Roaiis,  Public  Improvements,  Seminaries,  fyc.  Beside  the  higher 
schools,  called  academies,  which  have  been  commenced  in  different 
parts  of  the  state,  Rock  Spring  Theological  School  is  a  respectable 
Baptist  endowment  in  the  Turkey  Hills  Settlement,  17  miles  east  of  St. 
Louis,  and  on  the  great  road  from  that  place  to  Vincennes.  It  is  inten- 
ded to  contain  a  high  school,  an  academy  and  theological  department. 
The  expenses  of  a  student  are  not  over  fifty  dollars  a  year.  It  has  fifty 
students. 

Illinois  College,  situated  at  Jacksonville,  was  founded  in  1829,  and 
has  a  fund  of  thirteen  thousand  dollars.  It  has  from  twenty  to  thirty 
students. 

The  soil  in  this  state,  as  we  have  remarked  of  Missouri,  in  general  is 
favorable  to  roads.  The  low  and  clayey  prairies  are  exceptions.  But 
there  are  vast  extents  of  country  where  nature  has  furnished  as  good 
roads  as  could  be  desired.  Some  of  the  ferries  are  difficult  to  cross  in 
rajny  periods,  from  the  muddiness  of  the  approaches  to  them.  There 
are  considerable  portions  of  the  country  where  the  roads  are  very  deep 
and  heavy  in  the  winter.  The  rivers  furnish  most  of  the  communica- 
tions for  transport.  In  no  part  of  the  United  States  would  it  be  easier 
to  make  canals  for  the  rest.  One  between  the  Chicago  and  Des  Plaines, 
as  we  have  seen  has  been  contemplated.  The  general  government  has 
appropriated  one  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  to  aid  the  project.  At 
this  time,  when  canals  are  so  generally  in  contemplation,  other  routes  for 
canals  have  been  surveyed.  The  same  provisions  for  schools  have  been 
made  here,  as  in  the  other  western  states.  In  addition  to  a  thirty-sixth 
of  the  whole  ef  the  public  lands,  three  per  cent,  on  all  the  sales  of  pub- 
lic land  are  added  to  the  school  fund.  It  is  contemplated  to  establish  an 
university.  One-sixth  part  of  the  school  funds,  and  two  entire  town- 
ships have  been  appropriated  for  this  purpose.  There  is,  in  many  pla- 
ces, a  great  need  of  primary  schools,-  though  the  people  display  a  grow- 
ing sense  of  the  vital  importance  of  education  to  the  well  being  of  the 
state.  In  the  more  populous  and  opulent  villages,  schools  are  on  the  same 
footing,  as  in  the  other  places  similarly  situated,  in  the  United  States. 

Constitution  and  Laws.  The  constitution  of  this  state  was  adopted  in 
1818.  The  representatives  and  senators  are  chosen  biennially;  the 
governor  and  lieutenant  governor  f< n-  four  years.  The  judiciary  is  vested 
in  a  supreme  court,  and  such  other  subordinate  courts  as  the  legislature 
may  see  fit  to  establish.  The  supreme  court  consists  of  a  chief  justice 
and  three  associate  justices  who  hold  their  offices  for  a  given  time.  All 
free  white  males  who  have  resided  six  months  within  the  state,  are  qual- 
ified to  vote,  and  they  give  their  votes  at  elections  viva  voce. 


ILLINOIS.  333 

History.  The  early  history  of  this  country  has  necessarily  been  anti- 
cipated in  the  general  history  of  Louisiana.  Here  were  the  first  French 
establishments  which  were  made  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Some 
of  the  French  villages  date  back  considerably  beyond  an  hundred  years. 
This  colony  was  known  for  a  long  period  in  the  French  history  by  the 
name  of  the  Illinois.  They  ofien  furnished  aid  from  this  colony  to  Louis- 
iana in  her  wars  with  the  Spanish  and  Indians.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  Illinois  colony  furnished)  chiefly  from  the  country  about  Kas- 
kaskia,  great  quantities  of  flour  and  provisions  to  the  colony  of  Louisiana. 
During  the  revolutionary  war  these  French  colonies  were  quiet  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  time.  We  have  already  related  the  fate  of  the  expe- 
dition from  Michilimackinack  against  St.  Louis. '  In  the  subsequent 
Indian  wars,  this  region  was  the  theatre  of  many  a  gallant  action  of  our 
partisan  warriors.  We  have  already  mentioned  the  brilliant  exploit  of 
General  Clark,  in  capturing  a  British  General  and  detachment  at  Vin- 
cennes.  This  country  suffered  much  from  the  savages  during  the  late 
war.  Having  an  immense  extent  of  frontier,  contiguous  to  the  lakes 
and  to  savage  tribes  that  were  under  British  influence,  and  steadily  hos- 
tile to  us,  this  was  to  be  naturally  expected.  We  have  already  narrated 
the  bloody  tragedy  that  ensued  upon-  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Chicago. 
Many  frontier  settlements  were  broken  up,  and  many  individual  murders 
were  committed,  by  the  Indians.  It  would  only  be  a  repetition  of  those 
horrible  narratives,  that  belong  to  every  frontier  country  similarly  situa- 
ted, when  assailed  by  the  savages,  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  them. 
The  principal  theatre  of  the  operations  of  the  rangers  was  in  this  state. 
Those  operations  had  a  great  effect  to  repress  the  incursions  of  the  sava- 
ges. A  great  alarm  excited  by  the  savages  near  Rock  river,  has  recent- 
ly been  dispelled  by  marching  a  considerable  body  of  troops  there. 

A  considerable  number  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  still  inhabit  the  banks  of 
Rock  river,  or  its  waters.  The  Kaskaskia,  Cahokias,  Peorias,  Pianka- 
shaws,  Mascontins,  Delawares,  and  Shawnese,  are  chiefly  extinct  tribes, 
or  have  emigrated  from  this  region.  Chippeways  and  Pottawattomies 
are  still  seen  in  the  limits  of  this  state,  as  occasional  hunters  or  vagrants 
among  the  people.  But  by  different  treaties  the  Indians  have  ceded 
the  greater  part  of  their  territorial  claims  to  lands.  The  country  has  ex- 
perienced, until  recently,  almost  entire  freedom  from  their  depredations 
since  the  war ;  and  has  rapidly  advanced  in  population  and  improvement. 
For  a  series  of  years,  in  every  autumn,  long  lines  of  teams  might  be  seen 
moving  towards  Sangamon  or  Mauvaisc  terre,  the  grand  points  of  attrac- 
tion to  immigrants.  Nearly  the  same  order  of  events  occurred  here,  as 
in  Missouri,  in  relation  to  the  pecuniary,  embarrassments  of  the  people, 
after  the  war.     The  same  expedients  of  "relief  laics,"  and  loan  office 


334  ILLINOIS. 

banking  paper  were  adopted,  with  precisely  the  same  results.  The  his* 
tory  of  events  in  Missouri  will  answer  for  that  of  Illinois,  with  very  little 
variation.  Illinois  has  adopted  a  constitution,  which  does  not  admit  in- 
voluntary servitude,  or  the  tenure  by  which  masters  hold  slaves.  Some 
unsuccessful  efforts  were  made  by  the  immigrants  from  the  slave  holding 
states,  to  have  their  constitution  amended,  to  admit  of  slavery.  The 
question  was  casually  agitated  in  the  papers,  and  a  convention  for  the 
purpose  was  proposed.  But  the  moderation  and  good  sense  of  the  people 
allowed  this  irritating  investigation  to  sleep  undisturbed.  This  great 
state,  with  unoccupied  and  fertile  soil,  to  support  millions  of  agricultural 
people  in  affluence,  must  ultimately  become  populous  and  powerful. 

Curiosities.  Rock  Fort  is  a  projection  from  the  left  bank  of  the  river 
Illinois.  Its  base  is  washed  on  .three  sides  by  the  Illinois,  which  here 
flows  rapidly  over  a  rocky  bed.  Broken  masses  of  rock  are  seen  above 
the  surface  of  the  water.  The  judgment  of  the  beholder  would  give  the 
height  of  this  cliff  at  250  feet.  The  actual  measurement  might,  however 
fall  short  of  this.  Its  perpendicular  sides,  arising  from  the  river,  are 
inaccessible.  It  is  connected  with  a  chain  of  hills  that  extend  up  the 
Illinois,  by  a  narrow  ledge,  the  only  ascent  to  which  is  by  a  winding  and 
precipitous  path.  This  rock  has  on  its  top  a  level  surface,  three-fourths 
of  an  acre  in  extent;  and  covered  by  a  soil  several  feet  in  depth,  which 
has  thrown  up  a  growth  of  young  trees.  These  form,  as  they  receive 
their  peculiar  tints  from  the  seasons,  a  verdant,  or  gorgeous,  and  parti- 
colored crown,  for  this  battlement  of  nature's  creation.  The  advantages 
which  it  affords,  as  an  impregnable  retreat,  induced  a  band  of  Illinois 
Indians,  who  sought  a  refuge  from  the  fury  of  the  Pottowattomies,  with 
whom  they  were  at  war,  to  intrench  themselves  here.  They  repulsed  all 
the  assaults  of  their  besiegers,  and  would  have  remained  masters  of  their 
high  tower,  but  for  the  impossibility  of  longer  obtaining  supplies  of  water. 
They  had  been  used  to  attaching  vessels  to  ropes  of  bark,  and  dropping 
them  into  the  river  from  an  overhanging  point.  Their  enemies  sta- 
tioned themselves  in  canoes  at  the  base  of  the  cliff,  and  cut  off  the 
ropes  as  fast  as  they  were  let  down.  The  consequence  of  this  was  a 
surrender  and  the  entire  extirpation  of  the  band.  An  intrenchment  cor- 
responding to  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  is  distinctly  visible,  and  fragments 
of  antique  pottery,  and  other  curious  remains  of  the  vanished  race,  are 
strewn  around.  From  this  elevated  point,  the  Illinois  may  be  traced  as 
it  winds  through  deep  and  solitary  forests,  or  outspread  plains,  onward  to 
the  Mississippi,  until  it  disappears  from  the  vision  in  the  distance.  In  the 
opposite  direction,  a  prairie  stretches  out  and  blends  with  the  horizon. 
At  the  foot  of  Rock  Fort,  on  the  land  side,  the  eye  reposes  on  a  verdant 
carpet,  enamelled  with  flowers  of  surpassing  beauty.     To  relieve  the 


Illinois.  335 

uniformity  from  which  even  this  beautiful  view  would  6ufFer,  the  forest 
boundary  of  the  opposite  side  of  the  prairie  presents  a  gracefully  curved 
line,  and  offers,  from  the  noble  size  of  the  trees,  and  the  thickness  and 
depth  of  verdure  of  their  foliage,  that  'boundless  contiguity  of  shade,1 
sought  after  by  the  poet. 

'The  Cave  in  Rock,'  or  'House  of  Nature,'  below  Shawneetown,  is 
pointed  out  to  passengers  on  the  Ohio,  as  a  great  curiosity ;  and  its  front 
is  marked  with  the  names  of  its  visitors.  Above  and  below  it  are  high 
perpendicular  lime  stone  bluffs,  surmounted  with  cedars,  above  which  are 
sailing  in  the  blue,  eagles,  birds  of  prey,  or  aquatic  fowls..  The  entrance 
to  the  cave  is  just  above  high  water  mark.  It  has  an  arched  roof  of  25 
or  30  feet  high,  and  extends  back  120  feet.  It  has  occasionally  afforded  a 
temporary  winter  asylum  to  families,  descending  the  river.  The  immense 
prairies,  and  the  numberless  sink  holes  of  this  state  are  curiosities,  no 
way  different  from  the  same  spectacles  in  Missouri. 


43 


TENNESSEE. 


Medial  length,  400  miles ;  medial  breadth,  120.  Between  35°  and 
36°  36'  N.  latitude,  and  4°  30'  and  10°  W.  longitude.  Bounded  east 
by  North  Carolina ;  south  by  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi ;  west 
by  the  river  Mississippi.  It  was  originally  included  in  the  state  of  North 
Carolina,  from  which  it  was  separated,  and  admitted  into  the  Union,  in 
1796. 

CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 


Counties. 

County  Towns. 

Distances  from  Nashville. 

Anderson, 

Clinton, 

195   miles. 

Bedford, 

Shelbyville, 

52 

Bledsoe, 

Pikeville, 

109 

Blount, 

Marysville, 

197 

Campbell, 

Jacksboro', 

143 

Carroll, 

Huntingdon, 

109 

Carter, 

Elizabethton, 

116 

Claiborne, 

Tazewell, 

243 

Cook, 

Newport, 

247 

Davidson, 

Nashville, 

Dickson, 

Charlotteville, 

40 

Dyer, 

Dycrsburgh, 

168 

Fayette, 

Somcrville, 

184 

Fentress, 

Jamestown, 

131 

Franklin, 

Winchester, 

82 

Gibson, 

Trenton, 

139 

Giles, 

Pulaski, 

77 

Grainger, 

Rutledgc, 

232 

Greene, 

Greenville, 

273 

Hardiman, 

Bolivar, 

158 

TENNESSEE. 

Hamilton, 

Hamilton,  C.  H. 

148 

Hardin, 

Savannah, 

112 

Hawkins, 

Rogersville, 

264 

Haywood, 

Brownsville, 

175 

Henderson, 

Lexington, 

130 

Henry, 

Paris, 

108 

Hickman, 

Vernon, 

66 

Humphreys, 

Reynoldsburgh, 

78 

Jackson, 

Gainesboro' 

79 

Jefferson, 

Dundridge, 

229 

Knox, 

Knoxville, 

199 

Lawrence, 

Lawrenceburgh, 

75 

Lincoln, 

Fayetteville, 

73 

McMinn, 

Athens, 

153 

McNairy, 

Purdy, 

128 

Madison, 

Jackson, 

147 

Marion, 

Jasper, 

114 

Maury, 

Columbia, 

42 

Monroe, 

Madisonville, 

168 

Montgomery, 

Clarksville, 

46 

Morgan, 

Morgan  C.  H. 

161 

Overton, 

Monroe, 

109 

Obion, 

Troy, 

161 

Perry, 

Shannonville, 

114 

Rhea, 

Washington, 

129 

Roane, 

Kingston, 

159 

Robertson, 

Springfield, 

25 

Rutherford, 

Murfreesboro', 

33 

Sevier, 

Sevier  C.  H. 

225 

Shelby, 

Memphis, 

224 

Smith, 

Carthage, 

52 

Stewart, 

Dover, 

81 

Sullivan, 

Blountsville, 

306 

Sumner, 

Gallatin, 

25 

Tipton, 

Covington, 

197 

Warren, 

McMinnville, 

74 

Washington, 

Jonesboro', 

298 

Wayne, 

Waynesboro', 

92 

Weakly, 

Dresden, 

132 

White, 

Sparta, 

92 

Williamson, 

Franklin, 

18 

Wilson, 

Lebanon, 

31 

337 


338  TENNESSEE. 

Nashville  is  714  miles  from  Washington;  594  from  New  Orleans; 
297  from  Cincinnati ;  288  from  Indianapolis ;  and  993  from  New  York. 

The  census  of  1830  gives  the  population  of  this  state  as  follows: 
Whites,  537,930.     Slaves,  142,379.     Total,  684,822. 

Face  of  the  Country.     In  this  respect  this  state  is  more  diversified 
than  any  other  in  the  western   country.     The   Cumberland  mountains 
range  through  it  in  an  oblique  direction,  dividing  it  into  two  distinct  sec- 
tions, called  East  and  West  Tennessee.     In  East  Tennessee  the  Alle- 
ghanies  branch  out  into  a  great  number  of  ridges.     Among  these  the 
most  lofty  are  Cumberland,  and  Laurel  ridge.     Stone,  Yellow,  Iron,  Bald, 
and  Unaka,  are   different  peaks  of  a  continued  chain.     Welling's  and 
Copper  ridge,  and  Clinch,  Powell's,  and  Bay's  mountains  are  at  the 
north-east  of  the  state.     It  is  singular  that  all  these  mountains  have  a 
dip  towards  the  west,  apparently  surpassing  that  of  their  eastern  declivity. 
Mountains  and  hills  occupy  a  very  great  proportion  of  the  state.    There 
can  be  nothing  grand  and   imposing  in  scenery ;  nothing  striking  and 
picturesque  in  cascades  and  precipitous  declivities  of  mountains,  covered 
with  wood ;  nothing  romantic  and  delightful  in  deep  and  sheltered  valleys, 
through  which  wind  clear  streams,  which  is  not  found  in  this  state.    Even 
the  summits  of  some  of  the  mountains  exhibit  plateaus  of  considerable 
extent,  which  admit  of  good  roads,  and  are  cultivated  and  inhabited. 
The  mountains  and  hills  subside  as  they  approach  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi.    On  the  valleys  of  the  small  creeks  and  streams  are  many  pleasant 
plantations,  in  situations  beautiful,  and  yet  so  lonely  that  they  seem  lost 
among  the  mountains.     These  valleys  are  rich,  beyond  any  of  the  same 
description  elsewhere   in  the  western  country.     The   alluvions  of  the 
great  streams  of  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  differ  little  from  those  of 
the  other  great  streams  of  the  west.     As  great  a  proportion  of  the  culti- 
vable land  in  Tennessee  is  first  rate,  as  in  any  other  of  the  western  states. 
The  soil  in  East  Tennessee  has  uncommon  proportions  of  dissolved  lime, 
and  nitrate  of  lime  mixed  with  it,  which  give  it  a  great  share  of  fertility. 
The  descending  strata  in  West  Tennessee  appear  to  be  arranged  in  the 
following  order:  first,  loamy  soil,  or  mixture  of  clay  and  sand;  next, 
yellow  clay ;  thirdly,  a  mixture  of  red  sand  and  red  clay ;  and  lastly,  a 
sand,  as  white  as  is  seen  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic.     In  the  southern 
parts  of  the  state  arc  immense  banks  of  oyster  shells,  of  a  size,  that  in 
some  instances,  the  half  of  a  single  shell  weighs  two  pounds.     They  are 
found  on  high   tabic  grounds,  far   from  the  Mississippi,  or  any  water 
course,  and  at  a  still  greater  distance  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Earths,  Fossils;  and  Salts.  Beautiful  white,  grey,  and  red  marbles 
are  found  in  this  state.  Inexhaustible  quarries  of  gypsum,  of  the  finest 
quality,  abound  in  East  Tennessee,  in  positions  favorablo  to  be  transported 


TENNESSEE.  339 

by  the  boatable  waters  of  the  Holston.  Burr  mill  stones  are  quarried 
from  some  of  the  Cumberland  mountains.  Beautiful  specimens  of  rock 
crystals  are  sometimes  discovered.  One  or  two  mines  of  lead  have 
been  worked ;  and  iron  ore  is  no  where  more  abundant.  Salt  springs 
abound  in  the  country;  though  few  of  them  are  of  a  strength  to  justify 
their  being  worked.  Nitrous  earth  is  very  abundant ;  and  any  quantity, 
required  in  the  arts,  might  be  made  from  the  earth  of  the  saltpetre  caves, 
which  abound  in  this  state. 

These  caves  are  among  the  most  astonishing  curiosities.  One  of  them 
was  descended  four  hundred  feet  below  the  surface ;  and  on  the  smooth 
lime  stone  at  the  bottom  was  found  a  stream  of  pure  water,  sufficient  to 
turn  a  mill.  A  cave,  on  an  elvated  peak  of  Cumberland  mountain,  has 
a  perpendicular  descent,  the  bottom  of  which  has  not  yet  been  sounded. 
Caves,  in  comparison  with  which  the  one  so  celebrated  at  Antiparos  is 
but  a  slight  excavation,  are  common  in  this  region  of  subterranean  won- 
ders. The  circumstance  of  their  frequency  prevents  their  being  explored. 
Were  they  fewer  in  number,  we  might  amuse  our  readers  with  accurate 
descriptions  of  the  noblest  caves  in  the  world.  As  it  is,  little  more  of 
them  is  known,  than  that  they  abound  with  nitrous  earth ;  that  they  spring 
up  with  vaulted  roofs,  or  run  along,  for  miles,  in  regular  oblong  excava- 
tions. A  cave,  which  may  be  descended  some  hundred  feet,  and  traced 
a  mile  in  length,  is  scarcely  pointed  out  to  the  traveller,  as  an  object  worthy 
of  particular  notice.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  subterranean  won- 
ders has  been  traced  ten  miles. 

Climate  and  Productions.  The  climate  of  this  medial  region,  between 
the  northern  and  southern  extremities  of  the  country,  is  delightful. 
Tennessee  has  a  much  milder  temperature  than  Kentucky.  In  West 
Tennessee  great  quantities  of  cotton  are  raised  ,•  and  the  growirg  of  that 
article  is  the  staple  of  agriculture.  Snows,  however,  of  some  depth,  are 
frequent  in  the  winter.  But  the  summers,  especially  in  the  more  eleva- 
ted regions,  are  mild;  and  have  not  the  sustained  ardors  of  the  same 
season  in  Florida  and  Louisiana.  Apples,  pears,  and  plums,  vhich  are 
properly  northern  fruits,  arc  raised  in  great  perfection.  The  season  of 
planting  for  maize,  in  the  central  parts  of  the  state,  is  early  inApril.  In 
elevated  and  favorable  positions,  no  part  of  the  United  States  is  healthier. 
In  the  low  valleys  where  stagnant  waters  abound,  and  on  the  alluvions 
of  the  great  rivers,  it  is  sickly. 

Almost  all  the  forest  trees  of  the  western  country  are  found  within  the 
limits  of  this  state.  The  laurel  tribes  are*  riot  common.  Juniper,  red 
cedar,  and  savine,  are  seen  on  the  numberless  summits  and  declivities 
of  the  mountains.  Cotton,  indigo,  corn,  whiskey,  horses,  cattle,  flour,  gun- 
powder, saltpetre,  poultry,  bacon,  lard,  butter,  apples,  pork,  coarse  linen, 


340  TENNESSEE. 

tobacco,  and  various  other  articles,  constitute  the  loading  of  boats,  that 
come  down  the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennessee ;  and  these  articles  are 
produced  in  great  abundance.  Cotton,  of  a  certain  quality,  is  known  by 
the  name  of  Tennessee  cotton,  in  all  places  where  American  commerce 
has  reached.  In  sheltered  situations,  figs  might  be  raised  in  perfection. 
The  present  outlets  of  the  commerce  of  the  state  are  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee  rivers.  The  southern  divisions  of  this  state  are  so  much 
nearer  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  by  the  Alabama,  that  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  enlightened  and  enterprising  people  will,  before  long,  make 
canals,  which  shall  connect  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee  with  those  of  the 
Alabama  and  Mobile  ;  and  thus  shorten  the  very  circuitous  present 
communications  of  this  state  with  the  gulf  of  Mexico  to  one-third  of  their 
present  distance. 

Rivers.  We  have  already  described  the  Tennessee,  and  its  principal 
branches,  under  the  head  of  Alabama.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  repeat, 
that  it  rises  in  the  Alleghany  mountains,  traverses  East  Tennessee,  and 
almost  the  whole  northern  limit  of  Alabama,  enters  Tennessee,  and 
•crosses  nearly  the  whole  width  of  it  into  Kentucky,  and  thence  empties 
into  the  Ohio.  Its  whole  course,  from  its  fountains  to  that  river,  is  longer 
than  that  of  the  Ohio  from  Pittsburgh  to  its  mouth,  being  by  its  meanders, 
nearly  one  thousand  two  hundred  miles.  It  is  by  far  the  largest  tributary 
of  the  Ohio  ;  and  it  is  a  question,  if  it  do  not  furnish  as  much  water  as  the 
main  rher.  It  is  susceptible  of  boat  navigation  for  at  least  a  thousand 
miles.  It  enters  the  Ohio  thirteen  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Cumber- 
land, and  fifty-seven  above  that  of  the  Ohio.  Its  head  branches  in  East 
Tennessee  are  Ilolston,  Nolachucky,  French  Broad,  Tellico,  Richland, 
Clinch,  35ig  Emery,  and  Hiwassee  rivers.  In  its  whole  progress,  it  is 
•continually  receiving  rivers  that  have  longer  or  shorter  courses  among 
the  moun;ains.  The  principal  of  these  are  Powell's,  Sequalchee,  Elk, 
.and  Duck  rivers. 

The  Cumberland  rises  in  the  Cumberland  mountains,  in  the  south-east 
part  of  Kentucky,  through  which  it  has  a  course  of  nearly  two  hundred 
miles.  It  has  a  curcuit  in  Tennessee  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles;  and 
joins  the  Ohio  in  the  state  of  Kentucky.  Its  principal  branches  in  this 
state,  are  Cbed's  river,  Carey's  Fork,  Stone's,  Harpeth,  and  Red  rivers. 
Most  of  the  tributaries  of  this  and  Tennessee  rivers  rise  in  the  mountains, 
and  are  too  shallow  for  boat  navigation,  except  in  the  time  of  floods. 
Occasional  floods  occur  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  in  which  flat  boats  can 
be  floated  down  to  the  main,  .river,  to  await  the  stage  of  water,  when  that, 
also,  shall  be  navigable  io. New  Orleans.  Obion,  Forked  Deer,  Big 
Hatchcc,  and  Wolf  rivers,  enter  the  Mississippi  on  the  western  boundary 
of  tho  state.  These  rivers  form  important  boatablo  communications  from 
the  interior  of  that  large  and  fine  district  of  country  *  'the  Jackson  purchase,' 


TJJUiNKSSEE.  341 

with  the  Mississippi.  It  would  form  but  a  barren  catalogue  of  barbarous 
words,  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  rivers,  large  and  small,  that  water  this 
state.  No  part  of  tire  western  country  is  better  watered.  It  is  a  country 
of  hills  and  mountains,  and  mountain  streams,  and  beautiful  valleys. 

The  Jackson  purchase,  in  the  west  part  of  Tennessee,  has  not  been 
settled  more  than  thirteen  years  ;  but  its  fertility  and  prosperity  are 
indicated  by  the  fact,  that  there  are  already  fiteen  or  sixteen  counties  in  it. 

Agriculture,  Produce,  and  Manufactures.  Cotton  is  the  staple  article 
of  growth.  But  the  soil  and  climate  rear  all  the  products  of  Kentucky  in 
abundance;  and  as  neither  in  the  staple  of  the  cotton,  or  its  amount,  can 
they  compete  with  the  more  southern  states,  and  taking  into  view  the 
great  depression  of  the  price  of  that  article,  it  is  hoped  that  the  hardy 
and  intelligent  farmers  of  this  great  state  will  turn  their  attention  to  some 
other  articles  of  cultivation,  particularly  the  silk  mulberry,  the  vine,  and 
the  raising  of  bees,  for  which  the  soil  and  climate  seem  to  be  admirably 
fitted.  Wheat,  rye,  barley,  spelts,  oats,  Indian  corn,  all  the  fruits  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  exception  of  oranges,  grow  luxuriantly  here.  In 
East  Tennessee,  considerable  attention  is  paid  to  raising  cattle  and  horses, 
which  are  driven  over  the  mountains  to  the  Atlantic  country  for  sale.  In 
1820,  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  agriculture  was  109,919;  and 
in  manufactures  7,860.  The  amount  of  articles  manufactured  was 
estimated  at  between  four  and  five  millions  of  dollars.  The  principal 
articles  were  iron,  hemp,  cotton^and  cordage.  The  exports  have  hitherto 
been  through  New  Orleans.  Some  of  the  articles  are  sent  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  recently  some  have  been  wagoned  across  the 
ridges  to  the  waters  of  the  Alabama,  and  have  found  their  way  to  the 
gulf  by  Mobile.  Over  a  thousand  persons  are  employed  in  conducting  the 
commerce  of  the  state. 

Chief  Towns.  Murfreesborough  was  until  recently  the  political 
metropolis  of  the  state.  It  is  situated  on  Stone's  river,  thirty-two  miles 
south-east  from  Nashville ;  and  contains  about  fourteen  hundred  inhab- 
itants. It  is  central  to  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  state,  and  is  surroun- 
ded by  a  delightful  and  thriving  country. 

Nashville  is  the  present  capital  of  the  state,  and  the  largest  town  in  it. 
It  is  very  pleasantly  situated  on  the  south  shore  of  the  Cumberland, 
adjacent  to  fine  bluffs.  Steam  boats  can  ordinarily  ascend  to  this  place, 
as  long  as  they  can  descend  from  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  to  that 
of  the  Ohio.  It  is  a  place  that  will  be  often  visited,  as  a  resort  for  the 
people  of  the  lower  country,  during  the  sultry  months.  Scarcely  any 
town  in  the  western  country  has  advanced  with  more  rapid  strides. 

The  legislature  has  recinded  a  law  forbidding  the  introduction  of  any 
branch  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States  into  this  state.     A  branch  of  that 


342  TENNE66EE. 

bank  has  been  fixed  here,  and  has  greatly  favored  the  growth  of  the  town. 
A  splendid  hotel,  which  had  been  burnt,  has  been  rebuilt  in  more  than 
its  former  beauty.  The  town  is  adorned  with  one  of  the  largest  and 
handsomest  market  houses  in  the  western  country.  It  is  the  seat  of  the 
University  of  Nashville,  which,  in  regard  to  its  professorships,  library, 
chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus,  the  estimation  of  its  president,  and 
the  actual  fruits  of  its  utility,  has  taken  a  high  place  among  western  insti- 
tutions of  the  kind.  It  has  a  number  of  churches,  a  lyceum,  and  many 
handsome  private  dwellings.  It  issues  four  or  five  gazettes,  which  rank 
among  the  most  respectable  in  the  west.  The  citizens  in  general,  evince 
an  encouraging  interest  in  the  advancement  of  science,  literature,  and 
taste.  Few  towns  impart  more  pleasant  impressions  of  general  hospitality 
and  urbanity  to  strangers.  It  contains  5,111  inhabitants.  It  is  seven 
hundred  and  fourteen  miles  south-west  from  Washington;  594  north-east 
from  New  Orleans;  294  south-west  from  Cincinnati;  288  south  from 
Indianapolis,  and  937  south-west  from  New  York. 

Knoxville,  the  chief  town  of  East  Tennessee,  is  situated  on  Holston 
river,  four  miles  below  its  junction  with  French  Broad.  It  contains  about 
three  thousand  inhabitants ;  has  growing  manufactures,  a  respectable 
seminary  of  learning,  and  is  a  pleasant  and  thriving  place,  Knoxville 
College,  in  this  town,  is  one  of  the  oldest  seminaries  in  the  state.  Beside 
this  and  Nashville  University,  there  is  Greenville  College,  incorporated  in 
1794,  with  from  30  to  40  students,  and  the  theological  institution  at 
Marysville  in  East  Tennessee.  It  has  a  library  of  5,500  volumes;  is 
under  Presbyterian  supervision,  containing  in  the  theological  and 
academical  departments,  fifty-five  students. 

The  following  are  considerable  villages,  containing  from  five  hundred 
to  one  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants.  Blountsville,  Rogersville,  and 
Rutlcdge  on  Holston  river.  Tazewell,  Grantsborough,  and  Kingston,  on 
Clinch  river.  Jonesborough,  Greenville,  Newport,  Dandridge,  Sevierville, 
on  French  Broad  and  its  waters.  Marysville,  Washington,  Pikeville, 
Madison,  Winchester,  Fayetteville,  Pulaski,  Shelbyville,  Columbia, 
Vemon,andReynoldsburg,  on  the  Tennessee  and  its  waters.  Montgom- 
ery,Monroe, Sparta, Carthage,  Gallatin, Lebanon, M'Minnville,  Jefferson, 
Franklin,  Haysborough,  Charlotte,  Springfield,  Clarksville,  on  the 
Cumberland  and  its  waters.  One  of  the  most  terrible  storms  recorded 
in  the  annals  of  our  country,  occurred  in  May  1830,  in  a  district  of  which 
Carthage  and  Shelbyville,  were  the  centre.  It  was  a  mingled  tempest 
of  wind,  thunder,  lightning,  and  rain.  Trees,  houses,  and  every  thing  on 
the  surface  were  prostrated.  Five  persons  were  killed,  and  many 
wounded;  and  property  destroyed  to  the  value  of  eighty  thousand  dollars. 
Memphis  occupies  the  former  site  of  Fort  Pickering.     It  stands  on  one  ot 


TENNESSEE.  343 

the  noblest  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi,  proudly  elevated  above  that  river, 
and  its  fine  opposite  bottoms.  A  beautiful  rolling  country  surrounds  it  in 
the  rear.  A  remnant  of  the  tribe  of  the  Chickasaws  reside  near  it.  The 
original  inhabitants  of  this  village  were  chiefly  of  mixed  blood.  Since  it 
has  taken  such  an  imposing  name  it  has  made  considerable  progress ;  and 
from  its  intermediate  position  between  the  upper  and  lower  country,  and 
from  its  being  the  point  of  general  traverse  from  Tennessee  to  the  vast 
regions  on  the  Arkansas,  Washita,  and  Red  river,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  will  ultimately  become  a  considerable  place.  It  is  one  of  the  pla- 
ces on  the  Mississippi,  which  passing  steam  boats  generally  honor  with 
the  discharge  of  their  cannon,  as  they  ascend  the  river  by  it.  At  no  great 
distance  back  of  this  town,  is  Nashoba,  the  seat  of  the  grand  experiment  of 
Miss  Frances  Wright,  in  her  attempts  to  educate  and  emancipate  slaves. 

Natural  Curiosities.  This  would  easily  swell  to  a  copious  article. 
We  have  already  touched  on  the  singular  configuration  of  the  lime  stone 
substrata  of  this  country,  from  which  it  results,  that  there  are  numberless 
extensive  cavities  in  the  earth.  Some  have  supposed  that  these  hollows 
are  extended  under  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  the  state.  Springs, 
and  even  considerable  streams  of  water  flow  in  them,  and  have  subterran- 
eous courses.  Caves  have  been  explored  at  great  depths  for  an'extent  of 
ten  miles.  They  abound  in  singular  chambers,  prodigious  vaulted  apart- 
ments, and  many  of  them,  when  faintly  illumined  with  the  torches  of  the 
visitants,  have  a  gloomy  grandeur,  which  no  description  could  reach. 
The  bones  of  animals,  and  in  some  instances,  human  skeletons  have  been 
found  in  them.  The  earth  of  these  caves  is  impregnated  strongly  with 
nitrate  of  lime,  from  which  any  quantity  of  gun  powder  might  be  made. 

On  some  spurs  of  the  Cumberland  mountains,  called  the  Enchanted 
mountains,  are  marked  in  the  solid  limestone,  footsteps  of  men,  horses, 
and  other  animals,  as  fresh  as  though  recently  made,  and  as  distinct  as 
though  impressed  upon  clay  mortar.  The  tracts  often  indicate  that  the 
feet  which  made  them  had  slidden,  as  would  be  the  case  in  descending 
declivities  in  soft  clay.  They  are  precisely  of  the  same  class  with  the 
impress  of  two  human  feet  found  in  a  block  of  solid  limestone,  quarried  at 
St.  Louis  on  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi.  The  manner  in  which  they 
were  produced  is  entirely  inexplicable. 

Tennessee  is  abundant  in  petrifactions  and  organic  remains.  Near  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  state  are  three  trees  entirely  petrified.  One  is 
a  cypress,  four  feet  in  diameter.  The  other  is  a  sycamore,  and  the  third 
is  a  hickory.  They  were  brought  to  light  by  the  falling  in  of  the  south 
bank  of  the  Tennessee.  A  nest  of  eggs  of  the  wild  turkey  were  dug  up 
in  a  state  of  petrifaction.  Prodigious  claws,  teeth,  and  other  bones  of 
animals  .are  found  near  the  salines.     A  tooth  was  recently  in  the  posses- 

44 


344  TENNESSEE. 

sion  of  Jeremiah  Brown,  Esqr.  which  Judge  Haywood  affirms,  measured  a 
number  of  feet  in  length,  and  at  the  insertion  of  the  jaw  was  eight  inches 
broad.  At  a  sulpher  spring  twelve  miles  from  Reynoldsburgh,  was  found 
a  tusk  of  such  enormous  dimensions,  as  that  it  was  supposed  to  weigh 
from  one  to  two  hundred  pounds.  It  is  shining,  yellow,  and  perfectly  retains 
the  original  conformation.  Near  it  were  found  other  bones,  supposed  to 
belong  to  the  same  huge  animal.  It  is  calculated,  from  the  appearance 
and  size  of  the  bones,  that  the  animal,  when  living,  must  have  been  twen- 
ty feet  high.  Logs  and  coal,  both  pit  and  charcoal,  are  often  dug  up  in 
this  state,  at  depths  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet  below  the  surface.  Jugs, 
vases,  and  idols  of  moulded  clay,  have  been  found  in  so  many  places,  as 
hardly  to  be  deemed  curiosities.  Walls  of  faced  stone,  and  even  Availed 
wells  have  been  found  in  so  many  places,  and  under  such  circumstances, 
and  at  such  depths,  as  to  preclude  the  idea  of  their  having  been  made  by 
the  whites  of  the  present  day,  or  the  past  generation.  In  this  state,  as 
well  as  in  Missouri,  burying  grounds  have  been  found,  where  the  skeletons 
seem  all  to  have  been  pigmies.  The  graves  in  which  the  bodies  were 
deposited,  are  seldom  more  than  two  feet,  or  two  feet  and  a  half  in  length. 
To  obviate  the  objection,  that  these  are  all  bodies  of  children,  it  is  affir- 
med that  these  skulls  are  found  to  possess  the  denies  sapientice,  and  must 
have  belonged  to  persons  of  mature  age. 

There  are  many  beautiful  cascades  in  Tennessee.  One  of  the  most 
striking  is  that  known  by  the  name  of  the  [falling  iratcr."1  The  cascade 
is  eight  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Cancy  Fork,  and  nearly  fifty 
from  Carthage.  For  some  distance  above,  the  river  is  a  continual  cataract, 
having  fallen,  in  a  little  distance,  150  feet.  The  'fall,' or  perpendicular 
leap,  is  two  hundred  feet,  or  as  some  measure  it,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
The  width  of  the  sheet  is  eighty  feet,  and  the  noise  is  deafening.  Taylor's 
creek  fall  is  somewhat  greater  than  this.  It  is  differently  estimated  from 
two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty.  The  descent  to  the  foot  of  the  rock 
is  difficult  and  dangerous;  but  the  grandeur  of  the  spectacle  richly  com- 
pensates the  hazard.  The  spectator  finds  himself  almost  shut  out  from 
the  view  of  the  sky,  by  on  overhanging  cliff",  between  three  and  four  hun- 
dred feet  high.  The  stream  before  him,  falling  from  the  last  rock  in  sheets 
of  foam,  almost  deafens  him  with  the  noise.  A  considerable  breeze  is 
created  by  the  fall,  and  the  mist  is  driven  from  the  falling  spray  like  rain. 
Twenty  yards  below  this,  on  the  south  side,  is  the  most  beautiful  cascade 
of  which  the  imagination  can  conceive.  A  creek  six  or  eight  feet  wide, 
falls  from  the  summit  of  an  overhanging  rock,  a  distance  of  at  least 
300  feet.  The  water,  in  its  descent,  is  divided  into  a  thousand  little 
streams,  which  arc  often  driven  by  the  wind,  in  showers  of  rain,  for 
a  number  of  yards  distance. 


TENNESSEE.  345 

Much  discussion  has  ensued,  and  much  useless  learning  been  thrown 
awav,  touching  some  silver  and  copper  coins,  found  some  years  since,  at  a 
little  distance  below  the  surface,  near  Fayetteville,  in  this  state.  One  of 
the  silver  coins  purports  to  be  of  Antonius  and  the  other  of  Commodus. 
The  earth  under  which  the  copper  coins  were  found,  was  covered  with 
trees,  which  conld  not  be  less  than  four  hundred  years  old.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  such  coins  were  found;  and  there  seems  some  difficulty  in 
supposing  them  to  have  been  deposited,  merely  to  play  upon  the  credulity 
of  some  virtuoso.  But,  as  such  deceptions  have  been  known  to  be 
practised,  in  some  instances,  we  offer  it  as  a  possible  solution. 

The  paintings  that  arc  found  on  some  high,  and  apparently  inaccessible 
rocks,  in  this  state,  have  been  mentioned  as  curiosities,  ever  since  it  has 
been  visited  by  white  men.  The  figures  are  of  the  sun,  moon,  animals, 
and  serpents;  and  are  out  of  question  the  work  of  former  races  of  men. 
The  colors  are  presented  as  fresh  as  though  recently  done,  and  the  delin- 
eations in  some  instances  are  vivid  and  ingenious. 

A  curious  appearance,  so  common  to  the  people  of  the  country,  as  no 
longer  to  strike  them  with  wonder,  is  the  immensely  deep  channels,  in 
which  many  of  the  streams  of  this  country  run.  Descending  many  of 
them,  that  are  large  enough  to  be  boatable,  the  astonished  voyager  looks 
up,  and  sees  himself  borne  along  a  river  running  at  the  base  of  perpen- 
dicular lime  stone  walls,  sometimes  three  or  four  hundred  feet  high.  The 
view  is  still  more  grand  and  surprising,  when  the  spectator  looks  down 
from  above,  and  sees  the  dark  waters  rolling  at  such  prodigious  depths 
below  him,  in  a  regular  excavation,  that  seems  to  have  been  hewn  from 
the  solid  lime  stone,  on  purpose  to  receive  the  river. 

Constitution.  This  has  no  essential  difference  of  feature  from  that  of 
the  other  western  states.  In  the  legislature  the  number  of  representatives 
bears  a  given  proportion  to  the  number  of  taxable  inhabitants,  and  the 
number  of  senators  must  never  be  more  than  one-half,  or  less  than  one-third 
of  the  number  of  i-cprescntativcs.  To  be  eligible,  as  members  of  either 
house,  the  person  must  have  resided  three  years  in  the  state,  and  one  in 
the  county ;  and  be  possessed  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  The  governor 
is  elected  for  two  years,  and  is  eligible  six  years  out  of  eight.  He  must  be 
twenty -five  years  of  age;  must  have  resided  in  the  state  four  years,  and 
must  possess  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  to  be  eligible  to  that  office.  The 
judiciary  is  divided  into  courts  of  law  and  equity.  The  legislature  appoints 
the  judges,  to  hold  their  office  during  good  behaviour.  All  free  men,  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  who  have  resided  in  the  county  six  months  prece- 
ding the  election,  possess  the  elective  franchise. 

Schools.  There  are  four  institutions  in  the  state,  which  bear  the  name 
of  colleges;  one  at  Nashville,  one  at  Knoxville,  one  at  Marysville,  and 


346 


TENNESSEE. 


Kremer  College,  since  changed  to  the  name  of  Jefferson.  The  Cumber- 
land Presbyterians  are  making  great  efforts  to  rear  a  theological  institu- 
tion, in  which  to  train  young  men  for  their  worship.  The  college  at 
Nashville  has  already  yielded  most  efficient  aid  to  the  literature  of  the 
state.  Academies  and  common  schools  are  increasing,  and  the  people 
seem  to  be  awakening  to  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  education  to  the 
preservation  of  our  republican  institutions. 

History.  Tennessee  asserts  claims,  along  with  Kentucky,  to  be  the 
common  mother  of  the  western  states.  She  fills  a  large  and  conspicuous 
place  in  the  early  annals  of  the  west.  No  state  suffered  more  terribly  in 
its  commencement,  from  the  savages.  None  evinced  a  deeper  stake  in 
the  early  altercations  with  Spain,  touching  the  right  of  navigating  the 
Mississippi.  Her  fierce  disputes  with  the  mother  state,  North  Carolina, 
and  the  intestine  broils,  which  gave  origin  to  the  short  lived  republic  of 
Frankland,  while  she  made  arrangements  to  become  an  independent 
state,  have  already  been  recorded.  She  has  already  sent  abroad  thousands 
of  her  sons,  to  people  the  states  of  Missouri,  Illinois,  Mississippi,  Louis- 
iana and  Florida,  Arkansas,  and  even  Texas  in  the  Mexican  country' 
Yet  the  census  of  1830  has  presented  her  in  the  commanding  attitude  of 
numbering  nearly  seven  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  being  the  second 
most  populous  of  the  western  states.  This  result  creates  the  more  sur- 
prise, in  as  much  as  every  one  conversant  with  the  states  and  territories 
beyond,  knows  how  largely  emigrants  from  this  state  have  contributed  to 
their  settlement;  and  as  this  is  the  only  one  of  the  slave  states  which  has 
shown  an  increase  commensurate  with  the  free  states. 

The  legislature  of  this  state  has  evinced  a  spirit  of  munificence  and 
enterprise,  in  regard  to  literature  and  public  institutions,  highly  creditable. 
It  has  recently  appropriated  twenty -five  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection 
of  a  penitentiary,  and  one  hnndred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  internal 
improvements.  It  deems,  that  by  an  easy  improvement  of  the  navigation 
of  the  Tennessee  and  Holston  rivers,  the  state  will  save  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  annually,  in  the  transport  of  the  single  article  of  salt. 

Tennessee  has  availed  herself  of  her  influence  of  seniority  and  impor- 
tance in  the  west,  by  leaving  a  respectable  impress  of  her  character  on  the 
states  and  territories  beyond  her.  No  state  shared  a  prouder  part  in  the 
late  war.  She  has  already  given  a  President  to  the  Union.  Her  march 
since  she  became  a  state,  has  been  almost  uniformly  patriotic  and  prosper- 
ous, and  she  has  already  attained  to  a  high  relative  rank  in  the  general 
confederacy. 


KENTUCKY 


Medial  length,  400  miles.  Medial  breadth,  150  miles;  contains 
forty  thousand  square  miles.  Bounded  north  by  the  river  Ohio,  which 
separates  it  from  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois ;  east  by  Virginia ;  south  by 
Tennessee ;  and  west  by  the  Mississippi,  which  separates  it  from  Mis- 
souri. 

civil  divisions  . 


Counties. 

County  Towns.     Distances 

from  Frankfort 

Adair, 

Columbia, 

91   miles 

Allen, 

Scottsville, 

151 

Anderson, 

Lawrenceburgh, 

12 

Barren, 

Glasgow, 

126 

Bath, 

Owingsville, 

73 

Boone, 

Burlington, 

72 

Bourbon, 

Paris, 

43 

Bracken, 

Augusta, 

73 

Brackenridge, 

Hardinsburgh, 

118 

Bullitt, 

Shepherdsville, 

74 

Butler, 

Morgantown, 

141 

Caldwell, 

Princeton, 

229 

Callaway, 

Wadesboro', 

262 

Campbell, 

Newport, 

99 

Casey, 

Liberty, 

66 

Christian, 

Hopkinsville, 

206 

Clark, 

Winchester, 

45 

Clay, 

Manchester, 

115 

Cumberland, 

Burkesville, 

119 

Daviess, 

Owensboro', 

150 

348 

KENTUCKY. 

Edmonson, 

Brownsville, 

138 

Estill, 

Irvine, 

71 

Fayette, 

Lexington, 

25 

Fleming, 

Flemingburgh, 

79 

Floyd, 

Prestonburgh, 

142 

Franklin, 

Frankfort, 

Gallatin, 

Port  William, 

57 

Garrard, 

Lancaster, 

52 

Grant, 

Williamstown, 

44 

Graves, 

Mayfield, 

284 

Grayson, 

Litchfield, 

110 

Greene, 

Greensburgh, 

90 

Greenup, 

Greenup  C.  H. 

132 

Hancock, 

Hawsville, 

130 

Hardin, 

Elizabethtown, 

80 

Harland, 

Harlan  C.  H. 

168 

Harrison, 

Cynthiana, 

38 

Hart, 

Munfordsville, 

105 

Henderson, 

Henderson, 

180 

Henry, 

Newcastle, 

37 

Hickman, 

Clinton, 

308 

Hopkins, 

Madisonville, 

200 

Jefferson, 

Louisville, 

52 

Jessamine, 

Nicholasville, 

37 

Emox, 

Barboursville  C.  H. 

122 

Laurel, 

Hazel  Patch, 

102 

Lawrence, 

Louisa, 

127 

Lewis, 

Clarksburgh, 

96 

Lincoln, 

Stanford, 

51 

Livingston, 

Salem, 

245 

Logan, 

Russellville, 

171 

McCracken, 

Wilmington, 

289 

Madison, 

Richmond, 

50 

Mason, 

Washington, 

63 

Mead, 

Brandcnburgh, 

90 

Mercer, 

Harrodsburgh, 

30 

Monroe, 

Tompkinsville, 

144 

Montgomery, 

Mountsterling, 

60 

Morgan, 

West  Liberty, 

107 

Muhlenburgh, 

Greenville  C.  H. 

177 

Nelson, 

Bardstown, 

55 

Nicholas, 

Carlisle, 

58 

K  E  X  T  U  C  K.  Y  . 


319 


Ohio,  Hartford,  154 

Oldham,  Westport,  44 

Owen,  Owenton,  28 

Pendleton,  Falmouth,  60 

Perry,  Perry  C.  H..  148 

Pike,  Piketon,  165 

Pulaski,  Somerset,  85 

Rock  Castle,  Mount  Vernon,  73 

Russell,  Jamestown,  109 

Scott,  Georgetown,  17 

Shelby,  Shelby  ville,  21 

Simpson,  Franklin,  165 

Spencer,  Taylorsville,  35 

Todd,  Elkton,  186 

Trigg,  Cadiz,  226 

Union,  Morganfield,  205 

Warren,  Bowling  Green,  145 

Washington,  Springfield,  50 

Wayne,  Montieello,  110 

Whitely,  Whitely  C.  H  130 

Woodford,  Versailles,  13 

The  census  of  1830  gives  the  population  of  this  state  as  follows. 
Whites,  518,678.     Slaves,  165,350.     Total,  688,844 

From  the  eastern  limit  of  this  state,  where  it  bounds  on  Virginia,  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  is  between  6  and  700  miles.  In  this  whole  dis- 
tance, the  northern  limit  of  the  state  is  on  the  Ohio.  Thence  it  bounds 
on  the  Mississippi  between  40  and  50  miles.  Almost  the  whole  of  the 
state,  therefore,  in  its  configuration,  belongs  to  the  valley  of  the  Ohio. 
The  eastern  and  southern  front  of  the  state  touches  upon  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  whose  spurs  descend,  for  a  considerable  distance,  into  it. 
Beyond  the  lower  part  or  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Kentucky 
shore  slopes  to  the  Mississippi.  The  rivers  Tennessee,  Cumberland,  and 
Kentucky,  have  broad  and  deep  valleys.  The  valley  of  Green  river,  and 
that  in  the  central  part  of  the  state,  are  noted  for  their  extent,  beauty, 
and  fertility.  But,  though  Kentucky  has  been  generally  estimated  to 
possess  larger  bodies  of  fertile  land  than  any  other  western  state,  and 
although  nothing  can  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  great  valley  of  which 
Lexington  is  the  centre,  yet  there  are  in  Kentucky  large  sterile  tracts, 
and  much  land  too  mountainous,  or  too  poor,  for  cultivation.  The  centre 
of  the  state  is  delightfully  rolling.  A  tract  of  country,  nearly  one 
hundred  miles  in  one  direction,  and  fifty  in  the  other,  is  found  here, 
which  for  beauty  of  surface,  amenity  of  landscape,  the  delightful  aspect 


350  KENTUCKY. 

of  its  open  groves,  and  the  extreme  fertility  of  its  soil,  exceeds  perhaps 
any  other  tract  of  country  of  the  same  extent.  Under  this  great  extent, 
at  a  depth  of  from  three  to  ten  feet,  is  a  substratum  or  floor  of  limestone. 
So  much  dissolved  lime  is  mixed  with  the  soil,  as  to  impart  to  it  a  warm 
and  forcing  quality,  which  imparts,  when  the  earth  is  sufficiently  moist, 
an  inexpressible  freshness  and  vigor  to  the  vegetation.  Through  this 
beautiful  country  meander  the  Little  Sandy,  Licking,  Kentucky  and 
Salt  rivers,  and  their  numerous  branches.  In  it  there  are  few  precipi- 
tous hills.  Much  of  the  soil  is  of  that  character  technically  known  by 
the  name  'mulatto  laid?  The  woods  have  a  charming  aspect,  as  though 
they  were  promiscuously  arranged  for  a  pleasure  ground.  Grape  vines 
of  prodigious  size  climb  the  trees,  and  spread  their  umbrageous  leaves 
over  all  the  other  verdure.  Black  walnut,  black  cherry,  honey  locust, 
buckeye,  pawpaw,  sugar  tree,  mulberry,  elm,  ash,  hawthorn,  coffee  tree, 
and  the  grand  yellow  poplar,  trees  which  indicate  the  richest  soil,  are 
every  where  abundant.  In  the  first  periods  of  the  settlement  of  the 
country,  it  was  covered  with  a  thick  cane  brake,  that  has  disappeared, 
and  has  been  replaced  by  a  beautiful  grass  sward  of  a  peculiar  cast  even 
in  the  forest.  In  the  early  periods  of  spring,  along  with  the  purple  and 
redundant  flowers  of  the  red  bud,  and  the  beautiful  white  blossoms  of  the 
do"-  wood,  there  is  an  abundance  of  that  beautiful  plant,  the  May  apple, 
the  rich  verdure  of  which  has  an  indescribable  effect  upon  the  eye.  The 
trees  generally  are  not  large,  but  tall,  straight,  and  taper;  and  have  the 
aspect  of  having  been  transplanted  to  the  places  which  they  occupy. 
Innumerable  branches  wind  among  these  copses;  and  in  the  decliv- 
ities burst  out  springs  of  pure  lime  stone  water. 

That  part  of  the  state  which  borders  on  Tennessee  and  Virginia,  re- 
sembles the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Allcghanics  and  Tennessee. 
The  landscape  painter  might  come  here,  and  find  that  nature  had  tran- 
scended any  mental  conceptions  of  the  beau  ideal  of  scenery.  The 
numerous  mountain  branches  wind  round  the  bases  of  the  small  table 
hills,  cutting  down  deep  and  almost  frightful  gullies,  and  forming 'caves,' 
as  they  are  called  by  the  people,  or  gulfs,  covered  with  the  shade  of  im- 
mensely large  poplars,  often  eight  feet,  in  diameter.  Such  a  tree  will 
throw  into  the  air  a  column  of  an  hundred  feet  shaft.  No  words  would 
convey  adequate  ideas  of  the  lonely  beauty  of  some  of  these  secluded 
spots. 

Between  the  Rolling  Fork  of  Salt  river  and  Green  river,  is  a  very 
extensive  tract,  called  'barrens.'  The  soil  is  generally  good,  though  not 
of  the  first  quality.  But  the  country,  sparsely  shaded  with  trees,  is  cov- 
ered with  grass  like  a  prairie,  and  affords  a  fine  range  for  cattle.  Be- 
tween Green  and  Cumberland  rivers  is  a  still  larger  tract  of  'barrens.1 


KENTUCKY.  851 

Spread  over  this  district  is  an  immense  number  of  knobs,  covered  with 
shrubby  and  post  oaks.  In  the  year  1800,  the  legislature  made  a  grant 
of  four  hundred  acres  of  this  land  to  every  man  who  chose  to  become  an 
actual  settler.  A  great  many  occupants  were  found  on  these  conditions. 
The  country  proved  to  be  uncommonly  healthy.  So  much  of  the  land 
was  incapable  of  clearing  and  cultivation  from  a  variety  of  causes,  that 
the  range  will  probably  remain  unimpaired  for  a  long  time.  Game 
abounds.  Swine  are  raised  with  the  greatest  ease.  Enough  land  is 
capable  of  cultivation  to  supply  all  the  needs  of  the  settlers.  Many 
farmers  on  this  soil  make  fine  tobacco.  These  lands  have  come  into 
reputation ;  and  they  who  received  their  farms  as  a  free  gift,  are  now 
living  comfortably,  and  rearing  respectable  families  in  rustic  indepen- 
dence. 

For  variety  of  hill  and  dale,  for  the  excellence  of  the  soil,  yielding 
in  abundance  all  that  is  necessary  for  comfortable  subsistence,  for 
amenity  of  landscape,  beauty  of  forest,  the  number  of  clear  streams  and 
fine  rivers,  health,  and  the  finest  development  of  the  human  form,  and 
patriarchial  simplicity  of  rural  opulence,  we  question  if  any  country 
can  be  found  surpassing  Kentucky.  We  have  heard  the  hoary  'residen- 
ters,'  the  compatriots  of  Daniel  Boone,  speak  of  it  as  it  appeared  to 
them,  when  they  first  emigrated  from  their  native  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  It  was  in  the  spring  when  they  arrived.  The  only  paths 
among  the  beautiful  groves,  were  those  which  the  buffaloes  and  bears 
had  broken  through  the  cane  brakes.  The  wilderness  displayed  one 
extended  tuft  of  blossoms.  A  man  stationed  near  one  of  these  paths 
could  kill  game  enough,  with  a  proportion  of  turkeys  and  other  large 
birds,  irf*an  hour,  to  supply  the  wants  of  a  month.  There  can  be  no 
wonder  that  hunters,  men  who  had  been  reared  among  the  comparatively 
sterile  hills  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  men  who  loved  to  range 
mountain  streams,  and  sheltered  glades,  should  have  fancied  this  a  terres- 
trial paradise.  The  beautiful  configuration  of  the  soil  remains.  The 
whole  state  is  studded  with  plantations.  The  buffaloes,  bears,  Indians, 
and  the  cane  brake,  the  wild,  and  much  of  the  naturally  beautiful  of  the 
country,  is  no  more.  The  aged  settlers  look  back  to  the  period  of  this 
first  settlement  as  a  golden  age.  To  them  the  earth  seems  to  have  been 
cursed  with  natural  and  moral  degeneracy,  deformity,  and  sterility,  in 
consequence  of  having  been  settled.  This  is  one  of  the  solutions  to 
account  for  that  restless  desire  to  leave  the  settled  country,  and  to  emi- 
grate to  new  regions,  which  so  strongly  marks  many  of  the  old  settlers. 

Rivers.  The  Ohio  washes  a  long  extent  of  the  northern  frontier;  and 
the  Mississippi  a  considerable  distance  of  the  south-western  shore.  The 
former  river  we  propose  to  describe  under  the  head  of  the  state  of  Ohio; 

45 


352  KENTUCKY. 

and  the  latter  has  already  been  described  Most  of  the  rivers  of  this 
state  rise  in  its  southern  limits,  and  flow  northwardly  into  the  Ohio.  The 
state  may  be  considered  as  one  vast  plateau,  or  glacis,  sloping  from  the 
Alleghany  hills  to  the  Ohio. 

Big  Sandy  rises  in  the  Alleghany  mountains,  near  the  heads  of  Cum- 
berland and  Clinch,  and  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  state  for 
nearly  two  hundred  miles.  Forty  miles  before  its  entrance  into  the  Ohio, 
it  divides  into  two  branches,  the  north-east  and  the  south  forks.  It  is 
navigable  to  the  Wascioto  mountains.  At  its  entrance  into  the  Ohio  it 
is  two  hundred  yards  broad.  In  its  progress  it  receives  a  great  number 
of  large  creeks,  among  which  are  Shelby,  Bear,  Turtle,  Bartle's,  Paint, 
and  Blane's,  all  of  which  run  east  or  north-east.  Between  Sandy  and 
Licking  the  following  creeks  and  streams  enter  the  Ohio,  being  from 
twenty  to  seventy  miles  long,  and  from  fifty  to  twelve  yards  wide  at 
their  mouth.  Little  Sandy  enters  twenty -two  miles  below  Big  Sandy ; 
and  the  following  creeks  enter  the  Ohio  at  moderate  distances,  not  ex- 
ceeding twenty-two,  and  not  falling  short  of  tv/o  or  three  miles  from 
each  other;  viz:  Tiger's  creek,  Conoconeque,  Salt  Lick  creek,  Syca- 
more, Crooked  creek,  Cabin  creek,  Brook  creek,  Lime  Stone,  and 
Bracken. 

Licking  river  rises  in  the  north-east  corner  of  the  state,  almost  inter- 
locking with  the  head  waters  of  Cumberland  river.  It  seeks  the  Ohio 
by  a  north-western  course,  and  meets  it  at  Newport,  opposite  Cincinnati. 
It  has  a  sinuous  course  of  two  hundred  miles.  In  dry  summers  the  water 
almost  disappears  from  the  channel.  When  the  streams  are  full,  in 
the  winter  and  spring,  many  flat  boats  descend  it  from  a  distance  of 
seventy  or  eighty  miles  from  its  mouth.  It  waters  a  rich  and  well  settled 
country. 

Kentucky  is  an  important  stream,  and  gives  name  to  the  state.  It 
rises  in  the  south-east  parts  of  it,  interlocking  with  the  head  waters  of 
Licking  and  Cumberland.  By  a  north-west  course  it  finds  the  Ohio  at 
Port  William,  seventy-seven  miles  above  Louisville.  It  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  navigable  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles.  It  has  a  rapid  current  and  high  banks.  Great  part  of  its  length 
it  flows  in  a  deep  chasm,  cut  from  perpendicular  banks  of  lime  stone. 
Nothing  can  be  more  singular  than  the  sensation  arising  from  floating 
down  this  stream  and  looking  up  this  high  parapet  at  the  sun  and  the  sky 
from  this  dark  chasm.  Elkhorn,  a  beautiful  stream  that  enters  Kentucky 
river  ten  miles  below  Frankfort,  has  two  forks.  The  first  heads  near 
Lexington,  and  the  second  near  Georgetown.  These  branches  water 
Scott  and  Payette  counties,  and  are  well  calculated  for  driving  mills  of 
all  kinds.     Dick's  river  is  a  branch  of  Kentucky.     It  has  a  course  of 


K  E  N  T  V  C  K  V  .  355 

fifty  miles,  and  is  fifty  yawls  wide  at  its  mouth.  Its  current,  like  that 
of  its  parent  stream,  is  rapid ;  and  its  course  confined  by  precipices  of 
lime  stone,  down  which  the  astonished  spectator  looks  often  three  hundred 
feet  before  the  eye  catches  the  dark  stream  rolling  below.  Salt  river 
rises  in  Mercer  county,  from  three  head  sources,  and  enters  the  Ohio 
twenty  miles  below  Louisville.  It  is  boatable  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
and  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth.  It  passes  through 
Jefferson,  Greenup,  Washington,  and  Mercer  counties. 

Green  river  rises  in  Lincoln  county.  It  enters  the  Ohio,  two  hundred 
miles  below  Louisville,  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Cumberland.  It 
is  boatable  two  hundred  miles,  and  two  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth. 
It  receives,  in  its  progress,  a  great  number  of  tributaries,  among  which 
are  Great  Barren,  Little  Barren,  Rough  river,  and  Panther's  creek. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  important  rivers  in  the  state,  and  has  a  great  length 
of  boatable  water. 

Cumberland  river  rises  in  the  south-east  corner  of  this  state,  interlock- 
ing with  the  south  fork  of  Big  Sandy.  We  have  already  partially  de- 
scribed this  river ;  but,  as  it  belongs  as  much  to  this  state  as  to  Tennessee, 
we  add,  that  it  runs  eighty  miles  ih  this  state ;  then  crosses  into  Tennes- 
see; runs  forty  miles  in  that  state,  and  makes  a  curve,  by  which  it  returns 
into  this  state  again.  It  once  more  enters  that  state,  after  a  course  of 
fifty  miles  in  this.  It  winds  two  hundred  miles  through  Tennessee; 
passes  by  Nashville,  and  once  more  enters  this  state.  It  unites  with  the 
Ohio  by  a  mouth  three  hundred  yards  in  width,  and  is  navigable  by  steam 
boats  of  the  first  class  to  Nashville ;  and  by  keel  boats,  in  moderate 
stages  of  the  water,  three  hundred  miles  farther.  It  is  a  broad,  deep, 
and  beautiful  river,  and  uncommonly  favorable  to  navigation.  Trade 
Water  and  Red  river,  are  its  principal  branches  in  Kentucky.  The  one 
is  seventy,  and  the  other  fifty  yards  wide,  at  its  mouth.  The  Tennessee, 
of  which  we  have  already  given  a  description,  enters  the  Ohio  in  this 
state,  and  runs  in  it  seventy-five  miles.  Kaskinompas  river  rises  near  the 
Tennessee,  and  running  a  western  course,  enters  the  Mississippi,  half 
way  between  the  mouth  of  Ohio  and  New  Madrid. 

Minerals  and  Mineral  Waters.  The  state  is  all  of  secondary  forma- 
tion. Lime  stone,  and  marble,  of  the  most  beautiful  species,  abound. 
Coal  appears  in  some  places,  especially  along  the  Ohio.  Iron  ore  is  in 
the  greatest  abundance ;  and  is  wrought  to  a  considerable  extent.  Lead, 
and  copperas,  and  aluminous  earths,  are  found.  There  are  a  number  of 
salt  springs  in  the  state,  from  which  great  quantities  of  salt  used  to  be 
made.  But  salt  is  made  so  much  cheaper,  and  more  abundantly,  at  the 
Kanawha  works,  that  this  state  imports  chiefly  from  that  place. 


354 


KENTUCKY. 


In  Cumberland  county,  in  boring  for  salt  water,  at  the  depth  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet,  a  fountain  of  petrolium,  or  what  is  there  called 
mineral  oil,  was  struck.  When  the  augur  was  withdrawn,  the  oil  was 
thrown  up  in  a  continued  stream  more  than  twelve  feet  above  the  surface 
of  the  earth.  Although  the  quantity  somewhat  abated,  after  the  discharge 
of  the  first  few  minutes,  during  which  it  was  supposed  to  emit  seventy- 
five  gallons  a  minute,  it  still  continued  to  flow  in  a  stream,  that  made  its 
way  to  the  Cumberland,  for  a  long  distance  covering  the  surface  with  its 
oily  pellicle.  It  is  so  penetrating  as  to  be  difficult  to  confine  it  in  any 
wooden  vessel.  It  ignites  freely,  and  produces  a  flame  as  brilliant  as  gas 
light,  for  which  it  might  become  a  cheap  and  abundant  substitute. 

The  Olympian  springs,  47  miles  east  of  Lexington,  are  in  a  romantic 
situation.  They  consist  of  a  number  of  springs  of  different  medicinal 
qualities,  partly  sulphureous,  and  partly  chalybeate,  and  are  a  place  of 
great  resort.  Big  Bone  Lick  is  20  miles  below  Cincinnati,  on  the  Ken- 
tucky side  of  the  river,  and  not  far  from  it.  The  waters  are  impregnated 
with  sulphuretted  Itydrogen  gas,  and  have  a  peculiarly  favorable  effect  in 
dropsical  cases,  and  affections  of  the  liver.  The  huge  organic  remains  of 
animals,  called  by  the  name  mammoth,  were  found  in  great  numbers,  in 
digging  near  this  lick.  There  are  great  numbers  of  mineral  springs,  of 
different  qualities,  in  different  parts  of  the  state.  But  the  medicinal 
spring,  which  is  far  the  most  frequented  of  any,  is  that  near  Harrodsburg. 
The  water  has  a  slight  sweetish  and  styptic  taste.  It  contains  sulphate  of 
magnesia,  and  other  mineral  impregnations.  There  are  fine  accommo- 
dations for  invalids.  The  situation  is  healthy  and  delightful ;  and  in  the 
summer  it  has  become  a  great  and  fashionable  resort  for  invalids  from  this 
and  the  neighboring  states.  The  waters  are  salutary  in  affections  of  the 
liver,  and  dyspeptic  and  chronic  complaints;  and  this  is,  probably,  one  of 
the  few  springs  where  the  waters  are  really  a  salutary  and  efficient  rem- 
edy for  the  cases  to  which  they  are  suited. 

Agriculture  and  Produce.  Kentucky,  from  her  first  settlement,  has 
had  the  reputation  of  being  among  the  most  fertile  of  the  western  states. 
The  astonishing  productiveness  of  her  good  lands,  the  extent  of  her  cul- 
tivation, the  multitude  of  flat  boats  which  she  loads  for  New  Orleans' 
market,  and  the  great  quantities  of  produce,  which  she  now  sends  off  by 
steam  boats,  justify  the  conclusion.  All  the  grains,  pulses,  and  fruits,  of 
the  temperate  climates,  she  raises  in  the  greatest  abundance.  Her  wheat 
is  of  the  finest  kind;  and  there  is  no  part  of  the  western  country  where 
maize  is  raised  with  greater  case  and  abundance.  Garden  vegetables  of 
all  kinds  succeed.  Grapes,  of  the  cultivated  kinds,  arc  raised  for  table 
fruit, in  many  places;  and  there  are  considerable  numbers  of  vineyards, 
where  wine  is  made.    Cotton  is  not  raised,  except  for  domestie  use.    Hemp 


k  e  ■  t  v  c  k  r .  355 

and  tobacco  are  the  staples  of  the  state.  Both  arc  raised  in  the  greatest 
perfection.  In  1820,  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  agriculture,  was 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  and  sixty ;  and  of  manufactures,  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-nine ;  and  of  persons 
employed  in  commerce,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seven.  The 
products  of  agriculture  and  manufactures  have  since  increased  nearly  in 
the  ratio  of  the  increasing  population. 

The  present  exports  are  chiefly  to  New  Orleans ;  though  a  considerable 
quantity  of  produce  and  manufactures  ascends  the  Ohio  to  Pittsburgh. 
It  is  not  uncommon  for  the  growers  of  the  produce  of  this  state,  on  arriving 
at  New  Orleans,  to  ship,  on  their  own  account,  to  the  Atlantic  states,  to 
Vera  Cruz,  and  the  West  Indies.  Besides  the  articles  mentioned  above, 
she  sends  off  immense  quantities  of  flour,  lard,  butter,  cheese,  pork,  beef, 
Indian  corn  and  meal,  whiskey,  cider,  cider-royal,  fruit,  both  fresh  and 
dried,  and  various  kinds  of  domestic  manufactures. 

.  Horses  are  raised  in  great  numbers,  and  of  the  noblest  kinds.  A  hand 
some  horse  is  the  highest  pride  of  a  Kentuckian ;  and  common  farmers  own 
from  ten  to  fifty.  Great  numbers  are  carried  over  the  mountains  to  the 
Atlantic  states ;  and  the  principal  supply  of  saddle  and  carriage  horses  in 
the  lower  country  is  drawn  from  Kentucky,  or  the  other  western  states. 
The  horses  are  carried  down  in  flat  boats.  Great  droves  of  cattle  are 
also  driven  from  this  state,  over  the  mountains,  to  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania. 

In  1828,  the  value  of  flic  cattle,  horses,  and  swine,  driven  out  of  the 
state,  numbered  and  valued  at  one  point  of  passage, — the  Cumberland 
Ford, — was  a  million  of  dollars.  The  returns  of  the  value  of  exports,  agri- 
cultural and  manufactured,  in  1829,  wanted  a  number  of  counties  of 
comprising  the  whole  state ;  but  this  partial  return  gave  two  millions  seven 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars. 

Chief  Towns.  Frankfort,  the  political  metropolis  of  the  state,  is  sit- 
uated on  the  north  bank  of  the  Kentucky,  sixty  miles  above  its  entrance 
into  the  Ohio.  The  environs  of  the  beautiful  plain  on  which  the  town 
is  built,  are  remarkable  for  their  romantic  and  splendid  scenery.  The 
river  divides  the  town  into  Frankfort  and  South  Frankfort,  which  are 
connected  by  a  bridge  across  the  Kentucky,  which  here  flows  between 
banks  four  or  five  hundred  feet  in  height.  Both  divisions  contain  about 
two  thousand  inhabitants.  The  state  house  is  entirely  of  marble,  with  a 
front  presenting  a  portico  supported  by  Ionic  columns,  the  whole  having 
an  aspect  of  magnificence.  It  contains  the  customary  legislative  halls, 
and  apartments  for  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  the  Federal  Court.  The 
stair  way  under  the  vault  of  the  dome  has  been  much  admired.  The  pen- 
itentiary usually  contains  over  one  hundred  convicts,  and  is  one  of  the  few 


350  ■■  KENTUCKV. 

establishments  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States  the  income  from  which 
exceeds  the  expenses.  Its  other  public  buildings  are  three  churches,  an 
academy,  and  county  court  house.  It  has  a  number  of  respectable  man- 
ufacturing establishments,  among  which  are  three  manufactories  of  cotton 
bagging,  a  rope  walk,  a  cotton  factory,  two  large  warehouses,  and  the  usual 
number  of  corresponding  establishments.  It  is  at  the  head  of  steam  boat 
navigation,  having  three  or  four  steam  boats  in  regular  employ,  when  the 
stage  of  water  in  the  river  admits ;  and  is  a  place  of  considerable  com- 
mercial enterprise.  The  public  inns  are  on  a  respectable  footing ;  and  it  is 
a  place  of  much  show  and  gaiety.  The  houses,  in  particular,  arc  singu- 
larly neat,  many  of  them  being  built  of  the  beautiful  marble  furnished  by 
the  banks  of  the  river.  Sea  vessels  have  been  built  here,  and  floated  to 
New  Orleans.  It  is  situated  212  miles  from  Nashville;  806  from  New 
Orleans ;  20  north-west  from  Lexington ;  149  from  Indianapolis ;  252  from 
Vandalia;  550  from  Washington ;  321  from  St.  Louis;  and  85  from  Cin- 
cinnati. 

Lexington,  the  commercial  capital  of  the  state,  and  one  of  its  most 
ancient  towns,  received  its  name  from  some  hunters,  who  were  encamped 
under  the  shade  of  the  original  forest,  where  it  is  built,  and  who,  receiving 
the  first  intelligence  of  Lexington  battle  in  Massachusetts,  named  the  town 
after  that,  where  commenced  the  great  struggle  of  American  independ- 
ence. It  was  for  a  long  time  the  political  metropolis  of  the  state,  and  the 
most  important  town  in  the  west. 

Transylvania  University  has  fair  claims  to  precedence  among  western 
collegiate  institutions.  Its  chief  edifice  was  burnt  two  years  since,  but  is 
now  replaced  by  a  handsome  and  more  commodious  one.  It  has  twelve 
professors  and  tutors,  and  in  the  academical,  medical,  and  law  classes,  three 
hundred  and  seventy-six  students.  The  buildings  for  the  medical  depart- 
ment are  large  and  commodious ;  and  its  library  contains  four  thousand 
five  hundred  volumes  of  standard  works  in  medicine.  All  the  libraries 
connected  with  the  University  number  fourteen  thousand  one  hundred 
volumes.  The  law  school  has  twenty-five  pupils;  and  the  medical  class 
two  hundred  and  eleven,  from  all  the  southern  and  western  states.  The 
reputation  of  its  professors  has  given  it  a  deservedly  high  standing. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Peers  is  at  the  head  of  a  school  gaining  great  reputation, 
as  being  the  only  one  known  in  the  United  States,  the  pupils  of  which  are 
professedly  guided  in  their  whole  discipline,  with  reference  to  the  physical, 
organic  and  moral  laws  of  our  being.  The  Female  Academy,  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  Mr.  Woods,  is  in  high  repute,  and  has  one  hundred  pupils. 
There  are  various  other  schools  which  concur  with  these  to  vindicate  the 
high  literary  estimation  of  this  city. 


KEXTl'CKY.  357 

The  other  public  edifices  are  as  follows :  a  handsome  and  spacious 
court  house,  a  large  Masonic  hall,  and  eleven  churches,  in  which  all  the 
denominations  of  Christianity  arc  represented.  The  State  Lunatic 
Asvlum  is  a  spacious  and  very  commodious  building,  containing,  on  an 
average,  ninety  deranged  patients,  under  the  guidance  and  efficient  care  of 
physicians,  surgeons,  and  nurses.  The  United  States  Branch  Bank  has 
a  large  banking  house,  in  which  business  in  the  way  of  discount  and 
negotiation  of  bills,  is  annually  transacted  to  the  amount  of  one  million 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  chief  manufactures  are  those  of 
cotton  bagging,  and  various  kinds  of  cordage,  particularly  bale  rope.  Of 
the  former  were  manufactured  in  1830, 1,000,000  yards ;  and  of  the  latter, 
2,000,000  pounds.  There  are  three  factories  for  spinning  and  weaving 
wool,  and  five  or  six  for  cotton ;  and  one  large  and  several  smaller  ma- 
chine-making factories.  In  the  woolen  factories  are  manufactured  hand- 
some carpets. 

The  town  buildings  in  general  are  handsome,  and  some  are  magnificent. 
Few  towns  in  the  west,  or  elsewhere,  are  more  delightfully  situated.  Its 
en » irons  have  a  singular  softness  and  amenity  of  'landscape,  and  the  town 
wears  an  air  of  neatness,  opulence,  and  repose,  indicating  leisure  and 
studiousness,  rather  than  the  bustle  of  business  and  commerce.  It  is 
situated  in  the  centre  of  a  proverbially  rich  and  beautiful  country.  The 
frequency  of  handsome  villas  and  ornamented  rural  mansions,  impart  the 
impression  of  vicinity  to  an  opulent  metropolis.  A  beautiful  branch  of  the 
Elkhorn  runs  through  the  city,  and  supplies  it  with  water.  The  main  street 
is  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  length,  and  eighty  feet  wide ;  well  paved,  and 
the  principal  roads  leading  from  it  to  the  country  are  McAdamized  to 
some  distance.  In  the  centre  of  the  town  is  the  public  square,  surroun- 
ded by  handsome  buildings.  In  this  square  is  the  market  house,  which  is 
amply  supplied  with  all  the  products  of  the  state.  The  inhabitants  are 
cheerful,  intelligent,  conversable,  and  noted  for  their  hospitality  to  stran- 
gers. The  professional  men  are  distinguished  for  their  attainments  in 
their  several  walks,  and  many  distinguished  and  eminent  men  have  had 
their  origin  here.  The  University,  with  its  professors  and  students,  and 
the  numerous  distinguished  strangers  that  are  visiting  here,  during  the 
summer  months,  add  to  the  attractions  of  the  city.  The  people  are  ad- 
dicted to  giving  parties ;  and  the  tone  of  society  is  fashionable  and  pleasant. 
Strangers,  in  general,  are  much  pleased  with  a  temporary  sojourn  in  this 
city,  which  conveys  high  ideas  of  the  refinement  and  taste  of  the  country. 
There  are  now  much  larger  towns  in  the  west :  but  none  presenting  more 
beauty  and  intelligence.  The  stranger,  on  finding  himself  in  the  midst 
of  its  polished  and  interesting  society,  cannot  but  be  carried  back  by  the 
strong  contrast,  to  the  time  when  the  patriarchal  hunters  of  Kentucky, 


358  KENTUCKY. 

reclining  on  their  buffalo  robes  around  their  evening  iires,  canopied  by 
the  lofty  trees  and  the  stars,  gave  it  the  name  it  bears,  by  patriotic  ac- 
clamation. +■ 

The  number  of  inhabitants  is  six  thousand  one  "hundred  and  four.  It  is 
situated  twenty -five  miles  south-east  of  Frankfort ;  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  north-east  from  Nashville ;  eighty  south  from  Cincinnati ;  and  five 
hundred  and  twenty-six  south-west  from  Washington. 

Louisville,  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  is  far 
the  most  important  town  in  the  state.  The  main  street  is  nearly  a  mile 
in  length,  and  is  as  noble,  as  compact,  and  has  as  much  the  air  of  a  mari- 
time town,  as  any  street  in  the  western  country.  It  is  situated  on  an  ex- 
tensive sloping  plain,  below  the  mouth  of  Beargrass,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  above  the  principal  declivity  of  the  falls.  The  three  principal  streets 
run  parallel  with  the  river,  and  command  fine  views  of  the  villages  and 
the  beautiful  country  on  the  opposite  shore. 

The  public  buildings  are  a  court  house,  jail,  poor  house,  and  work 
house,  powder  magazine,  marine  hospital,  city  school  house,  eight  churches 
for  the  prevalent  denominations  of  the  county,  Washington  Hall,  Colum- 
bian Inn,  and  other  respectable  hotels,  City  Hall,  United  States  Branch 
Bank,  house  of  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Company,  iron  foundery, 
Jefferson  Cotton  Factory,  five  steam  mills,  Union  Hall,  and  theatre. 

The.  marine  hospital  is  a  conspicuous  and  showy  building.  The  free 
public  school  house  is  a  noble  edifice,  taking  into  view  its  object.  It  was 
commenced  in  1829,  as  a  kind  of  model  school  for  a  general  system  of 
free  schools;  and  was  built  at  an  expense  of  seven  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  It  is  intended  to  accommodate  seven  or  eight  hundred 
pupils. 

The  position  of  this  city  is  38°  18'  N.  and  5°  42'  W.  from  Washington. 
It  contained  in  1800,  six  hundred  inhabitants;  1810,  one  thousand  three 
hundred  and  fifty ;  1820,  four  thousand  and  twelve;  1830,  ten  thousand 
three  hundred  and  thirty-six,  having  more  than  doubled  its  population 
within  the  last  ten  years. 

The  greatest  fall  in  the  Ohio  is  just  below  this  city.  In  high  stages  of 
water,  the  rocks  and  shallows  are  all  covered,  and  boats  pass  without  per- 
ceiving them.  But  this  stage  of  water  docs  not  occur,  on  an  average, 
more  than  two  months  in  a  year,  rendering  it  necessary  at  all  other  times, 
that  boats  from  the  lower  country  should  stop  here.  The  falls  equally 
arrested  boats  from  above.  Consequently  freights  intended  for  the  coun- 
try above  were  required,  at  a  great  expense  of  time,  delay,  and  factorage, 
to  be  unloaded,  transported  by  land  round  (he  falls,  and  reloaded  in  boats 
above.  Large  steam  boats  from  New  Orleans,  though  belonging  to  the 
uppor  country,  were  obliged  to  lie  by  through  the  summer  at  Portland. 


KENTUCKY. 


359 


To  remedy  these  inconveniences,  the  Louisville  and  Portland  canal 
round  the  falls  has  been  completed.  It  overcomes  the  ascent  of  twenty  • 
two  feet  by  five  locks.  The  first  steam  boat  that  passed  through  the  canal, 
was  the  Uncas,  Dec.  21,  1829. 

It  is  two  miles  in  length,  and  the  excavation  forty  feet  in  depth.  A  part 
of  this  depth  is  cut  from  solid  lime  stone.  It  is  on  a  scale  to  admit  steam 
boats  and  vessels  of  the  largest  size.  From  the  nature  of  the  country, 
and  the  great  difference  between  the  highest  and  lowest  stage  of  the  water, 
amounting  to  nearly  sixty  feet,  it  is  necessarily  a  work  of  great  magni- 
tude, having  cost  more  than  any  other  similar  extent  of  canal  work  in  the 
United  States.  There  are  various  opinions  in  reference  to  the  bearing 
of  this  work  upon  the  future  prosperity  of  Louisville.  Great  part  of  the 
important  and  lucrative  business  of  factorage  will  be  superseded ;  and  as 
boats  can  ascend  from  Louisville  to  Cincinnati,  with  at  least  as  great  a 
draft  of  water  as  is  allowed  by  the  depth  of  the  water  from  Louisville  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  most  of  the  boats  from  the  Mississippi,  that  used  to 
be  arrested  at  the  falls,  will  pass  on  to  the  country  above.  But  other  bear- 
in  cs  of  utility  to  this  place,  not  yet  contemplated,  will  pi-obably  grow  out 
of  the  increased  activity,  given  by  thecanaPto  business  and  .[commerce. 
No  axiom  is  better  established  than  that  every  part  of  the  country,  so 
connected  as  the  whole  coast  of  Ohio,  flourishes  and  increases  with  the 
growth  of  every  other  part.  If  the  country  above  and  below,  be  flourish- 
ing, so  also  will  be  Louisville.  Besides,  this  important  town  has  intrinsic 
resources,  which  will  not  fail  to  make  it  a  great  place.  More  steam  boats 
are  up  in  New  Orleans  for  it  than  any  other ;  and  except  during  the  sea- 
son of  ice,  or  of  extremely  low  water,  there  seldom  elapses  a  week  with- 
out an  anival  from  New  Orleans.  The  gun  of  the  arriving  or  departing 
steam  boats  is  heard  at  every  hour  of  the  day  and  the  night;  and  no 
person  has  an  adequate  idea  of  the  business  and  bustle  of  Louisville,  until 
he  has  arrived  at  the  town.  The  country  of  which  this  town  is  the 
county  seat,  is  one  of  the  most  fertile,  aud  best  settled  in  the  state.  The 
town  was  formerly  subject  to  frequent  attacks  of  endemic  sickness,  in 
the  summer  and  autumn,  owing  to  stagnant  waters  in  its  vicinity.  The 
ponds  and  marshes  have  been  in  a  great  measure  drained;  and  the  health 
of  the  town  has  improved  in  consequence.  It  has  been  for  some  years 
nearly  as  healthy  as  any  other  town  in  the  same  latitude  on  the  Ohio. 

It  is  fifty -two  miles  north  of  Frankfort ;  one  hundred  and  fifty  south- 
west by  water,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  by  the  mail  route  from  Cincin- 
nati ;  fifty-one  west  from  Lexington ;  and  six  hundred  and  sixty-two  west 
from  Washington. 

Maysville,  the  next  town  in  Kentucky  in  point  of  commercial  import- 
ance to  Louisville,  is  situated  just  below  the  mouth  of  Lime  Stone  creek, 

46 


3t}0  KENTUCKY. 

two  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  by  land,  and  five  hundred  by  water, 
below  Pittsburgh.  It  has  a  fine  harbor  for  boats,  and  is  situated  on  a 
narrow  bottom  on  the  verge  of  a  chain  of  high  hills.  There  are  three 
streets  running  parallel  with  the  river;  and  four  streets  crossing  them  at 
ri<*ht  angles.  The  houses  are  about  five  hundred  in  number;  and  the 
inhabitants  about  four  thousand.  This  place  has  the  usual  number  of 
stores  and  manufactories.  Glass  and  some  other  articles  are  manufactu- 
red to  a  considerable  extent.  If  has  a  market  house,  court  house,  three 
houses  for  public  worship,  and  some  other  public  buildings.  What  has 
given  particular  importance  to  Maysville,  is  its  being  the  principal  place 
of  importation  for  the  north-east  part  of  the  state.  The  greater  part  of 
the  goods  for  Kentucky  from  Philadelphia  and  the  eastern  cities,  are  landed 
here,  and  distributed  hence  over  the  state.  It  is  a  thriving,  active  town, 
and  a  number  of  steam  boats  have  been  built  here. 

Washington,  three  miles  south  of  this  place,  is  a  considerable  village, 
in  the  centre  of  a  fertile  and  well  peopled  country.  It  has  three  parallel 
streets,  two  houses  for  public  worship,  a  court  house,  jail,  two  seminaries 
of  learning,  a  post  and  printing  office,  the  customary  stores  and  mechanic 
shops,  and  a  branch  of  the  Kentucky  bank. 

Paris,  the  chief  town  of  Bourbon  county,  is  situated  on  a  fine  hill,  on 
Stoner  fork  of  Licking  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Houston  creek.  There  are 
a  number  of  important  manufactures  here.  Some  of  the  houses  have  the 
appearanee  of  magnificence.  It  is  central  to  a  delightful  and  populous 
country,  and  is  entirely  an  interior  town,  twenty  miles  east  of  Lexington, 
sixty  miles  south-east  of  Newport,  opposite  Cincinnati,  and  in  north  lati- 
tude 38°  18'.  The  scenery  of  no  place  in  the  western  country  surpasses 
that  on  the  road  between  this  place  and  Lexington. 

Georgetown,  the  county  town  of  Scott  county,  is  surrounded  by  that 
fine  and  rich  country  in  the  centre  of  this  state,  of  which  travellers  have 
spoken  in  terms  of  so  much  praise.  Royal  spring,  a  branch  of  Elkhorn, 
runs  through  the  town.  It  has  a  number  of  considerable  manufacturing 
establishments,  genteel  houses,  and  some  public  buildings,  among  them  a 
church,  printing  office,  post  office,  and  rope  walk.  It  is  fourteen  miles 
porth  of  Lexington,  on  the  road  to  Cincinnati. 

Harrodsburg  is  a  pretty  village  on  both  sides  of  Salt  river,  which  turns 
a  number  of  mills.  It  contains  ninety  houses,  with  the  customary  stores, 
a  church  and  post  office.  Danville,  thirty-three  miles  south-west  from 
Lexington,  is  an  important  village,  containing  between  two  and  three 
hundred  houses,  and  all  the  usual  appendages  of  a  town  of  that  size. 
Stamford,  10  miles  south-east  from  Danville,  contains  one  hundred  and 
twenty  houses.  Somerset,  twelve  miles  south-cast  of  Stamford,  contains 
nearly  one  hundred  houses.     Monticello,  between  Cumberland  river  and 


KENTUCKY.  361 

the  6tate  of  Tennessee,  situated  on  a  ridge  of  hills,  contains  something 
more  than  sixty  houses,  and  is  in  the  vicinity  of  the  noted  nitre  caves. 
Lead  ore  has  heen  found  in  its  vicinity. 

Versailles,  the  chief  town  of  Woodford  county,  contains  over  one  hundred 
houses,  and  is  situated  on  a  creek  which  discharges  into  the  Kentucky 
river.  It  is  thirteen  miles  south-west  from  Lexington,  and  surrounded 
hy  the  same  beautiful  country  which  is  adjacent  to  that  place.  Shelby- 
ville,  on  Brasheare's  creek,  twelve  miles  above  its  junction  with  Salt 
river,  is  a  considerable  village.  Augusta,  twenty-four  miles  below  Mays- 
ville,  on  the  Ohio,  has  eighty  houses,  and  nine  hundred  inhabitants.  Au- 
gusta College  is  a  seminary  of  rising  importance,  under  the  care  of  the 
Methodist  church.  The  college  buildings  consist  of  one  spacious  edifice, 
eighty  feet  by  forty,  and  two  boarding  houses.  It  has  an  average  of  137 
students.  The  village  is  pleasant  and  uncommonly  healthy.  The  presi- 
dent has  deserved  reputation,  and  this  institution  promises  great  utility  to 
the  community. 

Newport,  opposite  to  Cincinnati,  is  the  county  town  for  Campbell 
countv,  and  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  Licking.  It  has  a  charming  pros- 
pect of  Cincinnati,  and  the  surrounding  country,  and  from  that  town, 
seems  a  pleasure  ground  dotted  with  houses.  Few  places  can  show  more 
pleasing  scenery.  It  has  a  spacious  arsenal,  containing  arms,  and  mu- 
nitions of  war  for  the  United  States,  and  some  other  public  buildings,  jail, 
market  house,  post  office,  school  house,  and  an  academy.  Bagging,  cord- 
age, and  tobacco  are  manufactured  here. 

Covington,  situated  below  Newport,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  Lick- 
ino-,  is  laid  out  with  great  regularity.  The  streets  are  intended  to  be 
continuations  of  those  of  Cincinnati.  Liberal  donations  are  made  for 
the  erection  of  public  buildings.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  beauty  of  a 
panoramic  view  of  these  towns,  from  the  hills  north  of  Cincinnati.  The 
Ohio,  in  the  distance,  seems  but  a  rivulet,  and  these  towns  are  so  connec- 
ted by  the  eye,  as  to  seem  to  make  a  part  of  Cincinnati.  These  places 
of  course  are  connected  with  Cincinnati  in  business ;  and  only  want  a 
bridge  across  the  Ohio,  or  a  tunnel  under  it,  actually  to  make  a  part  of 
Cincinnati.  Li  this  place  are  respectable  manufacturing  establishments, 
particularly  of  cotton. 

Cynthiana,  the  county  town  for  Harrison  county,  stands  on  the  north- 
east bank  of  the  south  fork  of  Licking,  twonty-six  miles  north-east  from 
Lexington,  and  thirty-four  in  the  same  direction  from  Frankfort.  It  con- 
tains more  than  one  hundred  houses;  and  a  number  of  respectable  public 
buildings.  It  is  on  a  wide  and  fertile  bottom,  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  and 
populous  settlement.  There  are  a  great  number  of  water  mills  near  the 
town. 


362  KENTUCKY. 

Port  William,  the  county  town  of  Gallatin  county,  stands  on  the  right 
shore  of  the  Kentucky,  a  little  above  its  entrance  into  the  Ohio.  It  con- 
tains sixty  or  seventy  houses.  But  although  its  position  is  fine,  at  the 
outlet  of  this  noble  river,  and  adjacent  to  a  charming  country,  it  has  not 
flourished  according  to  the  expectations  of  its  inhabitants.  This  may  be 
owing  to  the  circumstance,  that  the  delta  on  which  it  is  situated  has  been 
sometimes  inundated. 

Russellville,  the  county  town  of  Logan  county,  is  an  interior  town, 
intermediate  between  Green  and  Cumberland  rivers;  and  thirty-five 
miles  distant  from  each.  It  contains  a  seminary,  denominated  a  college ; 
and  a  number  of  respectable  public  buildings,  together  with  one  hundred 
and  sixty  private  houses.  It  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  south-west 
from  Frankfort,  and  thirty-five  south  of  Louisville.  It  is  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  extensive  prairies  and  barrens  that  appear  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
Salt  licks  abound  near  the  town.  Many  of  the  adjacent  prairies  are  of 
great  beauty. 

There  are  forty  or  fifty  more  considerable  villages  in  this  state,  all 
indicated  in  the  tabular  view  of  the  county  towns  of  this  state.  It  would 
be  but  tiresome  repetition  to  describe  them  with  any  degree  of  particular- 
ity. The  names  of  the  principal  ones  follow,  together  with  the  rivers  on 
which  they  are  situated.  Catletsburg,  at  the  outlet  of  Big  Sandy.  Clarks- 
burg, on  the  Ohio,  forty-eight  miles  below  Catletsburg.  Yellow  Banks, 
Henderson,  Morganfield,  and  Smithland,  are  on  the  Ohio,  below  Louis- 
ville. The  last  named  town  is  at  the  mouth  of  Cumberland  river.  Co- 
lumbia is  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  eleven  miles  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Prestonburg  is  on  the  west  branch  of  Big  Sandy, 
near  the  Cumberland  mountains.  The  following  towns  are  on  Licking : 
Olympian  Springs,  Mount  Sterling,  Millersburg,  Marysville,  and  Fal- 
mouth. On  the  Kentucky  and  its  waters,  besides  those  already  enumera- 
ted, are  Mount  Vernon,  Stamford,  Lancaster,  Richmond,  Winchester, 
Nicholasville,  Harrodsburg,  and  Laurensburg.  On  Salt  river  and  its 
waters,  are  Springfield,  Bealsburg,  Shelbyville,  Middletown,  and  Shep- 
herdsville.  Bardstown  is  an  important  village,  with  a  beautiful  view  of 
adjacent  hills  and  mountains.  On  Green  river  and  its  waters,  are  Casey- 
ville,  Columbia,  Greensburg,  Summcrville,  Monroe,  Glasgow,  Scottsville, 
Bowling  Green,  Morgantown,  Litchfield,  Hardensburg,  Hartford,  Green- 
ville, and  Madisouville.  On  Cumberland  river,  Barboursville,  Burkville, 
Hopkinsville,  Princeton,  and  Centreville.  Some  of  these  villages  have 
churches.  Some  of  them  are  county  towns ;  and  in  a  country  where 
the  whole  scene  is  shifting  under  the  eye  of  the  beholder;  some  of  them, 
no  doubt,  are  more  important  than  some  of  those  which  we  have  particu- 
iarly  noticed   in  description.      Other  villages  may  have  become  impor- 


KENTUCKY.  363 

tant,  that  have  not  yet  been  described ;  and  there  are  villages  deemed 
of  consequence,  at  least  in  their  immediate  vicinity,  which  are  not  here 
named. 

Education.  Beside  the  collegiate  institutions  already  mentioned,  there 
is  Georgetown  College,  a  Baptist  seminary,  recently  commenced  at 
Georgetown,  and  Cumberland  College  at  Princctown.  This  is  an  insti- 
tution for  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians;  the  students,  on  an  average, 
are  one  hundred  and  twenty.  It  is  respectable  for  its  library  and  en- 
dowments, and  adopts  the  manual  labor  system.  Centre  College  at  Dan- 
ville, is  under  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Its  buildings  and 
endowments,  are  already  ample,  and  are  increasing.  It  promises  to  be- 
come an  important  institution. 

In  the  pleasant  vUlage  of  Bardstown,  is  a  highly  respectable  Catholic 
Seminary,  being  the  most  important  one  which  that  church  possesses  in 
the  western  country.  One  object  of  this  institution  is  to  have  theological 
students  for  the  Catholic  ministry.  In  the  college  and  theological  school 
are  two  hundred  ard  thirty  students.  A  number  of  persons  of  both  sexes, 
and  the  different  religious  orders  of  that  church,  reside  here,  and  are  devo- 
ted to  teaching  and  acts  of  charity. 

There  are  other  seminaries,  the  names  and  positions  of  which  we  have 
not  been  able  to  obtain.  But  we  give  instead  a  most  important  document, 
touching  the  state  of  general  education  in  Kentucky.  We  regret  that  it 
is  the  only  one  furnished  by  the  census  of  1830,  of  sufficient  accuracy  and 
universality  to  qualify  it  for  admission  to  this  work.  It  may  stand  in  some 
degree,  as  a  sample  of  the  condition  of  general  education  in  the  states 
where  free  schools  are  not  yet  adopted.  The  system  has  one  obvious 
advantage  over  that  of  New  England.  The  teachers,  for  the  most  part, 
are  trained  to  their  profession,  and  consider  it  not  an  incidental  but  a  per- 
petual pursuit.  They  acquire  an  experience,  talent  of  government,  and 
power  of  self  possession,  which  cannot  be  expected  from  those  who  adopt 
the  profession  only  as  an  expedient,  and  for  a  season.  It  differs  in  ano- 
ther respect  from  that  of  New  England.  There  the  greater  number  of 
pupils  attend  school  in  winter;  and  here  in  the  summer. 


364 


KENTUCKY. 


Name  of  County. 


Number  1 

Children 

So.  in  co. 

Number 

Average  1 

df 

at 

between 

not  at 

size  of 

Schools.  | 

School. 

5  and  15. 

School. 

.schools. 

13  j 

292 

1820 

1528 

22 

12 

286 

1642 

1356 

24 

9 

302 

946 

644 

33 

24 

644 

3222 

2578 

27 

15 

453 

2002 

1549 

30 

19 

599 

1955 

1356 

31 

48 

1246 

3019 

1773 

26 

12 

325 

1587 

1262 

27 

16 

400 

1715 

1315 

25 

7 

158 

768 

610 

22 

11 

245 

1382 

1137 

22 

17 

453 

2616 

2165 

21 

6 

126 

1154 

1023 

21 

16 

453 

1833 

1380 

28 

20 

624 

2334 

1710 

31 

21 

810 

2423 

1613 

40 

3 

51 

959 

908 

17 

9 

241 

2005 

1764 

27 

9 

229 

1069 

840 

25 

2 

62 

727 

665 

31 

*39 

1122 

2925 

1803 

29 

28 

870 

3870 

3000 

31 

6 

151 

1307 

1156 

25 

16 

485 

1629 

1144 

30 

14 

394 

1618 

1224 

28 

20 

459 

2301 

1842 

23 

9 

296 

816 

520 

33 

4 

102 

645 

543 

25 

8 

252 

1080 

828 

31 

14 

329 

2358 

2529 

23 

9 

270 

1541 

1271 

30 

3 

86 

327 

241 

29 

23 

693 

3234 

2541 

30 

3 

64 

841 

777 

21 

24 

835 

3000 

2165 

34 

6 

155 

1372 

1217 

26 

12 

243 

1153 

910 

20 

53 

606 

2521 

1915 

26 

5 

127 

1269 

1142 

25 

13 

260 

1587 

1327 

20 

18 

520 

1789 

1269 

29 

4 

113 

1104 

991 

28 

2 

41 

582 

541 

20 

9 

179 

1124 

945 

19 

9 

242 

1365 

1123 

27 

Adair, 

Allen, 

Anderson, 

Barren, 

Bath, 

Boone, 

Bourbon, 

Bracken, 

Brackenridge, 

Bullitt, 

Butler, 

Callaway, 

Campbell, 

Casey, 

Caldwell, 

Christian, 

Clark, 

Clay, 

Cumberland, 

Daviess, 

Edmonson, 

Estill, 

Fayette,* 

Fleming, 

Floyd, 

Franklin, 

Gallatin, 

Garrard, 

Grant, 

Graves, 

Grayson, 

Greene, 

Greenup, 

Hancock, 

Hardin, 

Harland, 

Harrison, 

Hart, 

Henderson, 

Henry, 

Hickman, 

Hopkins, 

Jefferson, 

Jessamine, 

Knox, 

Laurel, 

Lawrence, 

Lewis, 

*Out  of  Lexington. 


KENTUCKY. 


3G5 


Name  of  County. 

dumber 

Children  No.  in  co.| 

Number 

Average]  Population 

of 

at 

between 

not  at 

size  of 

of  each 

School9. 

School. 

5   and  15. 

School. 

Schools 

.]      County. 

Lincoln, 

24 

537 

2028 

14911 

22 

Livingston, 

Logan, 

10 

390 

2331 

1941 

23 

Mason, 

39 

1180 

30S0 

1900 

30 

Madison, 

33 

1054 

3146 

2392 

32  • 

Mercer, 

Mead, 

8 

226 

896 

640 

32 

McCracken, 

39 

1043 

3441 

2398 

28 

Monroe, 

7 

252 

1483 

1231 

36 

Montgomery, 

15 

551 

2146 

1595 

36 

Morgan, 

00 

000 

893 

893 

Muhlenburgh, 

12 

258 

1248 

990 

21 

Nelson, 

23 

807 

2873 

2066 

35 

Nicholas, 

16 

612 

2180 

1568 

38 

Ohio, 

7 

168 

1121 

953 

24 

Oldham, 

17 

446 

1984 

1538 

26 

Owen, 

12 

299 

1468 

1169 

25 

Pendleton, 

8 

318 

1026 

708 

39 

Perry, 

3 

52 

992 

940 

17 

Pike, 

3 

53 

785 

732 

17 

Pulaski, 

23 

589 

2438 

1879 

25 

Rock  Castle, 

7 

145 

784 

639 

21 

Russell, 

1 

■    28 

926 

898 

28 

Scott, 

18 

690 

2525 

1835 

38 

Shelby, 

43 

1125 

3704 

2579 

26 

Simpson, 

12 

393 

1418 

1025 

33 

Spencer, 

12 

282 

1544 

1262 

23 

Todd,' 

16 

363 

1471 

1108 

22 

• 

Trigg, 

13 

318 

1294 

976 

24 

Union, 

8 

252 

923 

691 

31 

Warren, 

13 

405 

2291 

1886 

31 

Washington, 

34 

.  907 

4119 

3212 

26 

Wayne, 

9 

307 

2350 

2043 

34 

Whitely, 

7 

195 

1086 

891 

28 

Woodford, 

23 

666 

1812 

1446 

29 

Total,         1131       |31S34|139142|10732!?| 


Name  of  County. 

Am't.  now- 
paid  for 
education. 

Average 
price  of 
tuition. 

ICost  of  edu- 
cating all  at 
1    this  rate. 

Average 
income  of 
Teachers 

Pay  of  teachers, 
supposing40  pu- 
pils ta  a  school. 

Adair, 
Allen, 

$2259 

"217S 

$7  75 
7  50 

$14105 
10170 

$173 
181 

$310 
300 

Anderson, 

2480 

8  20 

7757 

275 

328 

Barren, 

5608 

8  40 

27064 

275 

336 

Bath, 

3281 

7  25 

14514 

219 

290 

Boone, 

5136 

8  57 

16754 

270 

342 

Bourbon, 

12134 

9  73 

29377 

253 

389 

Bracken, 

2360 

7  25 

11505 

197 

290 

Brackenridgc, 

3452 

8  63 

14800 

216 

345 

366 


KENTUCKY 


Name  of  County.  1 

A.m'tnow 

Average 

Cost  of  educa- 

Average Pay  of  teachers, 

1 

paid  for 

price  of 

ting  all  at 

income  of 

supposing  40  pu- 

1 

education. 

tuition. 

this  rate. 

teachers. 

pils  to  a  school. 

Bullitt, 

Butler, 

1289 

8  15 

6259 

184 

326 

Calloway, 
Campbell, 

2084 

8  51 

11760 

190 

340 

3188 

7  03 

18390 

187 

281 

Casev, 

872 

6  92 

7985 

145 

276 

Caldwell, 

4276 

9  46 

17330 

267 

378 

Christian, 

6093 

9  76 

22779 

304 

390 

Clarke, 

6383 

7  88 

19093 

304 

315 

Clay, 

540 

10  59 

10155 

120 

423 

Cumbei'land, 

2044 

8  48 

17002 

227 

339 

Daviess, 

2140 

9  34 

9984 

238 

373 

Edmondson, 

744 

12  00 

8724 

372 

480 

Estill, 

Fayette, 

11467 

10  22 

29893 

300 

408 

Fleming, 

6192 

7  12 

27554 

221 

284 

Floyd, 

1208 

8  00 

10456 

201 

320 

Franklin, 

4632 

9  56 

15573 

289 

382 

Gallatin, 

3167 

8  03 

12992 

226 

321 

Garrard, 

3945 

8  59 

19765 

197 

353 

Grant, 

2105 

7  11 

5801 

234 

284 

Graves, 

1020 

10  00 

6450 

255 

400 

Grayson, 

2140 

8  49 

9169 

267 

339 

Greene, 

3314 

10  07 

28780 

237 

402 

Greenup, 

2418 

8  95 

13791 

268 

352 

Hancock, 

814 

9  46 

3093 

271 

378 

Hardin, 

6372 

9  19 

29720 

277 

367 

Harlan, 

642 

10  03 

8435 

214 

401 

Harrison, 

7373 

8  82 

26460 

307 

352 

Hart, 

1381 

8  90 

12210 

230 

356 

Henderson, 

2896 

11  09 

12786 

241 

443 

Henry, 

4557 

7  51 

18932 

198 

300 

Hickman, 

1112 

8  75 

11103 

222 

350 

Hopkins, 

2240 

8  62 

13679 

172 

344 

Jefferson, 

Jessamine, 

4416 

8  49 

15188 

452 

339 

Knox, 

1038 

9  18 

10134 

259 

367 

Laurel, 

328 

8  00 

4656 

164 

320 

Lawrence, 

1346 

7  52 

8452 

149 

300 

Lewis, 

1686 

6  97 

9515 

187 

278 

Lincoln, 

4896 

9  11 

18475 

203 

364 

Livingston, 

Logan, 
Mason, 

5046 

12  91 

30093 

315 

516 

11089 

9  57 

29475 

-284 

382 

Madison, 

8197 

7  77 

26775 

248 

310 

McCracken, 

Mead, 

1984 

7  75 

6944 

248 

310 

Mercer, 

9737 

9  33 

32104 

250 

373 

Monroe, 

1976 

7  84 

11626 

282, 

313 

KENTUCKY, 


367 


Name  of  County. 


Am't  now 

paid   for 

education. 


Average 
price  of 
tuition. 


Cost  of  edu-l  Average  I  Pay  of  teachers,  sup- 
ting  all  at  income  of  posing  forty  pupils  to 
this  rate.       teachers.  a  school. 


Montgomery, 

Morgan, 

Muhlcnburgh, 

Nelson, 

Nicholas, 

Ohio, 

Oldham, 

Owen, 

Pendleton, 

Perry, 

Pike, 

Pulaski, 

Rock  Castle, 

Russell, 

Scott, 

Shelby, 

Simpson, 

Spencer, 

Todd, 

Trigg, 

Union, 

Warren, 

Washington, 

Waj  no, 

Widely, 

Woodford, 


$4251 

$7  71 

$16545 

$283 

1900 

7  36 

9165 

156 

8320 

10  31 

29610 

362 

4435 

7  26 

15826 

277 

1485 

8  84 

9909 

212 

3G89 

8  27 

16407 

217 

2108 

7  05 

10348 

175 

2379 

7  48 

7674 

297 

498 

9  58 

9503 

162 

464 

8  75 

6868 

155 

4038 

6  74 

16432 

175 

1200 

8  28 

6491 

177 

224 

8  00 

7408 

224 

7288 

10  56 

26664 

404 

8852 

7  86 

29113 

200 

3613 

9  19 

13031 

301 

2176 

7  71 

11904 

181 

3724 

10  25 

15077 

233 

3053 

9  SI 

12694 

228 

2470 

9  80 

9045 

308 

3112 

7  68 

17594 

239 

8551 

9  42 

38800 

251 

*    2650 

8  63 

20380 

294 

1433 

7  35 

7882 

204 

7378 

11  08 

20036 

321 

$308 

294 
412 
290 
353 
330 
282 
299 
383 
350 
269 
331 
320 
422 
314 
367 
308 
410 
392 
392 
307 
376 
345 
294 
443 


Total, 


278592 


1200052 


Curiosities,  <Sfc.  Among  the  antiquities  of  this  state  are  great  num- 
bers of  those  Indian  mounds,  that  are  found  over  all  the  western  coun- 
try. When  this  country  was  first  discovered,  great  numbers  of  human 
bodies,  in  a  state  of  entire  preservation,  were  found  in  a  cave  near  Lex- 
ington. The  pioneers  of  the  settlements  in  this  country  did  not  attach 
much  consequence  to^skeletons,  and-  none  of  them  remain.  The  bodies 
that  were  found  in  the  Saltpetre  cave,  have  been  examined  by  thousands. 
They  were  considerably  smaller  than  the  men  of  our  times.  The  teeth 
and  nails  did  not  seem  to  intimate  the  shrinkins;  of  the  flesh  from  them, 
in  the  desiccating  process,  by  which  they  had  been  preserved.  The 
teeth  were  separated  by  considerable  intervals,  and  were  long,  white,  and 
sharp. 

In  an  ancient  mound  on  Caney  Fork  of  Cumberland  river,  four  feet 
below  the  surface,  a  vessel  was  found,  of  which  it  would  be  difficult  to 
convey  an  adequate  idea,  without  an  engraving.  It  consisted  of  three 
heads,  joined  together  at  the  back  part  of  them  near  the  top,  by  a  stem 

47 


3G8  KENTUCKY. 

or  handle,  which  rises  above  the  heads  about  three  inches.  The  stem  is 
hollow,  six  inches  in  circumference  at  the  top,  increasing  in  size  as 
it  descends.  These,  heads  are  all  of  the  same  dimensions,  being  about 
four  inches  from  the  apex  to  the  chin.  The  face  at  the  eyes  is  three 
inches  broad,  decreasing  in  breadth  all  the  way  to  the  chin.  Most  persons 
have  supposed  that  they  are  fac  similes  of  the  Tartar  countenance. 
They  do  not  so  strike  us.  Neither  does  their  model  appear  to  have  been 
any  thing  like  the  present  Indian  countenance.  The  faces  are  remark- 
able for  their  fullness,  and  evince  no  inconsiderable  skill  in  the  moulder. 
It  is  of  the  common  earthen  fabric  of  the  pottery  generally  found  about 
the  mounds. 

In  another  mound,  within  twenty  miles  of  Lexington,  were  found  nine 
very  large  and  beautiful  marine  shells  of  the  murex  class,  and  perfectly 
similar,  in  their  general  contour,  to  those  called  conch  shells.  They  have 
all  the  freshness  of  those  found  on  the  shores  of  the  sea.  This  state, 
like  Tennessee,  abounds  in  lime  stone  caves,  of  an  extent  and  grandeur 
to  which  the  famous  cave  at  Antiparos  will  hold  no  comparison. 

There  are  numberless  caves,  sinks,  and  precipices,  that  in  any  other 
country  would  be  regarded  as  curiosities.  They  are  sources  of  wealth 
in  many  instances  to  their  proprietors.  No  earth,  in  any  country,  has 
been  found  more  strongly  impregnated  with  nitre.  It  is  affirmed  that 
fifty  pounds  of  crude  nitre  have  been  extracted  from  an  hundred  pounds- 
of  the  earth.  During  the  late  war,  four  hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year 
were  manufactured  from  this  earth  in  this  state  ;  and  probably  as  great 
an  amount  of  gunpowder.  We  have  already  mentioned,  as  striking  cu- 
riosities, the  prodigious  depths  in  which  many  of  the  rivers  in  this*  state 
run,  which  are  worn  through  strata  of  solid  lime  stone.  The  caves,  the 
sinkholes,  the  gulfs,  and  the  deeply  excavated  beds  of  the  rivers,  afford 
a  continual  source  of  curiosity  and  astonishment  to  travellers,  who  are 
not  thoroughly  used  to  this  country. 

Character,  Manners,  S$c.  The  people  of  this  state  have  a  character 
as  strongly  marked  by  nationality,  as  those  of  any  state  of  the  union.  It 
is  a  character  extremely  difficult  to  describe,  although  all  the  shades  of 
it  are  strongly  marked  to  the  eye  of  a  person  who  has  been  long  ac- 
quainted with  them.  They  are  not  only  unique  in  their  manners,  but  in 
their  origin.  They  arc  scions  from  a  noble  stock — the  descendants  from 
affluent  and  respectable  planters  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 
They  are  in  that  condition  in  life,  which  is  perhaps  best  calculated  to 
develope  high-mindedness  and  self  respect.  They  have  a  distinct  and 
si  rikiug  moral  physiognomy,  an  enthusiasm,  a  vivacity  and  ardor  of  cha- 
raCter,  courage,  frankness,  and  generosity,  that  have  been  developed 
with  the  peculiar  circumstances   under  which  they  have  been  placed. 


I  KENTUCKY.  309 

They  have  a  delightful  frankness  of  hospitality,  which  rentiers  a  sojourn 
among  them  exceedingly  pleasant  to  a  stranger.  Their  language,  the 
very  amusing  dialect  of  the  common  people,  their  opinions  and  modes 
of  thinking,  from  various  circumstances,  have  heen  very  extensively 
communicated,  and  impressed  upon  the  general  characte^of  the  people 
of  the  west.  Their  bravery  has  been  evinced  in  field  and  forest  from 
Louisiana  to  Canada.  Their  enthusiasm  of  character  is  very  observa- 
ble, in  the  ardor  with  which  all  classes  of  people  express  themselves  in 
reference  to  their  favorite  views  and  opinions.  All  their  feelings  tend 
to  extremes.  It  is  not  altogether  in  burlesque,  that  they  are  described 
as  boastful,  and  accustomed  to  assume  to  themselves  the  best  horse,  dog, 
'  gun,  wife,  statesmen,  and  country.  Their  fearless  ardor,  and  frankness, 
and  self  confidence,  become  to  their  young  men,  in  other  parts  of  the 
west,  in  competition  for  place  and  precedence,  as  a  good  siar.  When  a 
Kentuckian  presents  himself  in  another  state,  as  a  candidate  for  an  of- 
fice, in  competition  with  a  candidate  from  another  state,  other  circum- 
stances being  equal,  the  Kentuckian  carries  it.  Wherever  the  Kentuc- 
kian travels,  he  earnestly  and  affectionately  remembers  his  native  hills 
and  plains.  His  thoughts  as  incessantly  turn  towards  home,  as  those  of 
the  Swiss.  He  invokes  the  genius  of  his,  country,  in  trouble,  danger, 
and  solitude.  It  is  to  him  the  home  of  plenty,  beaut}-,  greatness,  and 
every  thing  that  he  desires,  or  respects.  This  nationality  never  deserts 
him.  No  country  will  bear  a  comparison  with  his  country  j  no  people 
with  his  people.  English  are  said  to  go  into  battle  with  a  song  about 
roast  beef  in  their  mouths.  When  the  Kentuckian  encounters  dangers 
of  battle,  or  of  any  kind,  when  ho  is  even  on  board  a  foundering  ship,  his 
last  exclamation  is,  'hurrah  for  old  Kentucky.' 

Religion.  The  prevailing  denominations  are  Baptists,  Presbyterians, 
Methodists,  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  and  Seceders.  The  people  man- 
ifest their  excitable  and  ardent  character  upon  this,  as  upon  all  other  sub- 
jects. They  have  an  insatiable  curiosity  to  hear  new  preachers,  and  an 
extreme  eagerness  for  novelty.  Religious  excitements  are  common  and 
carried  to  the  highest  point  of  emotion.  Religion,  in  some  form,  seems  to 
be  generally  respected;  and  there  is  scarcely  a  village  or  a  populous 
settlement  in  the  state,  that  has  not  one,  or  more,  favorite  preachers.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  say  which  is  the  predominant  denomination,  that  of 
the  Baptists,  Methodists,  or  Presbyterians.  But  notwithstanding  the 
marked  enthusiasm  of  the  character  of  this  people,  notwithstanding  they 
are  much  addicted  to  bitter  political  disputation,  notwithstanding  all  the 
collisions  from  opposing  parties  and  clans,  as  a  state,  the  people  have  uni- 
formly distinguished  themselves  for  religious  order,  quiet,  and  tolerance. 


370  KENTUCKY. 

Constitution,  Government,  fyc.  The  legislative  power  is  divided  as 
usual.  The  senators  are  elected  for  four  years,  and  the  representatives 
for  one.  A  person  to  be  eligible  as  a  senator,  must  be  thirty -five  years  of 
age,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  must  have  resided  six  years  in  the 
state,  and  one -year  in  the  district  for  which  he  is  chosen.  A  representa- 
tive must  be  twenty-four  years  of  age,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
must  have  resided  in  the  state  two  years,  and  in  the  district  one.  The 
governor  is  elected  for  four  years,  and  is  eligible  four  years  out  of  eleven. 
He  must  be  thirty  years  of  age,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  must 
have  resided  in  the  state  two  years.  He  has  a  qualified  negative  upon 
the  proceedings  of  the  assembly,  has  a  pardoning  power,  and  makes  ap- 
pointments  with  the  consent  of  the  senate.  The  judiciary  consists  in  a 
supreme  court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  assembly  may  appoint, 
and  the  judges  retain  their  offices  during  good  behaviour.  Every  free 
white  male  citizen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one,  who  has  resided  in  the  state 
two  years,  or  one  year  in  the  district,  is  entitled  to  the  elective  franchise. 


INDIANA. 


Length,  250.    Breadth,  150  miles.     Between  37°  47'  and  41°  50'  N. 
latitude,  and  7°  45'  and  11°  W.  longitude.     Bounded  north  by  Michigan 
territory  and  lake  Michigan ;    west  by  the  state  of  Illinois ;  south  by  the 
Ohio,  which  divides  it  from  Kentucky;  east  by  the  state  of  Ohio. 
civil  divisions. 


Counties. 
Allen, 

Bartholomew, 
Boone, 
Carroll, 
Cass 
Clark, 
Clay, 
Clinton, 
Crawford, 
Daviess, 
Dearborn, 
Delaware, 
Decatur, 
Dubois, 
Elkhart, 
Fayette, 
Floyd, 
Fountain, 
Franklin, 
Gibson, 
Greene, 
Grant, 
Hamilton, 


Chief  Towns. 
Port  Wayne, 
Columbus, 

Delphi, 
Logansport, 
Charlestown, 
Bowling  Green, 

Fredonia, 

Washington, 

Lawrenceburgh, 

Greensburgh, 
Barbersville, 

Connersville, 

New  Albany, 

Covington, 

Brookville, 

Princeton, 

Bloomfield, 

Noblesville, 


372 


TX  DIANA. 

Hancock, 

Harrison, 

Cory don, 

Henry, 

New  Castle, 

Hendricks, 

Danville, 

Jackson, 

Brownstown, 

Jefferson, 

Madison, 

Jennings, 

Vernon, 

Johnson, 

Franklin, 

Knox, 

Vincennes, 

Lawrence, 

Bedford, 

Madison, 

Andersontown, 

Marion, 

Indianapolis, 

Martin 

Mount  Pleasant, 

Monroe, 

Bloomington, 

Montgomery, 

Crawfordsville, 

Morgan, 

Martinsville, 

Orange, 

Pavli 

Owen, 

Spencer, 

Parke, 

Rockville, 

Perry, 

Rome, 

Pike, 

Petersburgh, 

Posey, 

Mt.  Vernon  &.  Harmony, 

Putnam, 

Green  Castle, 

Randolph, 

Winchester, 

Ripley, 

Versailles, 

Rush, 

Rushville, 

Scott, 

Lexington, 

Shelby, 

Shelbyville, 

Spencer, 

Rockport, 

St.  Joseph, 

Sullivan, 

Merom, 

Switzerland, 

Vevay, 

Tippicanoe, 

Lafayette, 

Union, 

Liberty, 

Vanderburgh, 

Evansville, 

Vermillion, 

Newport, 

Vigo, 

Terrehaute, 

Wabash, 

Warren, 

Warrich, 

Booncville, 

Washington,' 

Salem, 

Wayne, 

Centreville  &,  Richmond. 

INDIANA.  373 

The  whole  of  this  state  belongs  to  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  or  lake  Michi- 
gan. It  is  the  first  of  the  states,  in  advancing  from  the  west,  east,  and 
north,  where  nature  seems  to  have  divided  the  surface  between  prairie 
and  wood  land.  The  greater  proportion  of  this  state  is  a  timbered  coun- 
try. Here,  too,  we  first  find  the  number  and  manners  of  northern  people 
predominating  among  the  immigrants.  Here  we  first  discover,  in  most 
places,  a  clear  ascendency  of  New  England  dialect,  manners,  and  popu- 
lation. Here,  too,  we  note  the  natural  tendency  of  this  order  of  things, 
and  this  class  of  immigrants  rapidly,  and  yet  silently  filling  the  country 
with  inhabitants.  Missouri  and  Illinois  have  occupied  a  greater  space  in 
public  estimation,  in  newspaper  description,  and  in  general  notoriety. 
The  immigration  to  these  states  has  been  with  four  or  six  horsa  wagons, 
large  droves  of  cattle,  considerable  numbers  of  negroes,  and  composed  of 
immigrants  who  had  name,  and  were  heads  of  families  when  they  remo- 
ved, and  whose  immigration  was  accompanied  with  a  certain  degree  of 
eclat.  The  acquisition  of  a  few  families  was  attended  with  circumstan- 
ces, which  gave  it  public  notoriety.  The  settling  of  this  state  has  been 
generally  of  a  different  character,  and  for  the  most  part  of  young  men, 
either  unmarried  or  without  families.  It  has  been  noiseless  and  unnoti- 
ced. But  the  difference  of  the  result  strikes  us  with  surprise.  While 
the  population  of  neither  of  these  states  has  reached  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand,  the  population  of  this  state,  at  this  time,  is  supposed  to  ex- 
ceed four  hundred  thousand,  though  the  total  given  by  the  census  is  three 
hundred  and  forty  four  thousand; — of  these  sixty -five  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  are  free  white  male  inhabitants  over  21  years.  The 
number  of  voters  in  1825,  was  thirty-six  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-seven, and  of  paupers  two  hundred  and  seventeen. 

Face  of  the  Country,  Soil,  £fc.  The  south  front  is  skirted  with  the 
usual  belt  of  river  hills,  bluffs,  and  knobs,  known  by  the  name  of  'Ohio 
hills.'  They  occupy  a  greater  or  less  distance  from  the  river;  sometimes 
leaving  between  it  and  their  base  a  bottom  of  two  or  three  miles  in  width ; 
and  sometimes,  and  for  no  inconsiderable  length  of  the  southern  bounda- 
ry, they  tower  directly  from  the  waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  have  a  thousand 
aspects  of  grandeur  and  beauty,  often  rising  higher  than  three  hundred 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  river.  The  eye  of  the  southern  traveller, 
ascending  the  Ohio,  which  has  been  used  to  rest  on  bottoms  boundless  to 
vision,  on  swamps,  and  regions  without  a  rock  or  a  hill  in  the  scenery, 
never  tires,  in  surveying  these  beautiful  bluffs,  especially  in  the  spring, 
when  their  declivities  are  crimsoned  with  the  red  bud,  or  whitened  with 
the  brilliant  blossoms  of  the  dogwood,  or  rendered  verdant  with  the  beau 
titul  May  apple. 


374  INDIANA. 

A  range  of  knobs,  stretching  from  the  Ohio  to  White  river  of  the  Wa- 
bash, forms  the  limits  of  the  table  lands,  that  separate  the  waters  of  the 
Ohio  from  those  of  White  river.  North  of  the  Wabash,  between  Tippi- 
canoe  and  Ouitanon,  the  Wabash  hills  are  precipitous,  and  a  considerable 
extent  of  country  is  rough  and  broken.  There  are  in  different  parts  of 
the  state,  large  extents  of  country  that  may  be  pronounced  hilly.  Such 
is  the  south  front  of  the  state  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the  Ohio. 
There  are  not  such  extensive  plains  in  this  state,  as  in  Illinois.  Nor  are 
there  any  hills  to  vie  with  those  back  of  Shawneetown.  But  with  some 
few  exceptions,  the  greater  proportion  of  this  state  may  be  pronounced  one 
vast  level.  To  particularize  the  level  tracts  would  be  to  describe  three- 
fifths  of  the  state.  The  prairies  here,  as  elsewhere,  are  uniformly  level. 
The  wide  extent  of  country,  watered  by  White  river,  is  generally  level. 
The  prairies  have  the  usual  distinction  of  high  and  low,  swampy  and"  allu- 
vial. For  a  wide  extent  on  the  north  front  of  the  state,  between  the  Wa- 
bash and  lake  Michigan,  the  country  is  generally  an  extended  plain,  alter- 
nately prairie  and  timbered  land,  with  a  great  proportion  of  swampy 
lands,  and  small  lakes  and  ponds.  The  prairies  are  no  ways  different  from 
those  of  Illinois;  alike  rich,  level,  and  covered  with  grass  and  flowering 
plants.  Some,  like  those  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  are  broader  than'can  be 
measured  by  the  eye.  Their  divisions  are  marked  off  wherever  streams 
cross  them  by  belts  of  timbered  land.  All  the  rivers  of  this  state  have 
remarkably  wide  alluvions.  Every  traveller  has  spoken  with  admiration 
of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  prairies  along  the  course  of  the  Wabash, 
particularly  of  those  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Harrison.  Competent  judges 
prefer  the  prairies  on  this  part  of  the  river,  both  for  beaut}'  and  fertility,  to 
those  of  the  Illinois,  and  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Perhaps  no  part  of  the 
western  world  can  show  greater  extents  of  rich  land  in  one  body,  than  that 
portion  of  White  river  country,  of  which  Indianapolis  is  the  centre.  Judg- 
ing of  Indiana,  from  travelling  through  the  south  front  from  twelve  to 
twenty  miles  from  the  Ohio,  we  should  not,  probably,  compare  it  with 
Ohio  or  Illinois.  But  now,  when  the  greater  part  of  the  territory  is  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians,  and  all  is  surveyed,  and  well  understood,  it  is  found 
that  this  state  possesses  as  large  a  proportion  of  first  rate  lands  as  any  in 
the  western  country.  With  some  few  exceptions  of  wide  prairies,  the 
divisions  of  timbered  and  prairie  lands  are  more  happily  balanced,  than  in 
other  parts  of  the  western  country.  Many  rich  prairies  arc  long  and  nar- 
row, so  that  the  whole  can  be  taken  up,  and  timber  be  easily  accessible  by 
all  the  settlers.  There  are  hundreds  of  prairies  only  large  enough  for  a 
few  farms.  Even  in  the  large  prairies  are  those  beautiful  islands  of  tim- 
bered land,  which  form  such  a  striking  feature  in  the  western  prairies. 
The  great  extents  of  fertile  land,  the  happy  distribution  of  rivers  and 

% 


INDIANA.  375 

springs  may  be  one  cause  of  the  unexampled  rapidity,  with  which  this 
state  has  peopled.  Another  reason  may  be,  that  being  a  non-slave-holding 
state,  and  next  in  position  beyond  Ohio,  it  was  happily  situated  to  arrest 
the  tide  of  immigration  that  set  beyond  Ohio,  after  that  state  was  filled. 

We  add  a  few  remarks  in  a  single  view,  upon  the  qualities  of  the  soil, 
on  the  several  rivers,  and  near  the  towns,  which  we  shall  describe.  The 
forest  trees,  shrubs,  plants,  and  grasses,  do  not  materially  differ  from  those 
of  Illinois  and  Missouri.  There  is  one  specific  difference,  that  should  be 
noted.  There  is  a  much  greater  proportion  of  beech  timber,  which  in- 
creases so  much  as  we  advance  east,  that  in  Ohio  it  is  clearly  the  prin- 
cipal kind  of  timber.  This  state  is  equally  fertile  in  corn,  rye,  oats,  bar- 
ley, wheat,  and  the  cereal  gramina  in  general.  Vast  extents  of  the  rich- 
er prairies  and  bottoms  are  too  rich  for  wheat,  until  the  natural  wild  lux- 
uriance in  the  soil  has  been  reduced  by  cropping.  Upland  rice  has  been 
attempted  with  success.  Some  of  the  warm  and  sheltered  valleys  have 
yielded,  in  favorable  years,  considerable  crops  of  cotton.  No  country  can 
exceed  this  in  its  adaptedness  for  rearing  the  finest  fruits  and  fruit  bear- 
ing shrubs.  Wild  berries  in  many  places  are  abundant ;  and  on  some  of 
the  prairies  the  strawberries  are  large  and  fine.  It  is  affirmed  that  in  the 
northern  parts  in  the  low  prairies,  whole  tracts  are  covered  with  the  beau- 
tiful foul-meadow  grass,  poapratensis,  of  the  north  It  is  a  cei  tain  fact, 
that  wherever  the  Indians  or  the  French  have  inhabited  long  enough  to 
destroy  the  natural  prairie  grass,  which,  it  is  well  known,  is  soon  eradi- 
cated, by  being  pastured  by  the  domestic  animals  that  surround  a  farmer's 
barn,  this  grass  is  replaced  by  the  blue  grass  of  the  western  country, 
which  furnishes  not  only  a  beautiful  sward,  but  covers  the  earth  with  a 
mat  of  rich  fodder,  not  unlike  the  second  crop,  which  is  cut  in  the  north- 
ern states,  as  the  most  valuable  kind  of  hay.  For  all  the  objects  of  farm- 
ing, and  raising  grain,  flour,  hemp,  tobacco,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  horses, 
and  generally  the  articles  of  the  northern  and  middle  states,  immigrants 
could  not  desire  a  better  country  than  may  be  found  in  Indiana.  In  the 
rich  bottoms  in  the  southern  parts,  the  reed  cane,  and  uncommonly  large 
ginseng  are  abundant. 

Climate,  &$c.  Little  need  be  said  upon  this  head,  for  this  state,  situa- 
ted in  nearly  the  same  parallels  with  Illinois  and  Missouri,  has  much  the 
same  temperature.  That  part  of  it  which  is  contiguous  to  lake  Michigan, 
is  more  subject  to  copious  rains;  and  being  otherwise  low  and  marshy, 
much  of  the  land  is  too  wet  for  cultivation.  ■  Some  have  described  the 
country  and  climate  near  lake  Michigan,  as  productive  and  delightful. 
For  a  considerable  distance  from  the  lake,  sand  heaps  covered  with  a  few 
stinted  junipers,  and  swept  by  the  gales  of  the  lake,  give  no  promise  of  a 
fine  country  or  climate.     But  beyond  the  influence  of  the  lake  breeze, 

48 


376  INDIANA. 


* 


the  climate  is  cool,  mild,  and  temperate.     The  state,  in  general,  is  some- 
what less  exposed  to  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  than  Illinois. 

In  point  of  salubrity,  we  can  do  no  more  than  repeat  the  remarks,  which 
have  so  often  been  found  applicable  to  the  western  country  in  general, 
and  which  from  the  nature  of  things,  must  apply  to  all  countries.  The 
high  and  rolling  regions  of  this  state  are  as  healthy  as  the  same  kinds  of 
land  in  the  other  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  wet  prairies,  swampy 
lands,  and  tracts  contiguous  to  small  lakes  and  ponds,  and  inundated  bot- 
toms, intersected  by  bayous,  generate  fever  and  ague,  and  autumnal 
fevers,  and  impart  a  bilious  tendency  to  all  the  disorders  of  the  country. 
The  beautiful  prairies  above  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Fort  Harrison  and  Tippicanoe,  are  found  to  have  some  balance 
against  their  fertility,  beauty  of  appearance,  and  the  ease  with  which 
they  are  cultivated,  in  their  insalubrity.  That  the  settlers  in  general 
have  found  this  state,  taken  as  a  whole,  favorable  to  health,  the  astonish- 
ing increase  of  the  population  bears  ample  testimony. 

The  winters  are  mild,  compared  with  those  of  New  England  or  Penn- 
sylvania. Winter  commences  in  its  severity  about  Christmas,  and  lasts 
seldom  more  than  six  weeks.  During  this  time,  inmost  seasons,  the  rivers 
that  have  not  very  rapid  currents  are  frozen.  Though  winters  occur  in 
which  the  Wabash  cannot  be  crossed  upon  the  ice.  About  the  middle  of 
February,  the  severity  of  winter  is  past.  In  the  northern  parts  of  the 
state,  snow  sometimes,  though  rarely,  falls  a  foot  and  a  half  in  depth.  In 
the  middle  and  southern  parts,  it  seldom  falls  more  than  six  inches.  Peach 
trees  are  generally  in  blossom  early  in  March.  The  forests  begin  to  be 
green  from  the  fifth  to  the  fifteenth  of  April.  Vast  numbers  of  flowering 
shrubs  are  in  full  flower,  before  they  are  in  leaf,  which  gives  an  inex- 
pressible charm  to  the  early  appearance  of  spring.  Vegetation  is  liable 
to  be  injured  both  by  early  and  late  frosts. 

Rivers.  The  southern  shore  of  this  state  is  washed  by  the  Ohio,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Big  Miami  to  that  of  the  Wabash,  a  distance  of  nearly 
five  hundred  miles,  by  the  meanders  of  the  river.  We  reserve  a  descrip- 
tion of  this  noble  stream  for  our  account  of  the  state  of  Ohio.  Between 
the  Miami  and  the  Wabash,  the  following  considerable  streams,  together 
with  many  small  ones,  enter  the  Ohio.  Tanner's  creek  falls  in  two  miles 
below  Lawrenccbiirgh,  and  has  a  course  of  thirty  miles.  Loughery's 
creek  enters  eleven  miles  below  the  Miami,  and  is  forty  miles  in  length. 
Indian  creek,  called  by  the  Swiss,  in  remembrance  of  a  stream  in  their 
native  country,  Venogc,  bounds  the  Swiss  settlements  on  the  south,  and 
enters  the  Ohio  eight  miles  below  the  point  opposite  to  Kentucky  river. 
Wyandot,  Big  Blue,  Little  Blue,  Anderson's  river,  Pigeon,  and  Beaver 
creeks  entor  in  the  order  in  which  we  have  mentioned  them,  as  we  de- 


INDIANA.  377 

scend  the  Ohio.  In  descending  this  distance,  we  discover  the  deep  chasm 
through  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  where  a  great  many  smaller  streams  enter. 
Many  of  these  streams,  at  some  distance  from  the  Ohio,  afford  mill  seats. 
We  may  therefore  remark,  that  the  south  front  of  Indiana  is  well 
watered. 

The  Wabash  is  the  chief  river  of  this  state ;  and  after  the  Tennessee, 
one  of  the  most  considerable  tributaries  of  the  Ohio.  It  glides  through 
the  central  parts  of  the  state,  and  by  its  extensive  branches,  waters  a  vast 
extent  of  it.  One  of  the  main  branches  heads  near  Fort  St.  Mary's,  in 
Darke  county,  Ohio.  The  next  considerable  branch,  called  Little  river, 
heads  seven  miles  south  of  Fort  Wayne,  and  enters  the  Wabash  eighty 
miles  below  St.  Mary's  Portage.  The  next  is  Massassineway,  which 
also  heads  in  Ohio,  between  forts  Greenville  and  Recovery,  and  joins  it 
a  league  and  a  half  below  the  mouth  of  Little  river.  Eel  river,  another 
branch,  rises  in  ponds  and  lakes,  eighteen  miles  west  of  Fort  Wayne,  and 
joins  the  Wabash,  eight  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Massassineway. 
Rejoicing,  Mascontin,  Ouitanon,  and  Deche,  are  inconsiderable  tribu- 
taries. 

White  river  enters  the  Wabash  from  the  eastern  side,  sixteen  miles 
below  Vincennes.  It  is  the  most  considerable  tributary  of  the  Wabash; 
and  one  of  the  most  important  rivers  in  the  state.  It  waters  a  great  ex- 
tent of  very  fertile  country,  in  a  lateral  direction  to  the  main  stream.  Its 
head  waters  interlock  with  the  waters  of  the  Miami.  Its  principal 
tributaries  are  Driftwood  branch,  Muddy  Fork,  and   Tea-kettle  branch. 

Little  river,  St.  Mary's,  Rock  river,  and  Pomme,  are  inconsiderable 
tributaries,  that  enter  from  the  eastern  side.  It  receives  a  great  number 
of  considerable  tributaries  from  the  west.  Richard's  creek  and  Rock  river 
enter  above  Tippicanoe.  This  stream  has  acquired  lasting  fame  by  the 
bloody  action  which  was  fought  upon  its  banks,  between  the  United  States' 
troops,  under  General  Harrison,  and  the  Wabash  savages  in  November, 
1811.  It  originates  from  many  brcmches  in  ponds  and  lakes,  which,  like 
that  at  the  source  of  the  Plein  of  the  Illinois,  discharge  at  one  extremity 
into  the  waters  of  the  Wabash,  and  at  the  other  into  the  Maumee  of  the 
lakes.  Before  the  battle  of  Tippicanoe,  the  Indians  had  fields  in  high 
cultivation  alorg  the  banks  of  this  river.  Below  this  river,  from  the  west 
'  enter  in  succession,  Pine,  Redwood,  Rejoicing,  Little  Vermillion,  Era- 
bliere,  Dachette,  and  Brouette  rivers,  which  are  inconsiderable  streams 
that  head  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 

White  Water,  is  a  branch  of  the  Big  Miami,  and  a  very  interesting  river. 
It  rises  near  Fort  Greenville,  in  Ohio.  Not  far  from  its  source  it  crosses 
into  this  state,  and  in  its  devious  course,  waters  a  large  extent  of  fertile 
country.     The  West  Fork  unites  with  it  at  Brookville,  30  miles  above  its 


378  INDIANA. 

entrance  into  the  Miami.  This  beautiful  stream  is  supposed  to  water 
nearly  a  million  acres  ofland.  It  abounds  in  fine  fish,  and  surpasses  the 
other  rivers  of  the  country  in  the  unusual  tra#sparancy  of  waters.  It  has 
its  sources  in  copious  hill  springs,  and  its  waters  are  uncommonly  cold. 
The  people  in  its  vicinity  have  an  idea  that  its  waters  are  too  much  want- 
ing in  specific  gravity,  or  too  little  buoyant,  for  ordinary  swimmers  to 
trust  themselves  to  bathe  in  it. 

The  northern  front  of  the  state,  bordering  on  the  territory  of  Michigan, 
and  the  lake  of  that  name,  is  watered  copiously  by  rivers,  that  empty  into 
that  lake  and  lake  Erie.  The  principal  of  these  are  St.  Joseph  of  the 
Maumee  of  the  lakes,  and  its  numerous  branches,  the  river  Raisin  of  lake 
Erie,  Black  river  of  lake  Michigan,  with  its  numerous  branches ;  Chemin, 
Big  and  Little  Kenomic,  all  of  that  lake;  and  Theakiki,  Kickapoo,  Plein, 
and  the  Vermillion  of  Illinois.  These  numerous  rivers  generally  have 
short  courses,  and  carry  large  volumes  of  water.  Most  of  them  originate 
in  ponds  and  lakes,  of  which  an  hundred  exist  along  the  northern  frontier. 
Many  have  the  peculiar  character  of  such  waters  in  this  region,  that  is  to 
say,  a  position  on  an  elevated  plateau,  from  one  extremity  of  which  the 
waters  discharge  into  the  lakes,  and  from  the  other  into  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi. 

Although  this  state  has  not  so  great  an  extent  of  inland  navigation  as 
Illinois,  the  amount  of  that  navigation  is  very  great.  Many  of  its  waters 
interlock  with  those  of  the  Illinois.  It  possesses  the  whole  extent  of  the 
noble  Wabash,  and  White  river  and  its  numerous  boatable  branches. 
By  these  large  marshy  ponds,  which  at  once  discharge  into  lake  Michigan 
and  Erie,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  other,  with  a 
small  expense  of  money  and  labor,  the  lakes  will  be  united  by  canals  with 
the  Ohio  and  Illinois.  A  navigable  canal  already  connects  the  White 
Water  by  the  Big  Miami  with  the  Ohio,  at  Cincinnati.  This  state,  so 
rapidly  becoming  populous,  is  the  younger  sister  of  Ohio,  and  will  soon 
dispute  the  point  of  population  and  importance.  It  will  ere  long  emulate 
the  enterprise,  the  canals,  and  great  public  works  of  its  model.  By  the 
lakes  the  northern  frontier  is  already  connecteo  with  Canada  and  New 
York.  The  whole  extent  of  the  inland  navigation  may  be'  fairly  rated  at 
five  thousand  miles. 

Chief  Towns.  Character  of  the  country  in  which  they  arc  situated^ 
The  tabular  view  of  county  towns  presents  the  names  of  the  most  con- 
siderable villages  in  the  state.  To  mention,  in  detail,  all  that  have  really 
attained  some  degree  of  consequence,  would  only  furnish  a  barren  cata- 
logue of  names.  We  will  mention  the  chief  of  those  on  the  Ohio,  in  de- 
scending order,  beginning  with  Lawrenceburgh,  on  tho  south-eastern 
angle  of  the  state. 


1 


INDIANA.  379 

This  town,  the  seat  of  justice,  for  the  county  of  Dearborn,  stands  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  twenty-three  miles  below  Cincinnati,  and 
two  miles  below  the  Big  Miami,  the  eastern  limit  of  the  state. x  It  is  in  the 
centre  of  a  rich  bottom.  The  ancient  village  was  built  on  the  first  bot- 
tom, which  was  frequently  exposed  to  inundation.  It  was  not  uncommon 
for  the  water  to  rise  four  or  five  feet  above  the  foundations  of  the  houses, 
in  which  case  the  inhabitants  removed  to  the  upper  story,  and  drove 
their  domestic  animals  to  the  hills.  Visits  and  tea  parties  were  projected 
in  the  inundated  town,  and  the  vehicles  of  transport  skiffs  and  periogues. 
The  period  of  the  flood,  from  ancient  custom,  and  the  suspension  of  all 
the  customary  pursuits,  became  a  time  of  carnival.  The  floods,  instead 
of  creating  disease,  wash  the  surface  of  the  earth,  carry  off  vegetable 
and  animal  matter,  and  are  supposed  to  be  rather  conducive  to  health 
than  otherwise.  The  old  town,  built  on  the  first  bank,  had  been  station- 
ary for  many  years.  New  Lawrenceburgh  has  been  recently  built  on 
the  second  bank,  and  on  elevated  ground,  formed  by  the  bank  of  Tanner's 
creek.  Since  the  commencement  of  this  town,  few  places  have  made 
more  rapid  progress.  Many  of  the  new  houses  are  handsome,  and  some 
of  them  make  a  handsome  show  from  the  river.  Its  position,  in  relation 
to  the  river,  the  rich  adjacent  country,  and  the  Big  Miami,  is  highly 
eligible.  It  has  a  number  of  respectable  commencing  manufactories, 
and  promises  to  be  a  large  town.     It  contains  one  thousand  inhabitants. 

Aurora  is  a  new  village,  at  the  mouth  of  Hogan  creek,  four  miles  be- 
low, on  the  Ohio.     It  contains  between  sixty  and  seventy  dwellings. 

Rising  Sun,  thirteen  miles  below  Lawrenceburgh,  occupies  a  beautiful 
position  on  the  Ohio,  and  is  a  village  something  larger  than  Aurora. 

Vevay,  the  seat  cf  justice  for  Switzerland  county,  is  situated  eight 
miles  above  the  point,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Kentucky  river,  and  forty- 
five  miles  below  Cincinnati.  It  contains  between  two  and  three  hundred 
houses,  a  courthouse,  jail,  academy,  printing  office,  from  which  issues  a 
weekly  journal,  a  branch  of  the  Bank  of  Indiana,  and  some  other  public 
buildings.  This  interesting  town  was  commenced  in  1S04,  by  thirty 
Swiss  families,  to  whom  the  United  States  made  a  grant,  under  favorable 
stipulations,  of  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  to  patronize  the  cultivation 
of  the  vine.  The  patriarch  of  this  colony  was  a  Swiss  gentleman  of  the 
name  of  J.  J.  Dufour,  who  continued  an  intelligent  friend  to  the  town. 
The  colony  soon  received  considerable  accessions  from  the  mountains  of 
Switzerland.  In  grateful  remembrance  of  their  native  hills,  and  to  cre- 
ate in  the  bosom  of  their  adopted  country  tender  associations  with  their 
ancient  country,  they  named  their  stream  Venoge,  and  their  town  Vevay. 
Messrs.  Dufour,  Morerod,  Bettens,  Siebenthal,  and  others,  commenced 
the  cultivation  of  the  grape  on  a  large  scale.     This  cultivation  has  gone 


380  INDIANA. 

on,  steadily  increasing.  An  hundred  experiments  have  been  since  com- 
menced in  different  points  of  the  west.  But  this  still  remains  the  largest 
vineyard  in  the  United  States.  We  have  witnessed  nothing  in  our  coun- 
try, in  the  department  of  gardening  and  cultivation,  which  can  compare 
with  the  richness  of  this  vineyard,  in  the  autumn,  when  the  clusters  are 
in  maturity.  Words  feebly  paint  such  a  spectacle.  The  horn  of  plenty 
seems  to  have  been  emptied  in  the  production  of  this  rich  fruit.  We 
principally  remarked  the  blue  or  Cape  grape,  and  the  Madeira  grape. 
The  wine  of  the  former  has  been  preferred  to  the  claret  of  Bordeaux. 
The  fruit  tends  to  become  teo  succulent  and  abundant.  It  is  now  suppo- 
sed that  some  of  our  native  grapes  will  more  easily  acclimate,  and  make 
a  better  wine.  These  amiable  and  industrious  people  are  constantly 
profiting  by  experience.  This  species  of  agriculture  already  yields  them 
a  better  profit  than  any  other  practised  in  our  country.  They  are  every 
year  improving  on  the  vintage  of  the  past.  They  are  the  simple  and 
interesting  inhabitants  that  we  might  expect,  from  the  prepossessions  of 
early  reading,  to  find  from  the  vine  clad  hills  of  Switzerland.  They 
are  mostly  protestants,  and  happily  compound  the  vivacity  of  the  French 
with  the  industry  of  the  Germans.  Like  the  former  they  love  gaiety 
and  dancing.  Like  the  latter,  they  easily  fall  in  with  the  spirit  of  our 
institutions,  love  our  country  and  its  laws,  intermarry  with  our  people, 
and  are  in  all  respects  a  most  amiable  people.  There  is  a  considerable 
number  of  professional  men  in  Vevay,  a  public  library,  a  literary 
society,  and  many  of  the  comforts  and  improvements  of  a  town.  Mr. 
Dufour  has  distinguished  himself  by  agricultural  publications,  particu- 
larly upon  the  culture  of  the  vine.  This  industrious  people  have  crea- 
ted some  manufactures  peculiar  to  themselves,  particularly  that  of  straw 
bonnets.  The  position  of  the  town  is  fortunate,  in  relation  to  the  back 
country,  and  the  other  interior  large  towns. 

Madison,  the  most  populous,  and  one  of  the  pleasantest  and  most  thri- 
ving towns  in  the  state,  is  situated  on  the  Ohio,  nearly  equi-distant  be- 
tween Louisville  and  Cincinnati,  and  was  commenced  in  1811.  In  1829 
between  forty  and  fifty  brick  buildings,  many  of  them  three  stories,  were 
added  to  the  town ;  and  the  promise  of  future  progress  is  equally  great. 
Its  position  on  the  Ohio  is  peculiarly  favorable,  it  being  the  point  of  the 
river  nearest  to  Indianapolis,  84  miles  from  it,  and  the  landing  place 
for  the  imports  from  the  Ohio  to  a  number  of  the  newly  settled  and  thri- 
ving counties.  Besides  churches  and  public  buildings,  it  has  twenty -five 
dry  goods  stores,  many  of  them  transacting  an  extensive  business.  A 
line  of  stages  passes  through  it.  It  has  two  printing  offices,  and  issues  a 
respectable  weekly  gazette.  It  has  an  insurance  company,  and  expects 
a  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank.     It  does  a  large  business  in  exports 


INDIANA.  381 

of  the  produce  of  the  country,  and  is  particularly  noted  fur  the  quantity 
of  pork  barrelled  here.     It  contains  two  thousand  inhabitants. 

New  London  ten  miles  lower  on  the  river,  and  Charlestown,  twenty- 
nine  miles  lower,  and  two  miles  back  from  the  Ohio,  arc  small  villages. 
The  land  about  the  latter  town  was  a  grant  of  gratitude  from  Virginia  to 
the  brave  General  Clark  and  his  soldiers,  for  their  achievements  at  the 
close  of  the  revolutionary  war. 

Jeffersonville  is  situated  just  above  the  falls  of  Ohio.  The  town  of 
Louisville  on  the  opposite  shore,  and  the  beautiful  and  rich  country 
beyond,  together  with  the  broad  and  rapid  river,  forming  whitening  sheets 
and  cascades  from  shore  to  shore,  the  display  of  steam  boats,  added  to 
the  high  banks,  the  neat  village,  and  the  noble  woods  on  the  north  bank, 
unite  to  render  the  scenery  of  this  village  uncommonly  rich  and  diver- 
sified. It  is  a  considerable  and  handsome  village,  with  some  houses  that 
have  a  show  of  magnificence.  It  has  a  land  office,  a  post  office,  a  print- 
ing office,  and  some  other  public  buildings.  It  was  contemplated  to  canal 
the  falls  on  this  side  of  the  river,  and  a  company  with  a  large  capital  was 
incorporated  by  the  legislature.  In  1819  the  work  was  commenced,  but 
has  not  been  prosecuted  with  the  success  that  was  hoped.  The  comple- 
tion of  the  canal  on  the  opposite  side,  will  probably  merge  this  project, 
by  rendering  it  useless.  One  of  the  chutes  of  the  river,  in  low  water,  is 
near  this  shore ;  and  experienced  pilots,  appointed  by  the  state,  are  al- 
ways in  readiness  to  conduct  boats  over  the  falls.  Clarksville  is  a  small 
village  just  below  this  place. 

New  Albany,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Floyd  county,  is  four  and  a  half 
miles  below  Jeffersonville.  The  front  street  is  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
in  length,  and  makes  a  respectable  appearance  from  the  river.  Many 
steam  boats  that  cannot  pass  the  falls,  are  laid  up  for  repair  at  this  place, 
during  the  summer.  It  has  a  convenient  ship-yard  for  building  steam 
boats,  and  is  a  thriving  and  busy  village,  containing  one  thousand  nine 
hundred  inhabitants. 

Fredonia,  Leavenworth,  Rockport,  and  Evansville,  occur  as  we  de- 
scend the  Ohio.  The  last  is  a  village  of  some  consequence.  It  is  the 
landing  place  for  immigrants,  descending  the  Ohio,  for  the  Wabash.  It 
is  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Pigeon  creek,  fifty-four  miles  south  of  Vincennes, 
and  forty-five  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.  Being  about  halfway 
between  the  falls  of  Ohio  and  the  mouth,  it  is  a  noted  stopping  place  for 
steam  boats. 

Corrydon,  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  county  of  Harrison,  was  for  con- 
siderable time,  the  political  metropolis  of  this  state.  It  is  distant  twenty- 
three  miles  from  Jeffersonville,  and  thirteen  from  the  Ohio,  and  is  situa- 
ted in  the  forks  of  Indian  creek.  North  of  the  town,  spreads  an  exten- 
sive region  of  barrens,  full  of  sink  holes  and  lime  stone  caves. 


382  INDIANA. 

Salem,  on  a  small  branch  of  Blue  river,  thirty-four  miles  north  of  Cory- 
don,  is  a  flourishing  county  town,  containing  more  than  one  hundred  hou- 
ses. Brownstown,  Paoli,  and  Washington,  are  inferior  county  towns. 
The  following  towns  are  on  the  Wabash,  as  we  descend  the  river.  Above 
Tippicanoe  is  the  old  French  post  of  Ouitanon,  at  the  head  of  beatable 
navigation  on  the  river,  in  the  centre  of  what  was  recently  the  country  of 
the  savages.  Its  origin  dates  back  nearly  one  hundred  years.  The  in- 
habitants are  a  mixture  of  French  and  Indian  blood.  Merom  is  on  a  high 
bluff  of  the  Wabash  opposite  La  Motte  Prairie,  in  Illinois,  and  is  in  the 
centre  of  rich  and  beautiful  prairies.  It  has  peopled  with  great  rapidity. 
Terre  Haute  is  situated  two  miles  below  Fort  Harrison,  as  its  name  im- 
ports, on  a  high  bank  of  the  Wabash.  It  is  a  growing  and  important  vil- 
lage. Shaker  Town,  fifteen  miles  above  Vincennes,  contains  a  commu- 
nity of  the  industrious  people  called  Shakers,  and  exhibits  the  marks  of 
order  and  neatness,  that  so  universally  characterize  this  people. 

Vincennes  is,  after  Kaskaskia,  the  oldest  place  in  the  western  world. 
It  was  settled  in  1735,  by  French  emigrants  from  Canada.  They  fixed 
themselves  here  in  a  beautiful,  rich,  and  insolated  spot,  in  the  midst  of 
deserts.  For  an  age  they  had  little  intercourse  with  any  other  people 
than  savages.  Their  interests,  pursuits,  and  feelings  were  identified  with 
them.  Their  descendants  are  reclaimed  from  their  savage  propensities; 
and  have  the  characteristic  vivacity  and  politeness  of  the  French  people. 
It  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  and  fifty- 
four  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  Ohio.  It  has  improved  rapidly  of  late, 
and  contains  three  hundred  houses,  a  brick  court  house,  and  hotel,  a.jail, 
a  respectable  building  for  an  academy,  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  Presby- 
terian church,  land  office,  post  office,  two  printing  offices,  from  one  of 
which  is  issued  a  respectable  gazette,  a  bank,  and  some  other  public 
buildings,  and  one  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants.  It  is  situated  con- 
tiguous to  a  beautiful  prairie,  five  thousand  acres  of  which  are  cultivated 
as  a  common  field,  after  the  ancient  French  custom.  It  was  for  a  long 
time  the  seat  of  the  territorial  government,  and  still  has  as  much  trade  as 
any  other  place  in  the  state.  The  plat  of  the  town  is  level,  and  laid  oft* 
with  regularity.  The  houses  have  extensive  gardens,  crowded  after  the 
French  fashion  with  fruit  trees.  It  is  accessible,  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
year,  by  steam  boats ;  and  is  a  place  of  extensive  supply  of  merchandise 
to  the  interior  of  the  state.  Volney,  who  visited  this  place  not  long  after 
the  establishment  of  the  federal  government,  gives  a  graphic  and  faith- 
ful account  of  the  appearance  of  this  place,  and  the  adjoining  country, 
the  FrencK  inhabitants  and  their  manners.  At  the  same  time  he  pre- 
sents a  revolting  picture  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Americans  had 
treated  them.     Perhaps  he  had  not  learned  that  Vincennes  had  been  for  a 


INDIANA.  383 

time  a  nest  of  savages,  from  which  they  fitted  out  their  murderous  ex 
peditions ;  and  that  it  was  natural  that  the  Kentuckians,  who  had  suffered 
much  from  them,  should  retaliate  upon  the  people  who  had  harbored 
them.  He  represents  them,  subsequently,  to  have  been  cheated  out  of 
their  lands  by  the  Americans,  and  their  ignorance  so  profound,  that  little 
more  than  half  their  number  could  read  or  write;  and  he  avers  that  he 
could  easily  distinguish  them,  when  mixed  with  the  Americans,  by  their 
meagre  and  tanned  faces,  and  their  look  of  poverty  and  desolation. 
However  just  this  picture  may  have  been  in  1796,  it  is  reversed  now. 
Most  of  the  inhabitants  have  an  air  of  ease  and  affluence ;  and  Vin- 
cenncs  furnishes  a  pleasant  and  respectable  eociety. 

Harmony  is   fifty-four   miles  below  Vincennes,  and  something  more 
than  one  hundred  by  water  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  river,  sixteen  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  Ohio,  on  a  rich  and 
heavily  timbered  plateau,  or  second  bottom.     It  is  high,  healthy,  has  a 
fertile  soil,  and  is  in  the  vicinity  of  small  and  rich  prairies,  and  is  a  plea- 
sant and  well  chosen  position.     It  was  first  settled  in  1814,  by  a  religious 
sect  of  Germans  denominated  Harmonites.     They  were  emigrants  from 
Germany,  and  settled  first  on  Beaver  creek,  in  Pennsylvania.     They 
moved  in  a  body  consisting  of  eight  hundred  souls  to  this  place.     Their 
spiritual  and  temporal   leader  was  George  Rapp,  and  all  the  lands  and 
possessions  were  held  in  his  name.     Their  society  seems  to  have  been 
a  kind  of  intermediate  sect  between  the  Shakers  and  Moravians.     They 
held  their  property  in  common.     Their  regulations  were  extremely  strict 
and  sevei'e.     In  their  order,  industry,  neatness,  and  perfect  subordination, 
they  resembled  the  Shakers.     They  soon  erected  from  eighty  to  one  hun- 
dred large  and  substantial  buildings.     Their  lands  were  laid  off  with  the 
most  perfect  regularity,  and  were  as  right  angled  and  square  as  compass 
could  make  them.     They  were  wonderfully  successful  here,  as  they  had 
been  in  other  places,  in  converting  a  wilderness  into  a  garden  in  a  short 
time.     They  had  even  the  luxury  of  a  botanic  garden  and  a  green  house. 
Their  great  house  of  assembly,  with  its  wings  and  appendages,  was  nearly 
one  hundred  feet   square.     Here  they  lived,  and  labored  in  common, 
and  in  profound  peace.     But  from  some   cause,  their  eyes  were  turned 
from  the  rich  .fields,  and  the  wide  prairies,  and  the  more  southern  and 
temperate   climate  of  the   Wabash,   towards  Beaver  creek,   the  place 
where  they  had  first  settled.     While  they  were  under  the  influence  of 
these  yearnings,  the  leader  of  a  new  sect  came  upon  them.     This  was 
no  other  than  Robert  OVen,  of  New  Lanark,  in  Scotland,  a  professed 
philosopher  of  a  new  school,  who   advocated  new  principles,  and  took 
new  views  of  society.     He  denominated  his  theory  *  The  Social  Sys- 
tem.1    He  was  opulent,  and  disposed  to  make  a  grand  experiment  of  his 

49 


384 


INDIANA. 


principles  on  the  prairies  of  the  Wabash,  and  purchased  the  land  and  village 
of  Mr.  Rapp,  for  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dollars.  In  a  short 
time  there  were  admitted  to  the  new  establishment  from  7  to  800 
persons.  .They  danced  all  together,  one  night  in  every  week,  and  had 
a  concert  of  music  in  another.  The  Sabbath  was  occupied  in  the  de- 
livery and  hearing  of  philosophical  lectures.  Two  of  Mr.  Owen's  sons 
and  Mr.  McClure  joined  him  from  Scotland.  The  society  at  New  Har- 
mony as  the  place  was  called,  excited  a  great  deal  of  remark  in  every 
part  of  the  United  States.  Great  numbers  of  distinguished  men,  in  all 
the  walks  of  life,  wrote  to  the  society,  making  enquiries  respecting  its 
prospects,  and  rules,  and  expressing  a  desire,  at  some  future  time  to 
join  it.  Mr.  Owen  remained  at  New  Harmony  a  little  more  than  a  year; 
in  which  time  he  made  a  voyage  to  Europe.  The  fourth  of  July,  1826, 
he  promulgated  his  famous  declaration  of  'mental  independence.'  The 
society  had  begun  to  moulder  before  this  time.  He  has  left  New  Har 
mony,  and  'the  social  system'  is  abandoned.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this 
beautiful  village,  which  has  been  the  theatre  ol  such  singular  and  oppo 
site  experiments  will  again  flourish. 

Brookville  is  a  decaying  village,  in  the  forks  of  the  beautiful  White 
Water.  It  was  noted  for  the  number  and  enterprise  of  its  mechanics  and 
manufacturers.  A  number  of  its  public  and  private  buildings  are  of 
brick,  and  respectable.  It  has  grist  mills,  saw  mills,  carding  machines, 
a  printing  office,  and  numbers  of  the  common  mechanic  shops,  where  the 
usual  articles  of  city  manufacture  are  made. 

The  surrounding  country  is  finely  timbered  and  watered.  The  soil  is 
rich  and  productive ;  and  has  acquired  reputation  for  the  excellence  of 
its  tobacco.  From  some  cause,  notwithstanding  all  these  advantages, 
it  has  declined.     The  number  of  houses  exceeds  one  hundred. 

Harrison  is  situated  on  the  north  shore  of  White  Water,  eight  miles 
from  its  mouth,  eighteen  north-east  of  Brookville,  and  in  the  centre  of  an 
excellent  body  of  land.  The  village  is  divided  between  the  jurisdiction 
of  Ohio  and  Indiana.  In  the  rich  and  extensive  bottoms  that  surround 
this  village,  are  found  great  numbers  of  Indian  mounds.  They  contain 
quantities  of  human  bones  in  .all  stages  of  decay.  Indian  axes,  vases, 
and  implements  of  war  and  domestic  use,  abound  in  thern.  In  the  bot- 
tom of  most  of  them  are  found  brands,  coal,  and  ashes;  indications  from 
which  antiquarians  have  inferred  that  they  were  places  of  sacrifice,  and 
that  the  victims  were  human. 

Richmond  is  a  thriving  town  of  one  thousand  Ave  hundred  inhabitants. 

Indianapolis  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  White  river,  in  the  centre 
of  one  of  the  most  extensivo  and  fertile  bodies  of  land  in  the  western 
world;  nearly  central  to  the   state,  and  at  a  point  accessible  by  steam 


INDIANA.  885 

boats,  in  common  stages  of  the  Wabash .  No  river  in  America,  accor- 
ding to  its  size  and  extent,  waters  greater  bodies  of  fertile  land  than 
White  river.  The  country  is  settling  about  this  town  with  unexampled 
rapidity.  But  a  few  years  since,  it  was  a  solid  and  deep  forest,  where  the 
surprised  traveller  rrow  sees  the  buildings  of  a  metropolis,  compact 
streets  and  squares  of  brick  buildings,  respectable  public  buildings,  man- 
ufactories, mechanic  shops,  printing  offices,  business  and  bustle.  Such  is 
the  present  aspect  of  Indianapolis,  which  contains  two  hundred  houses, 
and  twelve  hundred  inhabitants.  It  will  probably  become  one  of  the 
largest  towns  between  Cincinnati  and  the  Mississippi. 

In  the  recently  settled  parts  of  the  state,  have  sprung  up  a  number  of 
new  towns,  with  compact  streets  and  handsome  houses,  within  four  or  five 
years.  The  most  considerable  of  these  are  Logansport,  Terre  Haute, 
Rockville,  Crawfordsville,  and  Lafayette.  This  last  town  is  now  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Wabash.  At  the  point  designated  by  the  com- 
missioners for  the  termination  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie  canal,  sixty-six 
miles  below  Lafayette,  is  the  famous  battle  ground  of  Tippicanoe,  at  the 
mouth  of  that  river.  It  exhibits  the  most  beautiful  scenery.  The 
breast-works  of  the  American  army  are  still  visible.  The  hottest 
point  of  the  fight  is  indicated  by  the  masses  of  bones  of  the  horses  that 
were  killed.  General  Tipton,  who  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  distin- 
guished himself  in  that  battle,  is  the  present  owner  of  the  site,  and  haa 
inclosed  it  with  a  view  to  consecrating  that  event. 

The  increase  of  population  in  this  state,  since  the  year  1820,  has  been 
unexampled,  even  in  the  annals  of  western  progress.  The  inhabitants 
then  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand.  The  census  of 
1830,  gives  it  three  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand.  This  census  did 
not  include  any  but  resident  persons.  Great  numbers  of  immigrants 
were  in  the  state  at  the  time  it  was  taken,  and  were  not  included  in  it. 
The  tide  of  immigration  was  stronger  at  no  period  tiian  last  autumn. 
The  number  of  inhabitants  at  this  time  exceeds  four  hundred  thousand. 
The  principal  influx  of  this  population  has  been  to  the  country  on  the 
upper  Wabash,  forming,  the  counties  of  Warren,  Fountain,  Tippicanoe, 
Madison,  Hancock,  Clay,  Carroll,  Cass,  Clinton,  and  Boone.  These 
counties  send  four  senators  and  eight  representatives  to  the  general  as- 
sembly. The  inhabitants  are  distinguished  for  their  progress  in  making 
farms  and  towns,  and  their  intelligence  and  respectability.  Nearly  half 
the  counties  have  been  constituted  within  the  last  five  years. 

The  soil  of  the  upper  Wabash  is  of  the  richest  quality,  being  black, 
deep,  friable,  and  extremely  productive.  Over  the  whole  extent  we  meet 
with  fertile  and  beautifully  undulating  prairies.  Unlike  those  farther 
west,  some  of  them  have  small   hills  with  considerable  elevation,  with 


386  TNDIANA. 

groves  on  their  summits,  presenting  delightful  prospects  to  the  eye.  The 
productiveness  of  these  prairies  is  surprising.  The  face  of  the  country  is 
undergoing  an  astonishing  change,  which  seems  the  work  of  enchantment. 
Three  or  four  years  ago  it  had  only  been  trodden  by  savages  or  the  ani- 
mals of  the  wilderness.  We  now  see  not  only  luxuriant  forests,  numer- 
ous flocks,  herds,  and  commencing  orchards,  and  gardens,  but  neat  and 
substantial  brick  houses. 

In  consequence  of  the  great  change  produced  by  the  opening  of  the 
New  York  canal,  and  the  canal  connecting  lake  Erie  with  Ontario,  the 
north  front  of  Indiana,  along  lake  Michigan,  which,  a  few  years  since, 
was  regarded  as  a  kind  of  terminating  point  of  habitancy  in  the  desert, 
has  begun  to  be  viewed  as  a  maratime  shore,  and  the  most  important  front 
of  the  state. 

Navigable  Waters.  Their  extent  has  been  rated  at  two  thousand 
five  hundred  miles.  We  have  given  an  estimate  of  twice  that  amount. 
When  we  take  into  view  the  whole  northern  lakes  and  all  their  shores, 
traversed  at  present  by  steam  boats,  this  estimate  will  be  found  moderate. 
The  boatable  waters,  besides  the  lakes,  consist  of  the  long  extent  of  the 
Ohio,  washing  the  southern  shore,  the  Wabash  and  its  waters,  Petoka, 
Blue  river,  St.  Joseph,  White  Water,  Rocky  river,  Pomme,  Massisineway, 
Eel  river,  Little  river,  Panther  creek,  Elkhorn,  St.  Joseph  of  lake  Mi- 
chigan, Great  and  Little  Kenomic,  Chemin,  Chicago,  Kickapoo,  Theaki- 
ki,  part  of  Fox,  Plein,  and  Illinois.  The  distance  from  Chicago  to  New 
Orleans  is  1,680  and  to  Buffalo  800  miles. 

In  regard  to  the  facility  of  communication  between  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  and  the  lakes,  we  have  already  noted  the  great  number  of 
lakes  and  ponds,  that  from  one  extremity  commnnicate  with  those  rivers; 
and  from  the  other,  with  lake  Erie  and  Michigan.  More  than  twenty  of 
these  portages  have  been  practised.  Among  the  first,  we  name  that  be- 
tween St.  Marys,  and  Little  river  of  the  Wabash.  By  this  the  French 
formerly  communicated  with  their  posts  on  the  Wabash.  The  second  is 
a  short  portage,  between  Chicago  and  the  Kickapoo  of  the  Illinois.  In 
high  spring  waters,  boats  pass  by  this  route  from  the  lake  to  the  river. 
The  third  is  the  distance  of  a  league  between  the  north  branch  of  the  Big 
Miami,  and  the  south  branch  of  the  Maumee.  By  this  communication 
canoes  have  passed  from  the  Ohio  to  lake  Erie.  Another  communication 
is  a  kind  of  natural  canal  at  Loramicr's  Fort,  connecting  the  Miami  and 
the  Maumee,  which  is  practicable  for  boats  in  high  waters.  There  is 
another  similar  connection  between  Hudson  river  of  lake  Erie,  and  Grand 
river  of  lake  Michigan.  The  Muskingum  of  the  Ohio  communicates  in 
spring  floods  with  the  Cuyahoga  of  lake  Erie.  There  is  a  portage  of  four 
miles,  between  the   St.  Joseph  of  lako  Michigan  and  Theakiki,  of  two 


INDIANA.  387 

miles  between  the  Theakiki  and  the  great  Kenomica  of  half  a  mile  be- 
tween the  Great  and  Little  Kenomic ;  of  th'ree  miles  between  Chicago 
and  Plein,  and  numerous  other  communications  between  the  rivers  of  the 
Wabash  and  lake  Michigan,  too  numerous  to  mention. 

The  river  Chicago,  empties  into  lake  Michigan,  near  the  territorial 
limits  of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  Its  harbor  is  the  south-western  extremity 
of  that  lake.  Fort  Dearborn,  where  the  bloody  tragedy  of  September, 
1815,  was  enacted  by  the  Indians,  in  the  massacre  of  its  garrison,  was, 
until  recently,  a  military  post  of  the  United  States.  It  has  lately  been 
abandoned.  At  the  mouth  of  this  river  is  the  only  harbor  on  the  lake  for 
a  great  distance ;  and  whenever  a  canal  shall  unite  the  Illinois  with  the 
lake,  it  will  become  a  place  of  great  commercial  importance. 

Indians.  Until  recently,  they  owned  the  greater  part  of  the  fertile 
lands  in  this  state.  Most  of  these  lands  have  lately  been  purchased  of 
them  by  treaty.  The  names  of  the  tribes,  as  they  used  to  be,  convey  lit- 
tle idea  of  their  present  position  and  numbers.  Great  numbers  have 
emigrated  far  to  the  west,  on  White  river  and  Arkansas.  Others  have 
strayed  into  Canada,  or  towards  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  and  their 
deserted  places  are  rapidly  filling  with  the  habitations  of  white  men. 
Their  names,  as  they  used  to  be,  arc  Mascontins,  Piankashaws,  Kicka- 
poos,  Delawares,  Miamies,  Shawncse,  Wecas,  Ouitanons,  Eel  rivers,  and 
Pottowattomies.  Their  present  numbers  cannot  exceed  four  or  five 
thousand  souls.  It  is  an  unquestionable  evidence  of  the  fertility  of  the 
country  in  the  interior  of  Indiana,  that  it  was  once  the  seat  of  the  most 
dense  Indian  population  in  the  western  country.  The  Indians  invariably 
fixed  in  greatest  numbers,  where  the  soil  was  fertile,  the  country  healthv, 
and  the  means  of  transport  on  water  courses  easy  and  extensive.  Such 
countries  abounded  in  fish  and  game,  and  such  was  the  country  in  ques- 
tion. The  Indians  in  this  country  were  invaded,  in  1791,  by  General 
Wilkinson.  He  destroyed  their  principal  town.  It  contained  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  houses,  eighty  of  which  were  roofed  with  shingles.  The 
gardens  and  improvements  about  it  were  delightful.  There  was  a  tavern 
with  cellars,  bar,  public  and  private  rooms ;  and  the  whole  indicated  no 
small  degree  of  order  and  civilization.  The  prophet's  town,  destroyed  by 
General  Harrison  in  November,  1811,  was  a  considerable  place.  The 
Miamies  possess  a  reservation  near  Logan's  Fort,  of  thirty-six  miles 
square  of  land,  of  the  finest  quality.  Their  numbers  are  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty.  Beside  their  rich  lands,  they  have  an  annuity  of 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  which,  with  their  possessions,  render  them 
wealthy.  Near  the  Kankakee  Ponds,  north  of  the  Wabash,  reside  the 
Pottowattomies,  who  are  more  numerous  than  the  Miamies.  These  In- 
dians, in  1 826,  ceded  lands  to  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of  causing 


388 


INDIANA. 


a  road  to  be  constructed  from  lake  Michigan  by  way  of  Indianapolis  to 
the  Ohio.  Congress  confirmed  the  grant,  and  the  road  has  been  laid  out, 
and  rendered  passable. 

Game  and  Fish.  The  interior  and  northern  parts  of  this  state  are 
abundantly  stocked  with  game.  Bears,  and  especially  deer,  are  common. 
Wild  turkeys  have  been  supposed  by  some  to  abound  as  much  on  the 
waters  of  White  river,  as  they  do  in  the  settled  regions.  Hundreds  are 
sometimes  driven  from  one  corn  field.  Prairie  hens,  partridges,  and 
grouse,  abound  on  the  prairies,  and  in  some  seasons  wild  pigeons  are  seen 
here  in  countless  numbers.  Where  they  roost,  the  limbs  of  the  trees  are 
broken  off  in  all  directions  by  their  numbers.  Venomous  snakes  and 
noxious  reptiles  are  sometimes  seen,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  ledges 
of  rocks.  The  rattle  snake  and  the  copper  head  are  the  most  numerous 
and  dangerous.  The  streams,  and  ^specially  those  that  communicate 
with  lake  Michigan,  are  abundant  in  fish  of  the  best  qualities.  The 
number  and  excellence  of  die  fish,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  are  taken, 
are  circumstances  of  real  importance  and  advantage  to  the  first  settlers, 
and  help  to  sustain  them,  until  they  are  enabled  to  subsist  by  the  avails  of 
cultivation. 

Minerals  and  Fossils.  There  are  salt  springs  in  different  parts  of  the 
state.  We  do  not  know,  that  any  of  them  are  worked  to  much  extent. 
The  salt  has  hitherto  been  chiefly  brought  from  the  United  States'  saline, 
back  of  Shawneetown,  or  from  the  salines  of  Kenhawa.  Stone  coal  of 
the  best  quality  is  found  in  various  places.  Native  copper  has  been  dis- 
covered in  small  masses,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  Iron  ore  is 
also  found  in  some  places.  But  in  general  it  is  a  country  too  level  to  be  a 
mineral  one.  Although  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  country,  it  has 
been  asserted  that  there  is  a  silver  mine  near  Ouitanon. 

Antiquities.  This  state  once  possessed  a  numerous  Indian  population. 
Their  mounds,  sepulchres,  ruined  villages,  the  sward  of  blue  grass,  which 
indicates  in  times  nearer,  or  remote,  the  position  of  an  Indian  village, 
their  implements  of  war  and  agriculture,  dug  up  by  the  spade,  or  turned 
up  by  the  plough,  strike  us  on  all  sides,  as  we  travel  through  this  state. 
They  cannot  but  excite  deep  and  serious  thoughts  in  a  reflecting  mind. 
French  traditions  relate,  that  an  exterminating  battle  took  place  in  a  spot, 
which  is  now  designated  by  two  or  three  small  mounds,  near  where  Fort 
Harrison  now  stands.  The  battle  was  fought  between  the  Indians  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  of  the  Wabash.  The  prize  of  conquest  was  the  lands 
which  were  adjacent  to  the  field  of  battle.  A  thousand  warriors  fought 
on  each  side.  The  contest  commenced  with  the  sun,  and  was  fought  with 
all  the  barbarity  and  desperation  of  Indian  bravery.  The  Wabash 
warriors  were  victorious  with  seven  survivors;  and  the  vanquished  came 
off  with  only  five. 


INDIANA.  389 

Curiosities.  Like  Alabama  and  Tennessee,  this  state  abounds  with 
subterranean  wonders,  in  the  form  of  caves.  Many  have  been  explored, 
and  some  of  them  have  been  described.  One  of  them  is  extensively 
known  in  the  western  country  by  the  name  of 'the  Epsom  salts  cave? 

It  is  not  very  far  from  Jeffersonville.  When  first  discovered,  the  salts 
were  represented  as  being  some  inches  deep  on  the  floor.  The  interior 
of  this  cave  possesses  the  usual  domes  and  chambers  of  extensive  caverns, 
through  which  the  visitant  gropes  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  quarter  to 
the  'pillar,'  which  is  a  splendid  column,  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  twen- 
ty-five feet  high,  regularly  reeded  from  top  to  bottom.  Near  it  are  smal- 
ler pillars  of  the  same  appearance. 

The  salt  in  question  is  sometimes  found  in  lumps  varying  from  one  to 
ten  pounds.  The  floor  and  walls  are  covered  with  it  in  the  form  of  a  frost, 
which  when  removed,  is  speedily  reproduced.  The  earth  yields  from 
four  to  twenty  pounds  to  the  bushel  ,•  and  the  product  is  said  to  be  of  the  best 
quality.  Nitre  is  also  found  in  the  cave  in  great  abundance,  and  sul- 
phate of  lime,  or  plaister  of  paris. 

Roads  and  Canals.  We  have  seen  that  the  state  has  laid  out  and 
rendered  passable  a  road  from  lake  Michigan  to  the  Ohio.  The  national 
road  is  laid  out,  and  some  part  of  it  made  through  the  state  from  east  to 
west,  passing  through  Indianapolis.  The  common  roads  are  in  good  pas- 
sable condition  during  the  summer.  But  in  winter,  and  especially  du- 
ring rainy  weather,  they  are  excessively  deep  and  heavy.  Regular  fer- 
ries are  now  established  across  the  rivers  at  all  the  important  points  of 
travel.  The  project  of  a  rail  road  from  the  Ohio  to  lake  Michigan  has 
been  discussed.  None  of  the  western  states,  from  the  configuration,  to 
which  we  have  adverted,  possess  greater  facilities  of  making  canals;  as 
great  numbers  of  the  small  lakes  communicate  at  present  with  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  from  one  extremity,  and  with  lake  Michigan  from  the 
other,  and  require  only  that  the  communications  should  be  deepened  to 
become  natural  canals. 

A  canal  has  been  projected  by  the  state,  after  a  long  discussion  of  two 
or  three  legislative  sessions,  entitled  the  Wabash  and  Erie  canal.  It  is 
intended  to  connect  by  the  Big  Miami  and  the  Dayton  canal,  with  lake 
Erie.  Funds  have  been  provided  for  making  it;  but,  owing  to  some 
division  of  opinion  respecting  the  comparative  utility  of  canals  and  rail 
roads,  the  excavation  has  not  yet  been  commenced. 

Seminaries.     Indiana  College,  at  Bloomington,  commenced  in  1828 
As  early  as  1804,  the  then  territorial  government  of  Indiana  incorporated 
what  was  called  the  University  of  Vincennes.     A  brick  building   was 
erected,  and  the  university  figured  for  some  years  in  the  statutes  of  legis- 
lation.    When  the  territory  became  a  state,  a  township  of  land  to  be  se- 


890  INDIANA. 

lected  by  the  president  of  the  United  States,  was  appropriated  to  this  insti- 
tution, in  addition  to  the  township  already  owned.  The  new  township 
was  selected  by  the  president,  near  Bloomington.  The  original  title  of 
the  college  was  changed,  and  the  brick  edifice  sold.  It  then  took  the  name 
of  Indiana  College.  In  1829,  it  received  an  efficient  organization  under 
a  learned  president,  with  two  professors  and  a  tutor.  The  number  of 
students  is  about  sixty.  The  seat  of  the  college  is  a  delightful  village, 
central  to  a  healthy  and  fertile  country.  A  thorough  classical  education 
is  imparted  at  an  expense  as  moderate  as  in  any  other  similar  seminary 
in  the  union. 

Hanover  Academy  was  established  at  Hanover,  six  miles  below  Madi- 
son on  the  Ohio,  in  1827.  It  is  chiefly  intended  as  a  Presbyterian  theo- 
logical school,  and  is  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Indiana,  It  has 
an  endowment  in  land,  and  the  system  of  manual  labor  is  contemplated. 
It  is  intended  that  the  expenses  of  board  and  tuition  shall  be  but  thirty 
dollars  a  year.  It  has  22  students,  18  of  whom  are  preparing  for  the 
ministry.  Some  other  institutions  of  education  exist,  called  academies; 
and  high  schools  are  in  contemplation  in  different  pai-ts  of  this  rapidly  ad- 
vancing state. 

A  historical  society  has  recently  been  formed,  the  object  of  which  is  to 
investigate  the  antiquities  of  the  country,  and  preserve  the  materials  for 
the  annals  and  history  of  the  state.  A  respectable  library  has  already 
been  collected,  and  the  society  bids  fair  to  be  efficient  in  furnishing  docu- 
ments of  practical  utility  in  furthering  its  objects. 

That  spirit  of  regard  for  schools,  religious  societies  and  institutions, 
connected  with  them,  which  has  so  honorably  distinguished  the  com- 
mencing legislation  of  Ohio,  has  displayed  itself  in  this  state.  There  are 
districts,  no  doubt,  where  people  have  but  just  made  beginnings,  and  arc 
more  anxious  about  carrying  on  the  first  operations  of  making  a  new. 
establishment,  than  educating  their  children.  But  it  ought  to  be  recorded 
to  the  honor  of  the  people,  that  among  thciirst  public  works  in  an  incip- 
ient village,  is  a  school  house,  and  among  the  first  associations,  that  for 
establishing  a  school.  Schools  are  established  in  all  the  considerable 
towns  and  villages  in  the  state.  In  many  of  the  more  compact  there  is  a 
reading  room  and  a  social  library.  The  spirit  of  enquiry,  resulting  from 
our  free  institutions,  is  pervading  the  country,  and  a  thirst  for  all  kinds  of 
information  is  universal.  This  state  will  soon  take  a  high  place  among 
her  sister  states,  in  point  of.  population.  It  is  hoped  that  her  advance  in 
intellectual  improvement,  and  social  and  religious  institutions  will  be  in 
corresponding  proportion. 

Constitution  and  Owmamnt.     This  state  was  admitted  into  the  union 
in  1816.     The  constitution  does  not  differ  essentially  from  that  of  the 


INDIANA.  391 

other  western  states.  Where  it  does  differ,  it  is  in  having  a  more  popular 
form  than  the  rest.  The  governor  is  elected  for  three  years;  and  is 
eligible  six  years  out  of  nine.  The  judiciary  is  composed  of  a  supreme 
and  circuit  courts. 

The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  are  appointed  by  the  Governor,  and 
have  appellate  jurisdiction.  The  circuit  courts  are  to  be  held  by  one 
judge  and  two  associates — the  former  to  be  appointed  by  the  legislature, 
and  the  latter  by  the  people;  all  to  be  held  for  the  term  of  seven  years. 
All  free  white  males,  of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards,  of  the  United 
States,  are  admitted  to  the  elective  franchise. 

History.  The  country  on  the  Wabash  was  early  visited  by  French 
traders  or  hunters  from  Canada.  The  settlement  of  Vincennes  dates 
back  as  far  as  1702.  The  first  settlement  was  composed  of  soldiers  of 
Louis  XIV.  They  were,  for  more  than  an  age,  almost  separated  from  the 
rest  of  mankind ;  and  had,  in  many  respects,  assimilated  with  the  savages, 
with  whom  they  intermarried.  In  the  time  of  the  American  revolution, 
they  manifested  a  disposition  so  unequivocally  favorable  to  it,  that  the 
general  government  ceded  to  them  a  tract  of  land  about  Vincennes,  at  the 
close  of  that  war.  The  sparse  population  in  this  then  wilderness,  suffer- 
ed severely  from  the  savages,  until  the  peace  which  was  restored  by  the 
treaty  at  Greenville.  The  Indians  still  owned  the  greater  portion  of  the 
territorial  surface.  In  the  year  1811,  in  consequence  of  their  depreda- 
tions and  murders,  a  military  force  was  sent  against  them ;  and  they  were 
defeated,  and  compelled  to  sue  for  peace.  The  bloody  battle  of  Tippica- 
noe  has  already  been  mentioned.  Since  the  peace  they  have  been  quiet, 
and  have  ceded  the  greater  part  of  their  lands  to  the  United  States.  In 
1801,  Indiana  was  erected  into  a  territorial  government.  During  the 
late  war  the  tide  of  immigration  was  almost  completely  arrested.  Many 
of  the  settlements  were  broken  up  by  the  savages.  Immediately  on  the 
termination  of  that  war,  the  tide  set  strongly  again,  through  Ohio,  to  this 
state ;  and  population  poured  in  upon  the  woods  and  prairies.  It  has 
since  been  filling  up  with  almost  unexampled  rapidity.  It  suffered  severe- 
ly along  with  the  other  western  states  by  the  change  of  times,  that  occur- 
red after  the  closo  of  the  war.  The  same  foolish,  or  iniquitous  system 
of  spurious  banks,  or  relief  laws,  was  adopted  here  as  in  the  state  farther 
west,-  and  with  the  same  results.  The  bank  of  New  Lexington  was  a 
notorious  scheme  of  iniquity;  and  was  one  of  the  first  bubbles  that  burst 
in  this  young  community.  Though  the  people  did  not  immediately  take 
warning,  they  were  among  the  first  that  discarded  all  the  ridiculous  tem- 
porizing expedients  of  relief,  and  restored  a  sound  circulation. 

If  we  could  present  a  scenic  map  of  this  state,  exhibiting  its  present  con- 
dition, it  would  present  us  a  grand  and  interesting  view  of  deep  forests, 

50 


392  INDIANA. 

wide  and  flowing  prairies,  dotted  with  thousands  of  log  cabins ;  and  in 
the  villages,  brick  houses  rising  beside  them.  We  should  see  chasms  cut 
out  of  the  forests  in  all  directions.  We  should  note  thousands  of  dead 
trees  surrounding  the  incipient  establishments.  On  the  edges  of  the  prai- 
ries, we  should  remark  cabins,  or  houses,  sending  up  their  smokes.  We 
should  see  vast  droves  of  cattle,  ruminating  in  the  vicinity  of  these  estab- 
lishments in  the  shade.  There  would  be  a  singular  blending  of  nature 
and  art;  and  to  give  interest  to  the  scene,  the  bark  hovel  of  the  Indians, 
in  many  places,  would  remain  intermixed  with  the  habitations  of  the 
whites.  But  the  most  pleasing  part  of  the  picture  would  be  to  see  inde- 
pendent and  respectable  yeomen  presiding  over  these  greatchanges.  The 
young  children  would  be  seen  playing  about  the  rustic  establishments, 
full  fed  and  happy,  sure  presages  of  the  numbers,  healthfulness,  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  coming  generation. 

The  revenue  of  the  state  for  1831,  is  one  hundred  and  three  thousand 
four  hundred  and  thirty-two  dollars ;  the  expenditure  is  thirty-seven  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  sixty-five.  Deduct  the  canal  and  Indianapolis 
fund,  twenty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  j  and  there  will 
remain  a  balance  in  the  treasury  in  favor  of  the  state. 


OHIO. 


Length,  210  miles.  Mean  breadth,  200  miles;  containing  40,000 
square  miles,  and  25,000,000  acres.  Between  38°  30'  and  41°  19'  N. 
latitude;  and  between  3° 31'  fcnd  7°  41'  west  from  Washington.  Boun- 
ded on  the  north  by  the  territory  of  Michigan,  and  lake  Erie ;  east  by 
Pennsylvania;  south-east  by  Virginia,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  the 
Ohio;  south  by  the  Ohio,  which  separates  it  from  Virginia  and  Kentucky; 
and  west  by, Indiana. 

CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 


miles. 


Counties. 

County  Toims.         Disi 

ancesfrom  Cch 

Adams, 

West  Union, 

101 

Allen, 

Wassahkonnetta, 

110 

Ashtabula, 

Jefferson, 

191 

Athens, 

Athens, 

73 

Belmont, 

St.  Cfairsville, 

124 

Brown, 

Georgetown, 

104 

Butler, 

Hamilton, 

101 

Champaign, 

Urbana, 

50 

Clark, 

Springfield, 

43 

Clermont, 

Batavia, 

109 

Clinton, 

Wilmington, 

67 

Columbiana, 

New  Lisbon, 

152 

Coshocton, 

Coshocton, 

84 

Crawford, 

Bucyrus, 

69 

Cuyahoga, 

Cleaveland, 

138 

Drake, 

Greenville, 

103 

Delaware, 

Delaware, 

23 

Fairfield, 

Lancaster, 

28 

3WL 

OHIO. 

Fayette, 

Washington,  C.  H. 

45 

Franklin 

Columbus, 

Gallia, 

Galliopolis, 

108 

Geauga, 

Claridon, 

157 

Greene, 

Xenia, 

57 

Guernsey, 

Cambridge, 

83 

Hamilton, 

Cincinnati, 

112 

Hancock, 

Findlay, 

114 

Hardin, 

Hardy, 

66 

Harrison, 

Cadiz, 

124 

Henry, 

Damascus, 

161 

Highland, 

Hillsboro, 

74 

Hocking, 

Logan, 

47 

Holmes, 

Millersburgh, 

80 

Huron, 

Norwalk, 

113 

Jackson, 

Jackson,  C.  H. 

74 

Jefferson 

Steubenville, 

149 

Knox, 

Mount  Vernon,1* 

45 

Lawrence, 

Burlington, 

135 

Licking, 

Newark, 

34 

Logan, 

Bellefontaine, 

62 

Lorain, 

Elysia, 

130 

Madison, 

London, 

27 

Marion, 

Marion, 

47 

Medina, 

Medina,  C.  H 

111 

Meigs, 

Chester, 

94 

Mercer, 

Saint  Mary's, 

111 

Miami, 

Troy, 

78 

Monroe, 

Woodsfield,    * 

140 

Montgomery, 

Dayton, 

66 

Morgan, 

McConnelsville, 

70 

Muskingum, 

Zanesville, 

59 

Paulding, 

Perry, 

Somerset, 

46 

Pickaway, 

Circleville, 

26 

Pike, 

Piketon, 

65 

Portage, 

Ravenna, 

127 

Preble, 

Eaton, 

92 

Putnam, 

Sugar  Grove, 

148 

Richland, 

Mansfield, 

71 

Ross, 

Chillicothe, 

45 

Sandusky, 

Lower  Sandusky, 

103 

OHIO. 

Portsmouth, 

91 

Tiffin, 

85 

Sidney, 

86 

Canton, 

'      116 

Warren, 

157 

New  Philadelphia, 

107 

Marysville, 

37 

Willshire, 

146 

Lebanon, 

83 

Marietta, 

106 

Wooster, 

86 

Defiance, 

175 

Perrysburgh, 

135 

395 

Scioto, 

Seneca, 

Shelby, 

Stark, 

Trumbull, 

Tuscarawas, 

Union, 

Van  Wert, 

Warren, 

Washington, 

Wayne, 

Williams, 

Wood, 

The  census  of  1830,  gives  the  population  of  this  state   as  follows : 
Whites,  928,093.    Other  persons,  9,586.     Total,  937,679. 

Face  of  the  Country.  There  is,  probably,  no  where  in  the  world  a 
body  of  land  of  the  same  extent,  of  which  a  greater  proportion  is  suscep- 
tible of  cultivation.  It  may  be  considered  a  surface  of  table  land,  sloping 
in  one  direction  towards  the  Ohio,  and  in  the  other  towards  lake  Erie. 
The  northern  belt  has  great  tracts  of  wet  and  marshy  soil.  They  are, 
however,  excellent,  and  in  positions  that  render  them  easy  to  be  drained. 
They  are  covered  with  forests,  and  when  cleared  and  drained,  will  not 
make  the  least  valuable  parts  of  the  state.  There  are  extensive  bodies 
of  lands,  heavily  timbered,  in  a  state  of  nature,  which  are  as  level  as 
prairies.  The  most  fertile  part  of  the  state  is  between  the  two  Miamies. 
On  the  upper  courses  of  the  Miamies,  Muskingum,  and  Scioto,  are  rich 
and  extensive  prairies,  divided  into  wet  and  dry  prairies,  of  which  the 
latter  only  are  at  present  susceptible  of  cultivation.  The  forest  trees  are 
the  same  as  in  Kentucky ^and  Indiana,  except  that  the  peccan  tree,  which 
is  common  on  the  waters  of  the  Wabash,  is  not  often  found  here.  The 
forests  are  deep,  but  in  the  richest  soils  the  trees  are  rather  distinguisha- 
ble for  their  straightness  than  their  size.  A  considerable  part  of  the 
eastern  and  south-eastern  division  is  hilly ;  in  some-places  rising  into  fine 
cultivable  swells,  and  in  other  places  into  hills,  too  broken  and  precipitous 
to  admit  of  cultivation.  The  most  marshy  parts  are  found  on  the  table 
lands,  the  highest  in  the  state.  But  nine-tenths  of  the  surface  are  sus- 
ceptible of  cultivation,  and  are  already,  or  are  rapidly  becoming,  a  thick- 
ly settled  coimtry  of  moderate  sized  freeholds.  One  remark  may  convey 
a  general  idea  of  the  forest.  It  is,  as  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  composed 
almost  entirely  of  deciduous  trees,  with  few  evergreens,  or  terebinthine 
trees,  if  we  except  some  few  cypress  trees.  On  its  whole  wide  surface, 
is  scarcely  any  land  so  hilly,  sterile,  or  marshy,  as  with  moderate  labor. 


396  ohio. 

may  not  be  subdued,  drained,  and  cultivated.  The  whole  region  seems  to 
have  invited  a  hardy  and  numerous  body  of  freeholders  to  select  them- 
selves moderate  and  nearly  equal  sized  farms,  and  to  intersperse  them 
over  its  surface.  In  respect  to  the  smallness  of  the  farms,  the  number, 
equality,  and  compactness  of  the  population,  not  confined,  as  farther 
west,  to  the  water  courses,  but  diffused  over  the  whole  state,  it  compares 
very  accurately  with  New  England. 

To  an  eye  that  could  contemplate  the  whole  region  from  an  elevated 
point,  it  would  even  yet  exhibit  a  great  proportion  of  unbroken  forest, 
only  here  and  there  chequered  with  farms.  Yet  in  the  county  towns,  and 
better  settled  districts,  any  spectacle  that  collects  the  multitude,  a  train- 
ing, an  ordination,  an  election,  or  the  commencement  of  any  great  public 
work,  causes  a  rush  from  the  woods  and  the  forests,  which  like  the  ten- 
anted trees  of  the  poets  in  the  olden  time,  seem  to  have  given  birth,  for 
the  occasion,  to  crowds  of  men,  women,  and  children,  pouring  towards 
the  point  of  attraction.  There  are  vast  tracts  of  country  that  are  actually 
alluvial,  and  in  fact  the  greater  part  has  an  alluvial  aspect,  as  though 
it  had  not  long  since  emerged  from  the  waters. 

It  has  been  asserted,  and  commonly  believed,  that  springs  dry  up,  and 
fail,  as  a  new  country  becomes  settled. 

Many  of  the  oldest  and  most  intelligent  settlers  resolutely  deny  the 
assertion,  and  affirm  the  direct  contrary;  declaring  that  the  streams  in 
general,  are  more  flush  in  the  cleared  and  settled  country,  than  they 
were  when  it  was  an  unbroken  forest.  In  proof,  they  point  out  many 
streams,  which  then  became  dry  in  summer,  and  now  yield  sufficient 
water  to  turn  mills,  through  the  season.  This  is  one  of  those  disputable 
points  which  is  apt  to  be  settled  differently,  according  to  the  experience 
and  opinions  of  the  party.  It  certainly  involves  one  of  the  most  interest- 
in0-  questions  in  relation  to  the  influence  of  cultivation  upon  climate,  a 
question  which  ought  to  have  been  more  elucidated  by  the  settling  of  the 
western  country  than  any  other ;  but  which  has  hitherto  been  discussed 
in  a  desultory  and  unsatisfying  manner.  Forests  are  supposed  to  con- 
dense vapors,  and  attract  clouds.  Clearing  them  away  gives  more  free 
scope  to  the  winds,  and  tends  to  equalize  atmospheric  action.  Cultivation 
renders  the  surface  of  the  soil  more  compact,  and  retentive  of  moisture  ; 
and  we  incline  to  the  opinion  that  the  western  streams  arc  fuller  and 
more  lasting,  since  the  cutting  down  of  the  forests,  and  that  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  carry  more  water  than  formerly.  But  the  experience  of  al- 
most every  old  settler  warrants  the  fact,  that  innumerable  springs  have 
failed  since  the  cutting  down  of  the  forests  that  shaded  the  hills,  whence 
they  sprung.  This  partial  result  may,  however,  be  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  a  general  change  in  atmospheric  action,  consequent  upon 
opening  vast  surfaces  of  tho  forest  to  the  influence  of  the  sun  and  air. 


ohio.  397 

The  forest  of  this  state  is  generally  deep  and  heavy.  The  prevalent 
kinds  of  trees  arc,  the  different  species  of  oak,  white,  red,  and  black, 
burr,  and  overcup;  three  or  four  species  of  ash,  white,  blue,  and  black; 
yellow  and  white  poplar;  all  the  different  species  of  hickories;  black 
and  white  walnut;  three  species  of  elm,  hackberry,  buck-eye,  linn,  and 
coffee  tree.  White  maple  is  common,  and  sugar  maple,  of  great  beauty, 
almost  universal.  Beech,  however,  is  the  most  common  timber.  The 
undergrowth  is  spice-bush,  dogwood,  iron  wood,  horn  beam,  black  haw, 
pawpaw,  different  species  of  thorn,  and  wild  plum. 

Unimproved  land  rates  from  two  to  eight  dollars  per  acre,  according  to 
situation  and  quality;  improved  land,  from  five  to  twenty  dollars,  ac- 
cording to  the  improvement,  situation,  and  quality. 

Agricultural  Productions.  Every  production  common  to  the  climate 
is  raised  here  in  great  abundance.  Without  having  the  appearance  of 
being  as  rich  as  the  lands  in  some  parts  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  the  soil 
in  this  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley  is  found  by  experiment  to  be  re- 
markably productive.  To  be  able  to  judge  of  the  extent  and  power  of 
vegetation,  one  must  reside  in  the  state  through  the  summer,  and  observe 
with  what  luxuriance  and  rapidity  the  vegetable  creation  is  pushed  on; 
how  rapidly  the  vines,  grain,  and  fruits  grow,  and  what  a  depth  of  ver- 
dure the  forest  assumes.  Indian  corn  is  the  staple  of  the  grains,  and  is  no 
where-raised  more  easliy,  or  in  greater  abundance.  On  rich  alluvial  soils 
110  bushels  have  been  produced  from  an  acre,  though  fifty  may  be  con- 
sidered an  average  crop.  The  state,  generally,  has  a  fine  soil  for  wheat. 
Rye,  barley,  oats-,  spelts,  buckwheat,  and  all  the  grains  are  raised  in 
great  abundance  and  perfection.  Melons,  squashes,  pumpkins,  the  pulses, 
garden  vegetables,  both  bulbous  and  tap-rooted,  as  potatoes,  onions,  beets, 
carrots,  parsnips,  and  generally  garden  and  culinary  vegetables  are  raised 
in  great  perfection.  The  soil,  being  more  stiff,  clayey,  and  fitted  to  re- 
tain moisture,  than  the  soils  farther  west,  makes  the  best  gardens.  We 
have  no  where  seen  so  fine  asparagus  in  the  west,  as  in  the  markets  of  this 
state.  Fruits  of  all  kinds  are  raised  in  the  greatest  profusion,  and  apples 
are  as  plenty  in  the  cultivated  parts  of  this  state,  as  in  any  part  of  the 
Atlantic  country.  The  markets  are  amply  supplied  with  pears,  peaches, 
plums,  cherries,  gooseberries,  strawberries,  and  cultivated  grapes.  In  a 
few  years  this  state  will  take  place  pf  any  in  the  Union,  in  the  abundance 
and  excellence  of  its  fruits  of  all  kinds.  From  the  fulness  and  richness 
of  the  clusters  of  cultivated  grapes,  it  is  clear,  that  this  ought  to  be  a 
country  of  vineyards.  The  Germans  have  already  made  a  few  establish- 
ments of  the  kind,  with  entire  success.  Apricots,  nectarines,  and  quinces, 
succeed ;  and  this  state  is  the  appropriate  empire  of  Pomona.  Recently, 
tobacco  has  been  added  to  the  articles  cultivated.     The  quality  and  flavor 


398  ohio 

are  such  as  to  warrant  the  expectation,  that  it  will  shortly  be  a  principal 
article  of  export.  Yellow  tobacco,  which  bears  a  price  so  much  higher 
than  any  other  kind,  bas  been  found  to  prosper  remarkably.  Hemp  is 
an  article  of  cultivation  in  some  parts  of  the  state.  Agricultural  improve- 
ment, however,  proceeds  with  slow.  pace.  The  people,  generally,  are 
not  at  all  given  to  experiment;  and  continue  to  farm  in  the  old  and  beaten 
routine.  No  part  of  the  western  country  calls  more  imperiously  for  ag- 
ricultural improvement;  for  this  state  begins  to  be  thickly  settled,  and  natu- 
rally to  invite  efforts  to  improve  the  cultivation.  Intelligent  and  patriotic 
men  are  making  great  exertions  to  introduce  the  cultivation  of  the  vine 
and  mulberry,  that  wine  and  silk  may  be  added  to  the  articles  of  produc- 
tion. These  states,  that  are  so  far  from  a  foreign  market,  and  whose 
bulky  articles  are  so  expensive  in  transportation,  ought  to  use  every  exer- 
tion to  introduce  a  cultivation,  that  would  have  more  value  in  a  smaller 
compass.  Besides  trees,  shrubs,  and  vines,  this  state  produces  a  great 
abundance  of  indigenous  productions,  that  are  useful  in  medicine.  We 
may  mention  actea  racemosa,  squaw  root,  Virginia  snakeroot,  Indian  tur- 
nip, ginseng,  which  is  dug  in  considerable  quantities,  as  an  article  of  com- 
merce, Colombo,  lobelia,  valerian,  blood  root,  or  sanguinaria  canadensis, 
and  various  other  herbaceous  medicinal  plants. 

Rivers.  Under  this  hea'd  we  shall  describe  the  noble  and  beautiful 
river,  that  gives  name  to  the  state.  If  the  Mississippi  has  more  grandeur, 
the  Ohio  has  clearly  more  beauty.  If  the  Mississippi  rolls  along  its  angry 
and  sweeping  waters  with  more  majesty,  the  Ohio  far  exceeds  it  in  its 
calm  unbroken  course,  which  seldom  endangers  the  boats  on  its  bosom, 
except  there  be  mismanagement  or  storms.  No  river  in  the  world  rolls  for 
the  same  distance  such  an  uniform,  smooth,  and  peaceful  current.  Its 
bluffs  and  bottoms  have  a  singular  configuration  of  amenity,  or  grandeur. 
Sometimes  lofty  bluffs,  three  hundred  feet  in  height,  impend  the  river 
and  cast  their  grand  shadows  into  the  transparent  waters.  On  the  other 
side  are  fine  bottoms,  generally  above  the  overflow,  and  covered  with 
beautiful  forest  trees,  among  which  rises  the  venerable  sycamore,  the 
king  of  the  forests,  and  throws  its  white  arms  over  the  other  trees. 
Whoever  has  descended  this  noble  river  in  spring,  when  its  banks  are 
full,  and  the  beautiful  red  bud,  and  cornus  Florida,  deck  the  declivities 
of  the  bluffs,  and  arc  seen  at  intervals  in  the  bottoms,  or  in  the  autumn, 
when  the  leaves  arc  all  turning  yellow,  will  readily  allow  the  appropri- 
ateness of  the  French  name,  '  la  belle  riviere.' 

It  is  a  river  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela 
at  Pittsburgh.  The  highest  som-ccs  of  the  Alleghany  river,  are  in  Pot- 
ter county,  Pennsylvania,  twelve  miles  to  the  eastward  of  Coudersport, 
where  they  interlock  with  the  head  waters  of  the  Gcnessee  river,  and  the 


ohxo.  399 

east  and  west  branches  of  the  Susquehannah.  From  Coudersport  it 
holds  a  north-westwardly  course  twenty  miles,  during  which  it  is  augmen- 
ted by  several  streams,  and  then  enters  the  state  of  New  York.  Three 
miles  above  the  New  York  line,  it  receives  Orway  creek,  a  considerable 
stream,  from  the  east,  and  five  miles  farther,  Oil  creek,  from  the  north, 
and  then  passes  the  settlement  of  Hamilton.  It  thence  holds  a  west 
course  fifteen  miles,  and  receives  the  Tunuanguanta  creek  from  the 
south.  Here  it  bends  to  the  north  seven  miles,  and  receives  Greatvalley 
creek  from  the  north.  It  thence  bends  to  the  south-west,  and  after  a 
course  of  twenty-five  miles,  passes  again  into  the  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  winding  south-west,  receives  the  Connewongo  from  the  north,  at  the 
town  of  Warren.  It  thence  holds  a  west  course  seven  miles,  and  re- 
ceives the  waters  of  Brokenstraw  creek,  from  the  west.  It  thence  curves 
south-west  thirty  miles,  and  receives  the  Teonista,  from  the  east.  Twen- 
ty miles  farther  west,  it  receives  Oil  creek  from  the  north,  and  seven 
miles  farther,  French  creek  from  the  north-west.  By  this  stream  it  has 
a  communication  with  lake  Erie.  It  now  assumes  a  south-east  course, 
and  thirty  miles  farther  receives  the  waters  of  Toby's  creek,  an  important 
stream  which  extends  one  hundred  miles  into  the  interior  of  Pennsylva- 
nia. Retaining  the  same  course  thirty  miles,  it  receives  Red  Bank  and 
Mahoning  creeks.  Passing  Kittanning  and  Crooked  creek,  twenty-four 
miles  farther,  it  receives  the  waters  of  the  Kiskiminitas. 

This  river  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Conemaugh  and  Loyalhanna 
rivers,  which  rise  near  the  Alleghany  mountains,  one  hundred  miles  dis- 
tant. Below  this  point  the  Alleghany  continues  a  south-west  course 
about  thirty-five  miles,  and  reaches  Pittsburgh,  where  it  unites  with  the 
Monongahela.  The  former  river,  though  it  has  not  a  volume  apparently 
wider  than  the  other,  is  by  far  the  most  important  tributary  of  the  Ohio. 
It  has  a  swift,  sweeping,  and  rapid  current,  and  often  a  rocky  bottom, 
whence  huge  rocks  rise  to  the  surface  of  the  water.  When  it  is  full,  in 
the  spz'ing,  fiat  and  keel  boats  descend  it  rapidly,  and  without  danger. 
It  has  been  navigated  by  steam  boats,  but  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  cur- 
rents to  stem,  which  that  kind  of  boats  has  yet  attempted  to  vanquish. 

Monongahela  river,  the  other  important  branch  of  the  Ohio,  rises  in 
Virginia,  seventy  miles  north-west  of  Morgantown.  Twelve  miles 
north  of  Morgantown  it  passes  into  Pennsylvania,  and  a  few  miles  far- 
ther receives  the  waters  of  Cheat  river,  from  the  east.  Seventy  miles 
farther  it  receives  the  waters  of  the  Youghiogeny  river,  or,  as  it  is  com- 
monly called,  the  Yough,  the  most  important  branch  of  the  Monongahela, 
rising  near  the  upper  waters  of  the  Potomac,  separated  only  by  a  spur 
of  the  mountains.  From  the  western  declivity  of  these  mountains,  both 
this  and  the  main  river  receive  a  great  accession  of  mountain  streams. 

51 


400  omio. 

The  united  stream  has  now  become  broad  and  majestic.  It  flows  in  a 
north-west  course  to  Pittsburgh,  and  where  it  unites  with  the  Allegheny, 
is  more  than  four  hundred  yards  wide.  The  Ohio,  at  the  junction,  is  some- 
thing more  than  six  hundred  yards  wide,  and  immediately  assumes  that 
broad,  placid,  and  beautiful  aspect,  which  it  maintains  to  its  junction  with 
the  Mississippi.  The  Monongahela  traverses  a  rich  and  well  settled 
country,  noted  for  its  whiskey,  flour,  iron,  and  manufactures.  The  banks 
are  often  bold  and  high  bluffs,  and  in  some  places  the  country  is  hilly. 
In  good  stages  of  the  water,  it  is  boatable  by  large  boats  100  miles 
from  its  mouth.  There  are  few  more  rural,  picturesque,  and  delightful 
tracts  of  country  in  the  United  States,  than  on  this  river. 

The  Ohio,  from  its  commencement,  affords  most  delightful  prospects. 
Rivers  of  romantic  and  beautiful  character  come  in,  almost  at  equal  dis- 
tances, as  lateral  canals.  Its  bottoms  are  of  extraordinary  depth  and  fer- 
tility,- generally  high  and  dry,  and  for  the  most  part  healthy;  while  the 
configuration  of  the  country  on  the  banks  has  all  that  grandeur,  softness, 
or  variety,  still  changing  and  recurring  in  such  combinations  as  are  re- 
quisite to  destroy  a  monotonous  effect.  For  thirty  miles  below  Pittsburgh 
its  course  is  north-west.  It  then  slowly  turns  to  the  west  south-west,  and 
pursues  that  general  direction  five  hundred  miles.  Thence  south-west 
one  hundred  and  seventy  miles.  Thence  westward  two  hundred  and 
eighty  miles.  Thence  south-west  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles, 
through  that  low  and  swampy  country,  in  which  it  finds  the  Mississippi. 
Between  Pittsburgh  and  the  mouth  it  is  diversified  with  one  hundred  con- 
siderable islands,  besides  a  greater  number  of  tow-heads  and  sand-bars, 
which  in  low  stages  of  the  water  greatly  impede  navigation.  Some  of 
these  islands  are  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  afford  most  lovely  situations  for 
retired  farms.  The  passages  between  them,  and  the  sand-bars  at  their 
head,  are  among  the  difficulties  of  the  navigation  of  this  river.  The 
order  of  the  entrance  of  the  creeks  and  rivers,  as  we  descend,  is  as  fol- 
lows :  Charter's  creek,  4  miles  below  Pittsburgh,  from  the  south.  Big 
Beaver,  30  miles,  from  the  north.  Little  Beaver,  42  miles  below,  from 
the  north.  Mill  creek,  43,  from  the  south.  Big  Yellow  creek,  54  miles, 
from  the  north.  Ciooktun's  run,  62,  from  the  north.  King's  creek,  66, 
from  the  south.  Wills1  creek,  71,  from  the  north.  Harman's  creek,  72, 
from  the  south.  One  mile  below  this  creek  is  the  large  and  flourishing 
town  of  Steubenville.  Indian  Cross  creek,  75  miles,  north.  Virginia 
Cross  creek,  76  miles,  south.  Indian  Short  creek,  87  miles.  Virginia 
Short  creek,  opposite  on  the  south.  Wheeling  creek,  116  miles,  south. 
Just  above  this  creek  is  the  commercial  and  important  town  of  Wheeling. 
McMahorfs  creek,  south,  100  miles.  Little  Grave  creek,  south,  108. 
Big  Grave  creek,  north.     Fish  creek,  south,  123.     Fishing  creek,  south, 


OHIO.  401 

137.  Stony  creek,  north,  162.  Little  Muskingum,  north,  179.  Mus- 
kingum, north,  183.  At  the  mouth  of  this  river  is  the  considerable  town 
of  Marietta.  Little  Kanawha,  south,  197.  Little  Hockhocking,  north, 
204.  Big  Hockhocking,  north,  210.  Shade  river,  north,  221.  Little 
Sandy,  south,  227.  Big  Sandy,  south,  231.  Great  Kanawha,  south, 
283.  On  this  large  and  important  stream  arc  the  most  extensive  salt 
works  in  the  western  country.  Little  Guyandotte,  south,  307.  Big  Guy- 
andottc,  south,  327.  Great  Sandy,  south,  341.  Little  Sandy,  south,  364. 
Little  Scioto,  north,  380.  Big  Scioto,  north,  390.  This  is  a  very  impor- 
tant river  of  Ohio.  On  its  banks  are  extremely  rich  lands.  The  polit- 
ical metropolis,  Columbus,  is  situated  on  it.  A  little  above  its  mouth  is 
the  considerable  village  of  Portsmouth.  The  great  Erie  canal  enters  the 
Ohio,  near  the  mouth  of  this  river.  The  former  capital  of  Ohio,  Chilli- 
cothe,  is  also  on  its  banks.  Turkey  creek,  north,  395.  Coneconeque, 
south,  404.  Stout's  run,  north,  418.  Brush  creek,  south,  421.  Syca- 
more creek,  south,  424.  Crooked  creek,  south,  444.  Lime  Stone  creek, 
south,  452.  Just  below  this  creek  is  the  large  and  important  town  of 
Maysville,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  accustomed  landings  on  the  Ohio. 
Eagle  creek,-  north,  4G2.  Straight  creek,  north,  468.  Bracken  creek, 
south,  472.  Bull  Skin  creek,  north,  479.  Bear  creek,  north,  488.  Big 
Indian  creek,  north,  492.  Muddy  creek,  north,  503.  Little  Miami  riv- 
er, north,  516.  Crawfish  creek,  north,  519.  Deer  creek,  north,  523. 
Licking  river,  south,  524.  This  is  an  important  river  of  Kentucky,  en- 
tering the  Ohio  between  Newport  and  Covington,  and  opposite  Cincinnati. 
Mill  creek  north,  528.  Great  Miami,  north,  551.  Laughery's  creek, 
north,  562.  Gunpowder  creek,  south,  575.  Big  Bone  Lick  creek,  south, 
583.  Kentucky  river,  south,  629.  Six  miles  above  this,  on  the  opposite 
shore,  is  Vevay,  and  the  beautiful  Swiss  vineyards.  Little  Kentucky 
river  south,  628.  Bear  Grass  creek,  south,  703.  Just  below  this  creek 
is  the  important  and  commercial  town  of  Louisville,  and  the  only  consid- 
erable impediment  in  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  from  its  commencement 
to  its  mouth.  This  impediment  is  a  ledge  of  rocks,  extending  across  the 
Ohio,  constituting  a  considerable  extent  of  rapids,  called  'the  falls  of 
Ohio.1  A  canal  round- these  falls,  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river,  a 
work  of  immense  magnitude  and  utility,  is  completed.  Salt  river,  south, 
730;  Falling  Spring,  south,  751.  Indian,  or  Wyandot  creek,  north,  775. 
Big  Blue  river,  north,  792.  Hardin's  creek,  south,  818.  Anderson's 
river,  north,  851.  Blackford  creek,  south,  864.  Green  river,  southj 
925.  This  is  an  important  river  of  Kentucky.  Pigeon  creek,  north, 
935.  Highland  creek,  south,  993.  Wabash,  north,  1,003.  This  is  a 
large,  beautiful,  and  important  river  of  Indiana.  Saline  river,  north, 
1,021.     Not  far  above  this  creek  is  Shawneetown,  a  considerable  villago 


402  ohio. 

of  Illinois.  Great  quantities  of  salt  are  manufactured  on  this  creek. 
Grand  Pierre  creek,  north,  1,049.  Cumberland  river,  south,  1,071. 
This  is  a  very  important  river  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  Tennessee, 
south,  1,084.  This  is  by  far  the  largest  and  most  important  tributary  of 
the  Ohio.  It  waters  considerable  extents  of  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and 
Kentucky.     Cash  river,  north,  1,120.     Mouth  of  the  Ohio,  1,132. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  distances,  as  noted  by  the  present  steam 
boat  navigators,  make  the  whole  distance  from  Pittsburgh  to  the  mouth, 
fall  short  of  one  thousand  miles.  It  is  true  the  distances  have  seemed 
much  shorter  since  they  have  been  measured  by  the  rapid  course  of  the 
steam  boats.  But  we  apprehend,  when  measured  by  the  convex  side  of 
the  bends  of  the  river,  the  former  measure  will  be  found  nearer  the  exact 
truth  than  the  latter.  We  may  add,  that  we  have  not  included  in  the 
above  enumeration  more  than  half  the  breaks  through  the  banks  of  the 
Ohio,  by  the  entrance  of  creeks.  We  have  mentioned,  however,  the 
greater  number  of  those  that  preserve  running  water  through  the  sum- 
mer. Of  the  above,  the  following  are  important  rivers,  and  all  naviga- 
ble, in  moderate  or  high  stages  of  water,  by  steam  boats,  for  considerable 
distances,  viz.  Muskingum,  Great  Kanawha,  Big  Sandy,  Scioto,  Great 
Miami,  Kentucky,  Green,  Wabash,  Cumberland,  and  Tennessee.  The 
three  last  are  important  in  the  order  of  their  standing.  The  Ohio  at 
Pittsburgh  is  six  hundred  yards  wide.  At  Cincinnati,  which  may  be 
considered  its  mean  width,  it  is  not  much  more.  Below  the  Cumberland 
its  average  width  is  one  thousand  yards.  Its  valley  is  deep,  and  heavily 
timbered,  and  has  no  where  the  slightest  indication  of  prairie.  It  varies 
from  two  to  ten  miles  in  width.  It  is  bounded  in  its  whole  course  by  bluffs, 
sometimes  towering  sublimely  from  the  shores  of  the  river,  and  some- 
times receding  two  or  three  miles.  Beyond  the  immediate  verge  of  the 
bottom  is  a  singular  line  of  hills,  more  or  less  precipitous,  stretching 
from  five  to  ten  miles  from  the  banks.  They  are  known  on  the  Ohio  by 
the  familiar  appellation  of  the  'Ohio  hills.'  Different  estimates  have  been 
made  of  the  rapidity  of  its  current.  This  rapidity  being  continually 
varying,  it  would  be  difficult  to  assign  any  very  exact  estimate.  It  is 
found,  according  to  the  different  stages  of  the  water,  to  vary  between  one 
and  three  miles.  In  the  lowest  stages  of  the  water,  in  the  autumn,  a 
floating  substance  would  probably  not  advance  a  mile  an  hour.  It  is 
subject  to  extreme  elevations  and  depressions.  The  average  range 
between  high  and  low  water,  is  fifty  feet.  Its  lowest  stage  is  in  Septem- 
ber; and  its  highest  in  March.  But  it  is  subject  to  sudden  and  very  con- 
siderable rises  through  the  year.  It  has  been  known  to  rise  twelve  feet 
in  a  night.  When  these  sudden  elevations  take  place,  at  the  breaking  up 
of  tho  ice,  a  scene  of  desolation  sometimes  occurs;  and  boats  and  every 


ohio.  403 

thing  in  its  course  arc  carried  away  by  the  accumulated  power  of  the  ice 
and  the  water.  Its  average  descent  in  the  mile  is  not  far  from  six  inches. 
At  Cincinnati,  the  surface  of  the  river  at  low  water  is  supposed  to  be  one 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  below  the  level  of  lake  Erie,  and  four  hundred 
and  thirty  above  that  of  the  tide  water  of  the  Atlantic.  Between  Pitts- 
burgh and  the  mouth,  it  makes  three  and  a  half  degrees  of  southing  in 
latitude.  The  average  time  of  the  suspension  of  its  navigation  by  ice  is 
five  weeks.  One  half  of  the  remainder  of  the  year,  on  an  average,  it  is 
navigable  by  large  steam  boats  in  its  whole  course.  The  other  half  it 
can  be  navigated  easily  only  by  steam  boats  of  a  small  draft  of  water. 
Since  the  Louisville  and  Portland  canal  has  been  completed,  steam  boats 
of  small  draft  can  descend  at  all  times  from  Pittsburgh  to  the  Mississippi. 
Flat  and  keel  boats  descend  the  river  at  all  seasons ;  but  in  periods  of  low 
water,  with  frequent  groundings  on  the  sand  bars,  and  the  necessity  of 
often  unloading  to  get  the  hoat  cfF.  It  would  be  difficult  to  decide  when 
the  Ohio  has  the  most  beautiful  appearance,  in  the  spring,  when  it  rolls 
along  between  full  banks,  or  in  the  autumn,  when  between  the  ripples  it 
is  calm  and  still,  with  broad  and  clean  sand  bars;  or  in  the  ripples,  where 
its  transparent  waVers  glide  rapidly  over  the  pebbly  and  shelly  bottom, 
showing  every  thing,  as  through  the  transparency  of  air.  The  Ohio  and 
all  its  tributaries  cannot  have  less  than  five  thousand  miles  of  boatable 
waters ;  and  taking  all  circumstances  into  consideration,  few  rivers  in 
the  world  can  vie  with  it  either  in  utility  or  beauty. 

The  Great  Miami  is  the  next  largest  and  most  interesting  river  of  this 
state.  It  rises  between  40°  and  41°  N.  latitude,  and  interlocks  with  the 
Massissineway  of  the  Wabash,  and  the  St.  Mary's  and  Au  Glaize,  branch- 
es of  the  Maumee  and  the  Scioto.  It  flows  in  a  strong,  but  generally 
smooth  and  unbroken  current,  and  has  a  valley  of  uncommon  width  and 
fertility,  though  sometimes  subject  to  inundation.  From  the  west  it  re- 
ceives Loramie's  creek,  which  enters  it  one  hundred  miles  above  its 
mouth;  and  Still  Water,  fifty  miles  below,  and  White  water,  seven  miles 
above  its  junction  with  the  Ohio.  Its  principal  eastern  branch  is  Mad 
river,  which  rises  in  the  northern  pari  of  Logan  county,  traversing  that 
county  and  Clark,  and  the  north-west  corner  of  Green  county.  Its  gene- 
ral direction  is  south-west ;  and  the  country  through  which  it  runs  is  sin- 
gularly fertile  and  beautiful.  The  length  of  its  course  is  something  more 
than  fifty  miles.  It  enters  the  Miami  just  above  the  town  of  Dayton,  and 
receives  its  name  from  its  furious  and  broken  current.  The  chief  branch- 
es of  Mad  river  are  East  Fork  and  King's  creek. 

Little  Miami  rises  in  the  south-west  corner  of  Madison  county,  and  in 
a  south-west  direction  traverses  Clark,  Green,  Warren,  and  Hamilton 
counties,  and  joins  the  Ohio  seven  miles  above  Cincinnati.     It  is  not  of 


404  onro. 

much  importance  as  a  navigable  stream;  but  from  the  fertility  of  the  lands 
on  its  borders,  and  its  numerous  mill  seats,  it  is  a  river  of  great  utility. 
There  are  nearly  fifty  mills  on  it;  some  of  them  paper  mills,  and  other 
mills  of  importance.  Its  principal  branches  arc  East  branch,  Shawnee, 
Obannon,  Turtle,  Todd's  Fork,  Cesar's  and  JVIassie's  creeks  on  the  east- 
ern side ;  and  Goose  and  Beaver  creek  on  the  west.  An  hundred  miles 
from  its  mouth,  it  has  singular  rapids,  where  the  river  in  no  great  distance 
falls  two  hundred  feet.  The  stream  is  .here  compressed  to  ten  yards  in 
width.  The  country  between  the  Great  and  Little  Miami  is  generally 
finely  watered,  healthy,  pleasant  and  fertile;  and  may  be  considered 
the  garden  of  the  state.  Its  commercial  intercourse  is  with  Cin- 
cinnati. 

In  advancing  towards  the  east  from  the  Little  Miami,  we  cross  Big 
Indian  creek,  White  Oak,  Straight,  Eagle,  Bull  Skin,  Brush,  and  Turkey 
creeks.  The  Scioto  is  a  considerable  river  of  the  Ohio,  and  has  its  whole 
course  in  this  state.  It  rises  in  a  morass  north  of  Lognn  county.  Its 
general  direction  is  south-east,  and  its  whole  course  little  short  of  two  hun- 
dred miles.  It  enters  the  Ohio  by  a  mouth  150  yards  wide,  and  is  navi- 
gable, in  good  stages  of  the  water,  130  miles.  Its  principal  branches 
are  Whetstone,  Big  Walnut,  Lower  Walnut,  and  Salt  creeks,  from  the 
east,  and  Paint,  Deer,  Darby,  Mill,  and  Baker's  creeks,  from  the  west. 
Not  far  above  Columbus,  on  the  banks,  is  an  inexhaustible  quarry  of  free 
stone,  or  marble,  of  a  beautiful  grayish  color.  There  are  rich  and  beau- 
tiful prairies  on  this  river;  and  its  valley  is  uncommonly  wide  and  fertile. 
When  it  was  first  settled  it  proved  to  be  extremely  sickly.  In  the  pro- 
gress of  cultivation  that  character  has  passed  away;  and  the  Scioto  coun- 
try is  now  among  the  most  fertile,  eligible,  and  pleasant  parts  of  the  state. 
Columbus,  the  political  capital  of  the  state,  and  Chillicothe,  which  was 
until  recently  so,  are  on  this  river;  and  there  arc  many  pleasant  villages, 
and  much  well  settled  country  on  it  and  its  waters. 

The  country  between  the  Scioto  and  the  Muskingum  is  watered  by  the 
Great  Hockhocking  and  its  waters.  It  enters  the  Ohio  150  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  Scioto,  and  is  navigable  for  boats  to  Athens,  forty  #iiles 
from  its  mouth.  It  has  a  deep  and  still,  but  narrow  channel.  Near  its 
source,  seven  miles  north  of  Lancaster,  is  a  romantic  cascade  of  40  feet 
perpendicular.  It  has  a  number  of  mills  erected  on  it.  Its  chief  tribu- 
taries are  Rush,  Sunday,  Monday,  Margaret's,  and  Federal  creeks. 

The  Muskingum  rises  near  the  sources  of  the  Cuyahoga  of  lake  Erie, 
in  the  southern  part  of  Connecticut  Reserve.  Its  course  is  remarkably 
sinuous;  but  its  general  direction  is  southwardly.  It  traverses  Stark, 
Tuscarawas,  Coshocton,  Muskingum,  Morgan,  and  Washington  counties, 
and  enters  the  Ohio  at  Marietta,  by  a  mouth  250 yards  wide.    It  is  boata- 


OHIO.  405 

ible,  in  good  stages  of  water,  to  Coshocton,  100  miles  by  the  course  of  (he 
river.  Small  crafts  ascend  it  to  a  portage  of  one  mile  to  the  boatable 
waters  of  Cuyahoga  of  lake  Erie.  There  are  considerable  falls  in  the 
river  at  Zanesville,  which  afford  sites  for  many  mill  seats.  Sonic  parts 
of  the  course  of  the  Muskingum  are  through  a  hilly  country.  The  prin- 
cipal branches  are  Licking,  White  Woman's.  Willis',  Wolf,  Coal,  Olive, 
Green,  Meigs,  Salt,  Jonathan,  Wakatomka,  Still  Water,  Sugar,  Coneter, 
Nimishillen,  and  Indian  creeks.  Above  Coshocton,  the  river  itself  is 
generally  called  Tuscarawas.  In  the  intervals  of  the  precipitous  coun- 
try along  this  river,  the  lands  are  fine ;  and  the  country  is  remarkable 
for  health. 

Several  considerable  creeks  enter  the  Ohio,  between  the  Muskingum 
and  the  Pennsylvania  line,  such  as  Pawpaw,  Little  Muskingum,  Indian, 
Wheeling,  Captina,  Stony,  and  Sunfish.  These  are  the  principal  rivers 
that  enter  the  Ohio  and  its  waters.  But  the  table  lands  of  this  state  have 
a  general  inclination  either  to  the  Ohio,  or  to  lake  Erie,-  and  a  number 
of  considerable  rivers  run  from  the  northern  belt  of  this  table  land  into 
lake  Erie.     The  principal  of  these  is  the  Maumee. 

The  Maumcc  rises  in  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the  state  of  Indiana, 
and  flowain  a  north-eastern  direction  across  the  north-western  borders  of 
the  state  of  Ohio  into  the  western  extremity  of  lake  Erie.  It  is  navigable 
thirty-three  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  navigation  is  there  obstructed  bv 
shoals  and  rapids.  It  is  a  broad,  deep  stream,  with  an  average  width 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  yards,  and  is  formed  by  the 
confluence  of  the  St.  Joseph's,  St.  Mary's,  and  the  Great  and  Little  Au 
Glaize.  This  important  river  has  a  course  of  one  hundred  miles.  Fort 
Meigs,  a  fortification  of  much  note  in  the  late  war,  is  on  this  river.  It 
has  a  valuable  fishery,  and  its  banks,  in  the  season  of  vegetation,  are  re- 
markable for  the  luxuriance  of  their  verdure.  The  St.  Joseph's  of  this 
river  heads  in  Indiana,  is  a  considerable  stream,  and  boatable  fifty  miles. 
The  St.  Mary's,  another  of  its  branches,  has  a  long  course  of  boatable 
navigation.  The  Au  Glaize  is  a  considerable  stream,  that  passes  through 
i  the  Jfcian  country,  and  falls  into  the  Maumee  at  Fort  Winchester,  fifty 
miles  below  Fort  Wayne.  Touissaint  river  enters  the  lake  twenty  miles 
east  of  the  Maumee.  It  may  rather  be  considered  an  arm  of  the  lake 
than  a  river.  It  rises  in  the  prairie,  has  no  perceptible  current,  and  is 
choked  with  wild  rice,  aquatic  plants,  and  grass.  In  summer  it  abounds 
with  wild  fowls.  Otters  and  muskrats  arc  trapped  in  great  numbers  by 
the  Indians  on  it.  Portage  is  an  inconsiderable  river  heading  not  far 
from  Urbana.  Like  most  of  the  rivers  that  rise  in  these  level  lands 
and  fall  into  the  lake,  it  has  very  little  current,  and  is  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth. 


40G  ohio. 

The  Sandusky  rises  in  the  western  limits  of  Richland  county,  and  runs 
in  a  general  north-west  direction,  ninety  miles  to  the  lake.  It  is  more 
rapid  than  the  other  lake  streams;  but  yet  affords  good  navigation.  Its 
chief  branches  are  Tyemochtee,  Honey,  and  Wolf  creeks.  Between  this 
river  and  the  Scioto,  is  a  portage  of  only  four  miles.  It  has  been  propo- 
sed to  canal  this  portage.  There  are  fine  bodies  of  land  on  the  banks  of 
this  stream.  Huron  falls  into  the  lake  by  a  mouth  fifty  yards  wide.  Its 
comparative  course  is  thirty  miles.  Rocky  river  is  a  stream  of  considera- 
ble importance.  The  lands  on  its  banks  are  fine,  and  it  has  a  rich  and 
thriving  settlement. 

Cuyahoga  rises  in  the  central  parts  of  Geauga  county,  and  passes 
through  Portage  and  Cuyahoga  counties,  entering  the  lake  at  Cleaveland. 
Its  whole  course  is  sixty  miles,  greater  part  of  which  distance  it  is  boatable. 
Above  whei'e  it  is  boatable  it  has  valuable  mill  seats.  Cleaveland,  which 
has  become  a  place  of  importance,  is  at  its  mouth. 

Chagrin,  Grand,  Ashtabula,  and  Coneaught  are  considerable  streams, 
that  rise  near  the  lake,  run  northwardly,  and  fall  into  it.  Ohio  is  the 
country  of  hills  and  vales,  delightfully  irrigated  with  springs,  brooks,  and 
rivers  of  every  class  and  size.  There  are  more  than  an  hundred  streams, 
not  here  enumerated,  which,  for  seven  months  in  the  year  carry  a  con- 
siderable mass  of  waters.  A  remark,  applicable  to  the  whole  western 
country,  applies  to  this  state,  that  a  great  number  of  considerable  streams 
during  the  winter  months,  disappear  before  the  evaporating  ardors  of  the 
summer's  sun. 

Minerals,  and  Mineral  Springs.  In  the  eastern  and  north-eastern 
divisions  of  this  state,  on  the  Muskingum,  Hockhocking,  and  Scioto,  min- 
eral coal  abounds,  and  it  has  an  extensive  and  rich  coal  region.  It  is  in 
the  greatest  abundance,  and  of  the  best  quality.  It  so  happens,  that  in 
the  same  region  arc  found  the  greatest  bodies  of  iron  ore.  Nature  seems 
to  have  furnished  the  industrious  people  of  this  state  with  every  possible 
facility  for  important  and  staple  manufactures.  Lime  stone,  marble,  and 
free  stone,  in  strata  easy  to  quarry,  near  the  surface,  and  admirably  adapt- 
ed to  building  and  public  works,  abound.  The  useful  earths  andHssils 
are  in  abundance.  Specimens  of  gypsum  are  procured  from  Sandusky 
bay.  Salt  springs  are  common.  In  some  the  water  contains  almost  as 
much  salt  as  that  of  the  sea.  The  most  important  manufactures  of  this 
article  are  in  Muskingum,  Morgan,  Jackson,  and  Gallia  counties.  Near- 
ly half  a  million  bushels  are  manufactured  in  the  state.  Those  springs 
whose  waters  arc  drunk  as  medicinal,  are  most  of  them  more  or  less  im- 
pregnated with  muriate  (if  soda. 

The  Yellow  Springs,  the  most  accustomed  watering  place  after  Har- 
rodsburgh  Springs,  in  the  western  country,  are  situated  near  the  falls  of 


ouio.  407 

the  Miami,  sixty-three  miles  from  Cincinnati,  and  eighteen  from  Dayton, 
intermediate  between  the  pretty  towns  of  Xenia  and  Springfield,  and  on 
the  height  of  the  table  land  of  the  state.  The  elevated  position,  the  grand 
and  romantic  scenery,  and  the  cool  and  salubrious  air  probably  contribute 
as  much  to  the  restoration  of  invalids  as  the  waters,  which  are,  however, 
strongly  charged  with  iron  in  solution.  The  hotel  displays  a  front  with  a 
collonade  of  two  hundred  feet,  with  a  number  of  beautiful  cottages  paral- 
lel with  the  main  building.  The  clearing  is  cut  out  of  the  solid  mass  of 
forest,  leaving  trees  and  openings,  as  beauty  of  scenery  and  shade  require. 
From  this  elevation,  and  these  sumptuous  erections  of  art,  the  eye  sweeps 
over  the  ancient  forests  towards  Indiana,  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes,  arrested 
only  by  the  horizon.  The  falls  of  the  Little  Miami,  Pompey's  Pillar,  the 
Blue  Hole,  and  many  other  romantic  spectacles  in  this  region  of  grand 
and  mountain  scenery,  impart  to  this  watering  place  all  the  charms  that 
the  lover  of  nature  would  require,  and  heighten  the  contrast  of  the  luxury 
of  the  accommodations  provided  for  visitants.  Lovers  of  the  picturesque, 
affirm,  that  neither  the  Bedford  Springs  of  Pennsylvania,  nor  the  watering 
places  of  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  surpass  this  place  in  grandeur,  or 
equal  it  in  amenity  of  prospect. 

Climate.  Climate  here  remarkably  corresponds  to  latitude.  Other 
elements  that  operate  upon  the  result  are  elevation  and  proximity  to 
waters,  or  distance  from  them.  The  climate,  for  instance,  along  the  im- 
mediate valley  of  the  Ohio  is  more  equable  and  temperate  than  in  the 
middle  and  table  lands  of  the  state ;  and  the  difference  greater,  than  can 
be  attributed  merely  to  difference  of  latitude.  The  central  parts  of  the 
state  are  in  the  same  latitude  with  Philadelphia.  The  mean  temperature 
of  the  year  at  Philadelphia  was  found  to  be  53°.  In  the  same  year  the 
mean  temperature  of  Ohio  was  55°.  As  we  recede  from  the  Ohio  the 
temperature  diminishes  in  a  greater  ratio  than  that  of  the  latitude.  The 
prevalent  and  warm  winds  are  those  that  blow  from  the  gulf,  and  up  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  cold  breezes  come  charged  with  the  cold 
of  Canada  and  the  lakes.  In  that  part  of  the  state  that  slopes  to  the  south, 
the  snow  neither  falls  deep  nor  lies  long.  But  in  Connecticut  Reserve, 
and  in  the  points  that  slope  towards  the  lakes,  they  have  deep  and  dura- 
ble snows;  and  sleighing  and  sledding  are  practicable  a  considerable 
length  of  time.  It  is  a  great  inconvenience  in  this  climate,  that  during 
the  winter  months  the  transitions  from  warm  to  cold,  and  the  reverse,  are 
frequent  and  violent.  Thaws  and  frosts  are  the  result,  and  the  soil,  being 
deep  and  clayey,  the  travelling  is  muddy  and  uncomfortable.  The  win- 
ters are  sometimes  considerably  severe,  and  the  Ohio  has  been  crossed  at 
Cincinnati  for  nine  weeks.  Oftentimes  they  are  mild,  and  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  be  more  than  a  prolongation  of  autumn  and  spring.     Winter 

52 


408  onio. 

seldom  commences  in  severity  until  Christmas,  and  its  severity  is  gener- 
ally mitigated  early  in  February-  Vegetation,  which  is  the  most  certain 
and  accurate  thermometer,  indicates  a  temperature  of  greater  mildness  in 
the  season,  than  in  the  corresponding  latitudes  in  the  Atlantic.  The 
heat  of  the  summer  in  the  Ohio  valley  is  uniformly  oppressive,  but  does 
not  commence  early,  nor  continue  late  in  the  season.  The  heat  of  sum- 
mer abates  as  early  in  the  autumn  as  in  the  more  northern  latitudes  in 
the  Atlantic  country.  The  autumns  are  almost  uniformly  temperate,  dry, 
and  beautiful;  and  nothing  can  exceed  them  for  health  and  pleasantness. 
Nowhere  in  the  world  is  the  grand  autumnal  painting  of  the  forests  in  the 
decay  of  vegetation,  seen  in  more  beauty  than  in  the  beech  forests  of 
Ohio.  The  richness  of  the  fading  colors,  and  the  effect  of  the  mingling 
hues,  baffles  all  description.  A  great  farming  community  like  that  of 
Ohio,  could  scarcely  desire  a  better  climate  for  themselves,  their  cattle, 
and  stock  of  all  kinds ;  or  one,  in  which  a  man  can  work  abroad  with 
comfort  a  greater  number  of  days  in  the  year. 

Antiquities.  We  have  space  to  add  but  little  upon  this  subject.  The 
most  remarkable  are  at  Worthington,  Granville,  Athens,  Marietta,  Galli- 
opolis,  Paint  creek,  Circleville,  and  on  the  Little  Miami.  The  domestic 
utensils,  pottery,  vases,  and  trinkets  of  the  inhabitants,  who,  probably, 
reared  them,  are  found  in  and  about  the  mounds.  The  instruments  of 
their  warfare  are  discovered,  too,  and  give  clear  indications  that  they  cul- 
tivated the  horrid  art  of  shedding  human  blood.  Most  of  the  human  bones, 
which  are  dug  in  great  quantities  from  the  mounds,  moulder  on  exposure 
to  the  air.  The  skulls  in  most  instances  remain,  and  great  numbers  are 
shown  in  the  museums.  They  evidence  a  surprising  variety  in  the  re- 
treabof  the  facial  angle  of  the  skulls.  It  is  affirmed,  that  marks  of  iron 
tools  are  found  upon  the  wood  dug  up  from  considerable  depths,  below 
the  surface  of  the  prairies.  A  sword  is  preserved  as  a  curiosity,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  enclosed  in  the  wood  of  the  roots  of  a  tree  which 
could  not  have  been  less  than  500  years  old.  We  have  not  seen  this 
sword ;  but  we  have  seen  a  diminutive  iron  horse  shoe,  dug  up  at  a  depth 
of  25  feet  below  the  surface,  in  graduating  the  Krcet  near  the  mansion  of 
Judge  Burnet,  in  Cincinnati.  It  was  smaller  than  the  kind  of  shoe  re- 
quired for  the  smallest  kind  of  asses.  A  number  of  the  nails  were  in  it, 
and  the  erosion  by  rust  was  such  as  might  be  expected  to  result  from  the 
oxidation  of  500  years.  Many  of  the  mounds  are  composed  of  different 
earths  from  that  which  is  found  in  their  vicinity.  It  is  the  most  inexplica- 
ble of  all  the  mysterious  circumstances  connected  with  these  mounds,  that 
the  material  of  these  immense  structures,  some  of  which  would  require 
the  labor  of  a  thousand  men  for  some  time  in  the  erection,  should  have 
been  brought  from  a  distance.     There  is  no  conceivable  motive  why  the 


ohio.  409 

earth  on  which  the  mounds  rest,  should  not  have  subserved  all  purposes 
that  we  can  imagine  the  builders  to  have  had  in  view.  We  know  with 
what  scrupulous  care  the  Jews  throw  a  little  of  the  earth  of  the  holy  land 
into  the  graves  of  their  friends.  Possibly  this  transfer  of  earth  for  the 
mounds,  from  a  distance,  may  have  reference  to  affecting  remembrances, 
like  those  of  the  Jews.  We  have  elsewhere  described  the  most  remarka- 
ble mounds  at  Circleville.  Engravings  of  its  form  may  be  seen  in  books, 
that  treat  professedly  upon  this  subject. 

Population.  A  preceding  table  shows  the  population,  by  the  census  of 
1830,  to  be  937,679.  By  the  census  of  1820,  there  were  130,460  men 
over  eighteen  years,  capable  of  bearing  arms.  At  the  same  time  1 10,991 
were  engaged  in  agriculture;  18,956  in  manufactures,  and  1,459  in  com- 
merce or  merchandise.  There  were  3,495  foreigners,  not  naturalized.  No 
colony  in  history  has  ever  shown  a  greater  natural  increase  in  population 
No  country  can  show  a  greater  number  of  young  children,  in  proportion 
to  the  whole  number  of  the  inhabitants.  Among  the  obvious  causes  of 
this  great  increase  may  be  mentioned  the  circumstance  of  there  being  no 
slavery  allowed  in  Ohio.  The  climate  is,  unquestionably, healthy.  The 
state  is  divided  into  moderately  sized  freeholds.  Most  of  the  people  are 
engaged  in  the  healthy  and  vigorous  pursuits  of  agriculture.  The  soil 
yields,  in  the  greatest  profusion,  all  that  is  necessary  for  healthy  and  com- 
fortable subsistence.  Whatever  be  the  cause,  the  multitudes  of  children 
that  are  seen  about  the  farm  houses  in  the  country,  and  that  fill  the  streets 
of  the  villages  and  towns,  do  not  fail  to  excite  the  remark  of  every  pas- 
sing traveller. 

Religion.  In  our  table  of  religious  denominations,  (see  appendix,)  we 
have  given  general  views  of  the  comparative  numbers  of  the  different 
religious  denominations.  There  are  numbers  of  all  the  known  existing 
sects.  But  the  Presbyterians  and  Methodists  are  the  prevalent  denomin- 
ations. The  Shakers  and  Tunkers  have  establishments  in  this  state. 
German  Lutherans  exist  in  considerable  numbers.  Most  people  are  de- 
sirous of  being  thought  lo  belong  to  some  religious  denomination.  It  is 
affirmed  by  a  gentleman,  well  known  for  his  researches  into  the  antiqui- 
ties of  this  state,  that  there  is  a  greater  number  of  professors  of  religion, 
in  proportion  to  the  whole  number  of  the  people,  than  in  any  state  in  the 
union.  There  are  a  vast  number  of  religious  societies;  but  there  is  not 
a  great  number  that  have  regularly  established  pastors.  The  custom  of 
itinerating  preaching,  as  a  supply,  is  very  prevalent.  The  people  are 
generally  a  quiet,  orderly,  peaceable,  moral,  and  industrious  race.  Sui- 
cide, excesses,  murders  in  affray,  and  instances  of  deliberate  and  atro- 
cious cruelty,  are  rare ;  and  the  general  moral  character  of  the  people  is 
highly  respectable. 


410  ohio. 

In  a  country  so  fresh,  much  taste  for  embellishment  or  improvement  in 
the  fine  arts,  cannot  be  reasonably  expected.  From  New  England  and 
New  Jersey  this  state  inherits  a  passion  for  sacred  music;  and  societies 
for  the  promotion  of  this  delightful  science  are  common.  A  vast  number 
of  New  England  music  masters  find  annual  employment  in  their  vocation. 
There  appears,  also,  to  be  a  general  taste  for  instrumental  music,  as  is 
manifested  in  seeing  in  great  numbers  of  the  farm  houses  and  cabins 
rude  harps  and  other  home  manufactured  instruments  of  music.  In  pass- 
ing the  detached  dwellings  of  the  Ohio  farmers  in  the  winter  evenings, 
we  generally  hear  the  interior  cheered  with  some  kind  of  music.  A  taste 
for  ornament,  and  those  arts  which  embellish  society  and  existence,  is 
evidently  increasing.  On  anniversaries  the  people  are  addicted  to  show, 
parade,  and  splendor.  There  is  a  fondness  for  a  large  and  stately  house. 
Gardening  is  studied  in  many  places ;  and  Cincinnati  shows  a  number  of 
gardens  that  will  vie  with  almost  any  in  the  United  States.  An  idea  of 
the  means  of  diffusing  information  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that 
more  than  eighty  newspapers  are  printed  in  the  state,  and  that  it  has  five 
hundred  and  four  post  offices. 

Trade  and  Manufactures.  This  state,  more  populous  than  any  other 
in  the  west,  and  possessing  in  many  respects  manufacturing  capabilities, 
has  taken  precedence  of  all  the  rest  in  manufactures.  Cotton  yarn,  cloth, 
and  woollen  goods,  are  already  manufactured  to  a  considerable  extent. 
Cincinnati  contains  a  great  mass  of  intelligent  and  enterprising  manu- 
facturers. Sleubenville,  Zanesville,  Chillicothe,  Dayton,  and  many  other 
of  the  young  and  rising  towns,  are  commencing  manufactures  with  great 
spirit.  In  1810,  the  manufactures  of  the  state  amounted  to  nearly  two 
millions  of  dollars.  At  present  they  must  amount  to  triple  that  sum. 
From  a  single  township,  175  tons  of  cheese,  worth  20,000  dollars,  was 
exported  in  one  year.  The  whole  amount  of  taxable  property  is  rated  at 
sixty-two  million  dollars. 

Colleges  and  Seminaries.  In  a  laudable  zeal  to  advance  science  and 
education,  it  is  a  question,  if  this  and  the  other  western  states  have  not 
been  too  fond  of  multiplying  colleges,  or  small  institutions  so  called,  built 
upon  principles  naturally  tending  to  rouse  a  spnit  of  unworthy  emulation, 
to  the  neglect  of  respectable  common  schools,  efficient  high  schools,  and 
one  or  two  universities  with  endowments,  library,  apparatus,  and  profes- 
sorships, to  furnish  the  means  of  a  finished  classical  education,  yet  a 
desideratum  in  the  western  country.  While  the  most  enlightened  na- 
tions in  Europe  are  content  with  three  or  four  universities,  we  have  at 
least  fifty  college?  in  the  western  country 


OHIO.  411 

Ohio,  preceding  all  her  sister  states  in  the  manifestation  of  an  enlight- 
ened zeal  to  advance  education,  has  not  been  behind  them  in  chartering 
colleges. 

Miami  University  is  situated  in  Oxford,  near  the  western  extremity  of 
Ohio,  and  forty  miles  north-west  from  Cincinnati.  It  has  an  academical 
department,  and  a  preparatory  school.  It  has  one  spacious  building,  and 
others  appropriated  to  boarders,  a  competent  number  of  professors,  and 
about  eighty  students  in  all  the  departments.  The  position  is  healthy, 
and  tuition  cheap.  It  has  consequently  become  a  considerable  resort  of 
students  from  other  states.  The  annual  income  of  its  funds  is  about  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

Ohio  University,  at  Athens,  has  respectable  endowments  and  buildings, 
and  ordinarily  a  number  of  students,  not  much  inferior  to  that  of  the 
Miami  institution.     Its  endowments  consist  of  two  townships  of  land. 

Kenyon  College,  at  Gambier,  an  episcopal  institution,  has  arisen  in  the 
midst  of  what  was  recently  a  forest,  in  the  central  parts  of  the  state.  It 
has  one  magnificent  building,  and  others  of  less  magnitude,  with  ample 
funds  and  endowments,  amounting  to  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  students. 

The  Western  Reserve  College,  at  Hudson,  has  been  recently  establish- 
ed in  the  north-eastern  division  of  the  state.  Connected  with  it  is  an 
academy,  in  which  are  thirty  students.  The  manual  labor  plan  is  in  ex- 
periment here. 

Franklin  College,  at  New  Athens,  is  in  successful  operation.  A  com- 
modious building,  sufficient  to  accommodate  one  hundred  and  fortv  stu- 
dents, has  just  been  completed. 

The  Worthington  Reformed  Medical  College,  at  Worthington,  has  a 
considerable  number  of  medical  students. 

Two  rival  medical  colleges  at  Cincinnati  have  recently  been  merged 
in  one,  which  has  one  spacious  building,  and  another  of  equal  beauty 
and  extent  erecting.  In  buildings,  library,  apparatus,  and  professorships, 
it  is  highly  respectable,  and  has  had,  on  an  average,  one  hundred  medical 
students. 

The  Lane  Theological  Seminary  has  recently  been  organized,  two 
miles  distant  from  Cincinnati.  It  is  under  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  has  been  endowed  with  funds  estimated  at  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  The  position  is  healthy  and  delightful,  and  the  number  of  the 
students  increasing. 

There  are  fifteen  or  twenty  academies,  and  as  each  sessiozi  of  the  le- 
gislature incorporates  new  ones,  we  cannot  be  precise  in  imparting  in- 
formation upon  this  subject.  An  academical  institute  of  some  celebrity 
exists  at  Marietta.     An  academy,  not  long  since  incorporated  at  Urbana, 


412  ohto. 

has  a  large  number  of  pupils.  There  are  academies  at  Barton,  New 
Lisbon,  Steubenville,  Cadiz,  Union,  Galliopolis,  Chillicothe,  and  Dayton. 
A  Tory  respectable  High  School  has  recently  been  organized  at  Cincin- 
nati. 

The  first  introduction  of  the  New  England  system  of  common  schools 
in  the  western  country,  was  in  Ohio,  and  dates  in  1825.  .  By  different 
amendatory  enactments  it  has  acquired  a  degree  of  form  and  consistency, 
and  the  thoughts  and  usages  of  the  people  are  growing  to  a  gradual  adap- 
tation to  it.  The  example,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  followed  by  the  other 
western  states,  and  the  foundation  laid  for  unspeakable  blessings  to  the 
generations  to  come.  By  this  act  the  trustees  of  every  incorporated 
township  are  required  to  divide  it  into  a  suitable  number  of  school  dis- 
tricts, the  prudential  concerns  of  which  are  to  be  managed  by  three  school 
directors,  a  clerk,  and  treasurer.  The  funds  for  this  vast  system  arise 
from  various  sources  besides  the  easy  tax  of  one  mill  upon  a  dollar,  con- 
stituting a  large  and  growing  revenue.  It  was  at  first  found  discordant 
with  the  habits  and  likings  of  portions  of  the  population.  This  odium  of 
prejudice  is  wearing  away,  and  the  system  is  going  into  efficient  and 
noiseless  operation.  In  Cincinnati  alone,  it  has  provided  instruction  for 
three  thousand  children,  in  well  organized  schools,  many  of  whom,  but 
for  this  provision,  would  probably  have  grown  into  life  without  a  common 
school  education.  A  general  interest  in  literature  is  making  visible  pro- 
gress in  this  great  state. 

An  asylum  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  has  been  established  at  Columbus, 
which  promises  much  to  that  suffering  class  of  the  population. 

Chief  Towns.  This  state  possesses  over  one  hundred  considerable 
villages.     Of  many  we  have  space  but  for  little  more  than  the  names. 

Cincinnati,  the  chief  town  of  this  state,  and  next  to  New  Orleans,  of 
the  western  country,  is  situated  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Ohio,  nearly 
in  the  south-west  angle  of  the  state.  Its  position  is  a  beautiful  vale 
twelve  miles  in  circumference,  created  by  an  elliptical  sweep  of  Ohio 
hills.  Those  of  them  thct  have  not  been  laid  bare  by  the  unsparing  axe, 
are  beautifully  wooded  to  their  summits;  and  by  the  swell  and  indentation 
of  their  waving  outline  present  the  most  graceful  and  charming  forms. 
From  the  summit  of  any  of  these  hills,  the  town  spreads  a  panoramic 
map  of  exquisite  painting.  The  eye  traces  every  street,  with  its  smokes, 
fixtures,  and  moving  life,  from  which  all  the  roughness  of  inception,  sof- 
tened by  distance,  disappears.  The  noble  establishments,  the  handsome 
mansions,  the  extending  masses  of  buildings,  the  numerous  manufactures 
propelling  their  columns  of  black  smoke  aloft,  the  boat  yards,  the  bustling 
inhabitants,  with  the  hundred  tearns  and  drays,  the  Ohio  winding  along 
the    southern   limit,  and    it.«ell"  enlivened   by  passing  crafts,  and  stately 


ohio.  413 

steam  boats,  rounding  to  the  shore  or  departing  from  it,  the  villages  of 
Newport  and  Covington,  with  their  showy  houses  and  manufactures  on 
the  Kentucky  bank  of  the  Ohio,  taken  together,  offer  such  a  picture 
of  beauty,  wealth,  progress  and  fresh  advance,  as  few  landscapes  in 
any  country  can  surpass.  Its  first  settlement  was  in  1789,  but  it  was 
not  until  1808,  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  present  town  plot  that  sur- 
rounded Fort  Washington,  and  belonged  to  the  government,  was  sold  in 
lots. 

A  more  eligible  position  for  a  town  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  The 
chief  area  consists  of  two  parallel  plains,  the  one  elevated  sixty  feet 
above  the  other,  and  descending  to  it  by  a  gentle  and  graduated  slope,  af- 
fording admirable  facilities  for  washing  the  town  by  every  considerable 
rain,  and  sloping  it  to  the  eye  in  the  graceful  form  of  an  amphitheatre, 
and  at  the  same  time  furnishing  it  with  every  pleasing  variety  of  site  for 
building.  One  of  the  chief  beauties  of  this  city  is  obvious  to  every  eye, 
which,  however,  we  have  not  seen  recorded.  The  streets  crossing  each 
other  at  right  angles,  and  being  straight  and  uninterrupted,  present  vistas 
bounded  by  the  wooded  acclivities  of  the  surrounding  hills.  By  a  well 
known  optical  illusion,  these  swelling  hill  sides,  seen  through  a  vista 
narrowing  in  apparent  width  in  proportion  to  its  distance  from  the  eye, 
fill  the  angle  of  vision,  and  preclude  the  perception  of  any  distance  be- 
tween the  termination  of  the  street  and  the  commencement  of  the  hills. 
In  consequence,  through  whatever  street  the  beholder  looks,  it  seems  to 
be  closed  by  a  gate  of  verdure,  and  to  terminate  in  a  forest. 

Seven  of  the  streets  are  66  feet  wide,  and  396  apart,  intersected  by- 
streets of  the  same  width  and  distance,  at  right  angles.  One  entire  square 
and  the  fraction  of  another,  are  reserved  in  central  parts  of  the  city  for 
public  buildings.  The  city  buildings  cover  an  irregular  area,  nearest 
the  form  of  a  parallelogram.  The  central  parts  are  compactly  built  with 
houses  and  stores  that  would  ornament  any  town.  The  most  showy 
quarters  are  Main,  Broadway,  and  Fourth  street,  westward  from  its  in- 
tersection with  Main,  Pearl  street,  leading  from  the  lower  Market  to 
Walnut  street,  is  composed  of  uniform  buildings,  terminated  by  a  magnifi- 
cent hotel,  five  stories  high,  and  adds  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  that  part 
of  the  city.  The  public  buildings  are  a  court  house,  jail,  four  market 
houses,  one  of  them  five  hundred  feet  in  length,  the  Bazaar,  United  States 
branch  bank,  the  Cincinnati  College,  the  Catholic  Athenaeum,  the  Medical 
College,  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  two  theatres,  two  museums,  the  Hospi- 
tal and  Lunatic  Asylum,  and  the  Woodward  High  School.  Some  other 
public  buildings  are  in  contemplation. 

Besides  these  there    are  twenty-four  churches,  great  and  small.     Of 
Jhese  the  Second  Presbyterian  church  is  the  handsomest,  the  exterior 


414  onio. 

being  of  agreeable  architecture,  and  the  interior  decidedly  beautiful. 
The  Unitarian  church  is  a  singularly  neat  one.  The  interior  of  the 
Catholic  church  is  striking.  The  new  Methodist  church,  and  the  First 
and  Third  Presbyterian  churches  are  spacious  bull  'mgs.  A  very  neat 
Baptist  church  is  nearly  completed.  Some  of  the  other  churches  make 
a  respectable  appearance. 

There  are  many  fine  blocks  of  stores  on  Front  and  Main  streets,  and 
the  eye  is  arrested  by  many  beautiful  private  habitations.  Architectural 
taste  is  daily  becoming  more  enlightened  and  agreeable.  The  dull  red 
of  the  brick  walls  is  giving  way  to  more  pleasing  shades  between  white 
and  green;  and  a  beautiful  stucco,  imitating  marLle  and  granite, is  getting 
into  fashion.  The  number  of  substantial  buildings  added  annually  to  the 
city,  for  three  years  past,  averages  450. 

It  has  already  become  a  great  manufacturing  town,  and  is  constantly 
becoming  more  so.  Ojr  limits  preclude  details;  but  all  the  substantial 
manufactures  known  in  our  country,  are  carried  on  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent.  The  manufactures  in  iron  are  very  great,  particularly  in  the 
article  of  heavy  castings,  and  all  sorts  of  machinery  driven  by  steam. 
Of  such  establishments  there  are  nine  or  ten,  and  some  of  them  on  a 
great  scale.  The  next  most  extensive  article  is  cabinet  work.  Steam 
boat  building  is  a  great  item.  Hatting  is  pursued  to  a  great  extent.  It  is 
believed  that  the  city  contains  at  least  forty  different  manufacturing  es- 
tablishments driven  by  steam  power.  Being  the  importing  and  exporting 
depot  for  more  than  a  million  inhabitants,  this  city  transacts  an  immense 
business,  particularly  in  the  retailing  and  manufacturing  line.  The  im- 
ports, in  which  dry  goods  are  the  principal  item,  exceed  five  million  dol- 
lars. The  amount  of  exports,  consisting  of  the  various  articles  of  produce, 
of  which  pork  is  the  chief,  and  of  manufactures,  of  which  iron  articles 
and  cabinet  furniture  are  the  chief,  probably  exceeds  the  imports.  No 
town  of  its  size  in  the  United  States,  produces  a  more  respectable  show 
of  all  the  different  classes  of  mechanics,  arranged  under  their  respective 
standards,  on  the  fourth  of  July.  One  hundred  and  eleven  steam  boats 
have  been  built  here,  at  the  rate  of  about  fifteen  a  year  for  the  last  three 
years.  The  city  revenue  of  18.31  was  35,231  dollars,  and  the  expendi- 
tures 33,858  dollars. 

There  are  two  banks,  a  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank,  capital, 
1,21)0,000,  and  the  Commercial  Bank,  capital  500,000.  Beside  these 
there  is  a  Savings  bank.  There  are  three  insurance  companies  belong- 
in^  to  the  city,  and  two  branches  of  insurance  companies  at  Hartford. 
Connecticut.  The  Water  Company  supplies  the  city  with  water  from  the 
Ohio,  raised  by  steam  power  to  reservoirs  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
feet  above  low  water  mark,  on  the  side  of  one  of  the  Ohio  hills;  whence 


onio.  415 

it  is  distributed  over  the  town,  at  an  average  expense  of  eight  dollars  a  year 
for  a  common  family's  supply.  The  city  furnishes  three  daily  gazettes, 
two  semi-weekly,  six  weekly,  of  which  four  are  religious,  two  smi- 
monthly,  one  monthly  magazine,  and  one  monthly  agricultural  paper, 
and  one  quarterly  journal  of  medicine,  making  in  all  10  periodicals. 
Thirty-two  mails  arrive  in  a  week,  and  the  post  office  annual  receipts 
amount  to  sixteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

There  are  eight  fire  companies,  and  thirty-four  charitable  societies,  the 
means,  intelligence,  and  charity  of  which,  if  merged  in  one  societv,  would 
probably  achieve  more  good  than  the  thirty-four.  There  are  twenty-five 
religious  societies,  in  which  most  of  the  religious  opinions  of  Christendom 
are  represented,  and  whose  mutual  watchfulness  of  each  other  educes  con- 
cord from  jealousy,  by  hindering  the  hurtful  predominance  of  any  one  of 
them,  and  enabling  each  to  pursue  its  respective  interests  unmolested  and 
in  peace. 

The  population  in  1826,  was  sixteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty  j 
in  1829,  twenty-four  thousand  four  hundred  and  eight;  in  1830,  twenty- 
six  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifteen ;  and  by  a  very  accurate  enumera- 
tion in  1831,  twenty-eight  thousand  and  fourteen,  with  a  floating  popula- 
tion not  included  of  one  thousand  five  hundred,  making  the  total  at  this 
time  more  than  thirty  thousand. 

Though  the  imperfect  filling  out  of  the  magnificent  plan  of  the  city,  the 
cumbering  of  the  streets  with  timber,  stone,  bricks,  and  mortar,  and  the 
inconvenience  of  actual  building  present  an  image  of  crudeness  and  im- 
maturity, it  needs  little  spirit  of  prophecy  to  predict  from  the  past  to  the 
future,  that  this  city,  which  will  be  shortly  central  to  more  than  two  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants,  which  presents  the  greatest  variety  of  models  in  the 
theories  and  imaginings  of  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  which 
evolves  the  germs  of  emulation  and  rivalry  to  a  fault,  and  which  abounds 
in  provisions,  natural  wealth,  fuel,  and  all  the  materials  of  building,  and 
which  is  moreover  a  healthy  town,  will,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  vie 
in  beauty  and  population  with  the  first  towns  in  the  Union. 

Cincinnati  has  been  called,  somewhat  to  the  discomposure  of  the  sis- 
terly feelings  of  Pittsburgh  and  Louisville,  the  'Queen  of  the  West.' 
Most  young  immigrants,  who  possess,  or  imagine  that  they  possess  a 
latent  copiousness  of  speech,  on  first  joining  themselves  to  the  citizens, 
woo  their  queen  by  an  incense  of  puffing,  vaunting  her  charms,  beauty, 
and  bounty,  in  solid  columns.  She,  like  other  queens  and  beauties,  re- 
gards them  by  turning  an  ear,  long  since  sated  and  deaf  with  flattery. 
We  know  not,  but  she  may  be  equally  callous  to  the  short  chapter  of  her 
faults — for  faults  she  has.  In  this  town,  as  in  New  Orleans,  there  are 
but  two  chief  avenues  to  distinction;  the  one  wealth ;  the  other  the  talent 

53 


416  ohio. 

of  gaining  popular  favor.  The  charities,  which  are  only  nursed  where 
the  people  are  of  one  race,  have  been  born,  baptized,  reared,  intermarri- 
ed, and  had  their  whole  lot  of  human  vicissitudes  cast  together,  cannot  be 
supposed  to  put  forth  such  abundant  fruit,  where  society  is  continually 
shifting  by  the  unremitting  accessions  of  strangers ;  where  the  morbid 
appetite  of  novelty  fosters  fickleness,  and  precludes  the  chance  of  matu- 
red friendship,  mellowed  by  thorough  acquaintance  and  ancient  ties. 
Deep  and  enduring  remembrance  of  the  passing  guest  is  dispelled  by  the 
heartless  and  hackneyed  welcome  prepared  for  the  coming  one. 

Concurrence  in  broad  views  for  the  advancement  of  literature  or  the 
great  interests  of  humanity,  cannot  be  expected  in  a  city  composed  of  a  pop- 
ulation collected  from  so  many  different  countries,  and  transplanting  with 
them  a  mass  of  inveterate  prejudices.  In  order  to  lay  foundations  of 
noble  institutions  for  the  present  generation  and  the  generations  to  come? 
to  which  the  moral  omnipotence  of  union  and  hearty  concurrence  are 
necessary,  she  would  have  to  achieve  the  impossible  success  of  uniting  a 
score  of  religious  sects,  as  many  political  ones,  and  the  antipathies  of 
national  and  sectional  jealousies.  Hence,  while  the  existing  generation 
talks  and  writes  much  about  improvements  in  science  and  literature,  it 
must  be  a  more  fortunate  generation,  in  which  wealth  and  the  humbler 
arts  of  popularity  are  less  estimated,  and  talents  and  merit  more,  which 
can  expect  to  reap  the  fruits  of  high  mental  cultivation,  or  cultivate  litera- 
ture to  any  considerable  extent. 

Of  competition  in  all  the  walks,  this  town  has  as  much  as  any  other,  and 
of  emulation  and  rivalry,  an  ample  share.  But  these  drawbacks — the  al- 
most inevitable  results  of  its  circumstances,  notwithstanding, — no  town  in 
the  United  States,  is  advancing  in  beauty  and  population  with  so  much 
rapidity,  or  promises  such  a  sustained  progress  for  twenty  years  to  come. 

The  city  contains  a  great  number  of  excellent  schools,  in  which  the 
standing  and  improvement  of  the  pupils  will  compare  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances with  any  other  town  in  the  Union.  Besides  private  schools  too 
numerous  to  be  named,  there  are  twenty-seven  teachers  of  the  public  free 
schools,  in  which  two  thousand  seven  hundred  children  receive  instruc- 
tion. There  is  as  great  a  number  of  clergymen,  physicians,  and  lawyers, 
in  proportion  to  the  population,  as  in  any  other  town. 

Cincinnati  has  generally  been  considered  distinguished  among  west- 
ern towns  for  its  salubrity.  Never,  until  the  autumn  of  1832,  had  it  suf- 
fered from  any  sweeping  epidemic,  except  the  influenza.  At  this  period 
it  was  destined  to  a  severe  visitation  of  the  prevalent  spasmodic  cholera. 
This  disease,  commencing  early  in  the  preceding  summer  in  Montreal, 
and  soon  after  reaching  the  city  of  New  York,  had  been  gradually  ex- 
tending its  ravages  south  and  west.     A  few  cases  had  existed,  from  an 


ohio.  417 

early  period  of  its  prevalence  on  the  Ohio  shore  of  lake  Erie.  But  the 
autumn  was  so  far  advanced,  before  it  reached  Cincinnati,  and  the  city 
police  had  taken  such  pains  to  have  the  city  clean,  that  the  citizens  began 
to  indulge  the  joyous  anticipation  that  it  would  remain  unvisited  by  the 
pestilence,  at  least  for  this  season.  Meanwhile,  cases  occurred  on  the 
Ohio  and  Erie  canal,  and  on  the  Mississippi  at  Jefferson  barracks,  which 
had  direct  communications  with  Louisville.  Early  in  October,  the  dis- 
ease, arriving  with  passengers  in  boats,  both  from  above  and  below,  fell 
on  the  devoted  city  like  a  thunderbolt.  The  physicians  were  agitating 
the  question  whether  it  existed  or  not,  in  the  city,  when  its  mortal  rava- 
ges were  proclaimed  in  every  quarter.  It  continued  to  rage  with  great 
malignity  and  mortality  for  three  weeks.  The  greatest  number  of  repor- 
ted deaths  in  a  day,  was  from  forty-two  to  fifty;  though  it  was  generally 
believed,  that  the  reports  did  not  by  any  means  embrace  the  whole  num- 
ber of  deaths.  The  interments,  during  these  three  weeks,  were  differ- 
ently estimated.  The  highest  calculation  gave  from  seven  to  eight  hun- 
dred deaths,  as  the  result  of  the  pestilence,  during  its  whole  prevalence. 
Though  its  ravages,  as  elsewhere,  fell  mostly  on  the  poor,  and  people  of 
reckless  habits,  yet  was  it  remarkably  unsparing,  sweeping  off  clergy- 
men, physicians,  and  men  of  characters  the  most  confirmed  for  sobriety. 
Great  efforts,  both  public  and  private,  were  made  for  the  relief  of  the 
poor,  by  providing  hospitals,  nurses,  physicians,  medicines,  and  every 
thing  that  could  alleviate  or  console.  But  the  spectacle  in  this  place, 
which  had  won  such  a  reputation  for  health,  was  most  appalling  during 
this  period  of  gloom  and  mortality.  Hearses  by  night  and  by  day  were 
continually  followed  by  their  processions.  The  whole  conversation, 
concern,  and  business  of  the  period,  fell  on  the  sick,  the  dying,  and  the 
dead.  The  disease  subsided,  and  passed  away  almost  as  suddenly  as  it 
assailed  the  city.  Never  had  it  manifested  its  inscrutable  character  more 
distinctly  than  here.  Towns  having  a  much  lower  estimate,  in  point  of 
salubrity,  as  for  example,  Louisville,  were  passed  over  with  comparative 
impunity ;  and  although  the  scourge  was  felt  by  all  the  considerable 
towns  and  villages  on  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  their  waters,  its  rava- 
ges were  no  where  so  severe  in  the  west,  the  devoted  city  of  New  Or- 
leans only  excepted,  as  in  Cincinnati. 

Cincinnati  is  in  latitude  39°  6'  30"  N.,  and  in  longitude  7°  24'  45"  W. 
from  Washington ;  by  the  course  of  the  river  four  hundred  and  fifty-five 
miles  from  Pittsburgh;  four  hundred  and  five  from  the  Mississippi;  one 
hundred  and  twelve  from  Columbus;  two  hundred  from  Sandusky;  one 
hundred  and  twenty  from  Indianapolis ;  eighty-five  from  Frankfort;  six 
hundred  and  eighty  from  Natchez ;  two  hundred  and  seventy  from  Nash- 
ville; eight  hundred  and  sixty  from  New  Orleans,  three  hund^  as&Lflffv 


418  ohio. 

from  St.  Louis;  one  hundred  and  five  from  Louisville,  five  hundred  and 
eighteen  from  Baltimore ,  and  eight  hundred  and  fifty  from  New  York,  by 
the  way  of  the  Erie  and  New  York  canal. 

Columbus  is  the  political  metropolis  of  the  state,  and  very  nearly  the 
geographical  centre  of  it.     It  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Scioto 
river,  in  the  centre  of  Franklin  county,  and  occupies  a  beautiful  slope, 
just  below  the  confluence  of  Whetstone  river  with  the  Scioto.     It  was  a 
compact  forest  in  1812.     It  now  has  a  number  of  respectable  schools,  a 
classical  seminary,  the  customary  number  of  stores,  a  bank,  four  printing 
offices,  a  commodious  brick  market  house,  a  state  house,  a  building  for 
the  public  offices,  a  penitentiary,  and  an  asylum  for  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
The  state  house  is  seventy-five  by  fifty  feet.     The  top  of  the  cupola  is 
one  hundred  and  six  feet  high.     Around  it  are  railed  walks,  from  which 
the  whole  town  is  visible  as  from  a  map.      It  commands  a  delightful 
landscape  over  a  country  charmingly  variegated,  as  extensive  as  the  eyo 
can  reach.  •  The  village  of  Franklinton,  a  mile  to  the  west,  and  the  wind- 
ing Scioto,  are  comprehended  in  this  view.     The  building  that  contains 
the  public  offices,  is  one  hundred  by  twenty-five  feet.     In  a  line  with  it 
and  the  state  house,  is  the  handsome  court  house  for  the  Federal  Court. 
These  buildings  are  all  on  the  public  square,  an  area  of  ten  acres,  reser- 
ved for  public  use,  in  the  centre  of  the  town.     The  penitentiary  is  in  the 
south-west  angle  of  the  town,  and  enclosed  with  a  high  stone  wall.    Im- 
mediately below  the  penitentiary  is  a  lateral  canal,  on  which  canal  boats 
have  already  floated  to  the  town,  connecting  this  town  with  the  Ohio  and 
Erie  canal  eleven  miles  south.     This  will  greatly  add  to  the  resources  of 
the  town.     There  are  three  churches,  of  which  the  Presbyterian  church 
is  spacious,  being  fifty  by  fifty  feet.     The  professional  men  are  ten  law- 
yers, five  regular  physicians,  and  five  of  the  growing  denomination  called 
steam  doctors.     The  number  of  houses  is  three  hundred  and  thirty,  and 
of  inhabitants  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-seven.     Manufac- 
tures have  commenced,  and  its  relations  to  the  canal  will  give  a  new  im- 
petus to4heir  growth.     The  circumstance  of  its  being  the  political  me- 
tropolis of  its  great  state  attaches  to  it  a  distinguished  and  polite  society. 
It  is  a  striking  example  of  the  creation,  no  longer  uncommon  in  the  west- 
ern country,  of  a  town  that  has  grown  to  importance  in  a  few  years, 
from  the  solid  forest. 

It  is  in  N.  latitude  39°  57'  and  6°  W.  longitude.  Columbus  is  three 
hundred  and  ninety-six  miles  from  Washington ;  five  hundred  and  fifty -one 
from  New  York;  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  from  Philadelphia;  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-five  from  Boston ;  four  hundred  and  twenty-nine  from 
Baltimore;  nine  hundred  and  ninety-one  from  New  Orleans;  and  three 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  from  Nashville.  Columbus  ia  one  hundred 
and  twelve  miles  from  Cincinnati. 


ohio.  419 

Steubenvillc,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Jefferson  county,  is  situated  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Ohio.  It  was  laid  out  with  great  regularity  in  1798, 
and  is  in  the  centre  of  a  rich  and  populous  country.  The  town  was  incor- 
porated in  1805,  with  city  privileges.  It  contains  three  churches,  an 
academy,  a  handsome  market  house,  a  woollen  factory,  a  steam  paper 
mill,  a  flour  mill,  and  cotton  factory.  A  manufacturing  spirit  is  increas- 
ing, and  new  establishments  are  in  progress  and  in  contemplation.  It 
has  two  printing  offices,  two  banks,  twenty-seven  mercantile  stores,  six- 
teen public  inns,  an  air  foundery,  and  other  mechanical  establishments.  In 
1820,  it  contained  2,479  inhabitants,  and  now  contains  nearly  3,000.  It  is 
distant  thirty-eight  miles  south-west  from  Pittsburgh ;  twenty-five  north- 
east from  St.  Clairsville ;  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  north-east  from  Co- 
lumbus; N.  latitude  40°  25',  W.  longitude  3°  40'. 

Zanesville,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Muskingum  county,  is  situated  on  the 
east  bank  of  Muskingum  river,  just  below  the  falls.  On  these  falls,  are 
a  number  of  manufacturing  mills,  driven  by  water  power,  among  which 
are  several  flouring  and  saw  mills,  an  oil  mill,  a  rolling  mill,  a  nail  ma- 
chine, two  glass  houses,  a  woollen  factory,  and  three  printing  offices.  Two 
handsome  bridges  across  the  Muskingum,  connect  the  town  with  West 
Zanesville,  and  Putnam,  so  as  to  identify  them  with  the  town.  Taken 
altogether,  the  inhabitants  amount  to  more  than  4,000.  It  contains  be- 
side, a  handsome  court  house,  twenty-one  mercantile  stores,  a  Presbyte- 
rian, Baptist,  Catholic,  and  a  Methodist  church,  and  three  hundred  and 
seventeen  dwelling  houses,  some  of  which  make  a  show  of  splendor. 
Zanesville  is  beginning  to  manufacture  largely  in  iron,  and  promises  to 
become  one  of  the  principal  manufacturing  towns  in  Ohio.  It  is  situated 
in  N.  latitude  40°,  W.  longitude  5°  2',  eighty  miles  westerly  from  Wheel- 
ing, in  Virginia;  sixty-one  north-westerly  from  Marietta;  seventy  north 
from  Chillicothe;  and  fifty-eight  east  from  Columbus. 

Chillicothe,  the  county  town  of  Ross  county,  is  handsomely  situated  on 
a  level  alluvial  plain  on  the  west  bank  of  Scioto,  forty -five  miles  in  a  right 
line  from  its  entrance  into  the  Ohio.  The  town  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  Scioto,  and  on  the  south,  at  the  distance  of  three  quarters  of  a  mile, 
by  Paint  creek.  The  principal  streets  run  parallel  with  the  course  of 
the  Scioto.  It  is  laid  out  with  great  regularity,  the  principal  streets  cross- 
ing each  other  at  right  angles.  It  was  laid  off  in  1796,  and  contains  2,827 
inhabitants.  It  contains  two  printing  offices,  a  bank,  twenty  mercantile 
stores,  and  two  medical  stores.  It  has  also  four  cotton  spinning  factories, 
a  rope  walk,  an  oil  mill,  a  fulling  mill,  several  saw  mills,  a  paper  mill, 
and  a  number  of  flouring  mills,  including  one  of  steam  power,  either  in 
the  town  or  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 


420  ohio. 

The  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  and  Seceders,  have  each  a  church.  It 
has  also  an  academy,  court  house,  jail,  and  a  stone  market  house.  From 
the  summit  of  a  hill,  rising  abruptly  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  town,  is 
a  most  delightful  view  of  the  town  and  circumjacent  country,  interspersed 
alternately  with  woods  and  lawns,  through  which  the  Scioto  pursues  a 
winding  course  to  the  Ohio.  This  town  is  in  the  centre  of  the  beautiful 
and  fertile  Scioto  country.  The  situation  is  favorable,  and  every  way 
delightful;  but  yet  it  did  not  flourish,  until  the  grand  canal  was  cut 
through  the  town,  since  which  it  has  received  a  new  impulse  towards 
prosperity,  promising  that  it  will  attain  the  importance  to  which  its  fortu- 
nate position  entitles  it. 

In  the  midst  of  this  town  formerly  stood  one  of  the  most  interesting 
mounds  of  the  cone  shaped  form.  In  levelling  it  for  the  purpose  of  build- 
ing lots,  great  quantities  of  human  bones  were  found  in  it.  Chillicothe, 
is  fifty-five  miles  south  of  Columbus ;  seventy-five  north-east  from  Mays- 
ville,  in  Kentucky ;  and  ninety-three  north-east  from  Cincinnati.  N.  lati- 
tude 39°  20',  W.  longitude  5°  53'. 

Marietta,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Washington  county,  is  beautifully  situa- 
ted on  the  Ohio,  a  little  above  the  mouth  of  Muskingum  river.  It  contains 
two  churches,  an  academy,  the  public  county  buildings,  two  printing  offices, 
a  bank,  twenty  stores,  about  ninety  houses,  and  the  whole  township 
1,914  inhabitants.  The  people  are  noted  for  their  industry  and  sobriety, 
and  the  politeness  and  urbanity  of  their  manners. 

Ships  were  formerly  built  here ;  but  from  some  cause  the  business  has 
been  discontinued.  The  soil  is  exceedingly  fertile  around  the  town,  and 
it  has  many  advantages  of  position.  But  it  has  not  flourished  like  some 
other  towns.  One  cause  may  be,  that  it  has  experienced  more  than  once 
inundations  of  the  river,  in  some  of  which  the  water  has  risen  in  the 
principal  streets  eight  or  ten  feet.  Great  numbers  of  buildings,  barns, 
and  cattle,  were  swept  away.  It  has  also  experienced  severe  sickness. 
But  its  extraordinary  fertility,  and  its  natural  advantages  will  cause  it  to 
become  a  large  town.  It  was  one  of  the  first  settled  towns  in  the  state 
and  was  originally  laid  out  by  the  Ohio  Company,  in  1787.  In  the  fol. 
lowing  spring,  it  was  settled  by  eight  families.  The  first  settlers  were 
from  New  England.  Among  the  founders  of  this  establishment  was 
General  Putnam,  whose  name  and  character  arc  recorded  in  the  annals 
of  the  state.  It  is  315  miles  from  Washington;  93  from  Chillicothe;  186 
from  Cincinnati;  and  109,  south-castwardly  from  Columbus.  N.  latitude 
39°  25/  W.  longitude  4°  28'. 

Lancaster,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Fairfield  county,  situated  nearly  in 
the  centre  of  it,  is  entirely  an  inland  place.  It  is  near  the  source  of 
Ilockhocking  river,  on  the  road  from  Zancsville  to  Chillicothe.    It  is  a 


ohio.  421 

large,  handsome,  and  well  built  village.  A  considerable  number  of  its 
inhabitants  are  Germans.  It  contains  two  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  and 
1,535  inhabitants.  It  has  a  number  of  public  buildings,  as  a  court-house, 
town  house,  masonic  hall,  an  academy,  several  respectable  schools,  four 
churches,  twelve  stores,  a  bank,  and  two  printing  offices,  from  each  of 
which  are  issued  two  weekly  papers,  in  the  English  and  German  lan- 
guages. It  is  a  place  of  great  mechanical  enterprise  and  industry,  and 
connected,  as  it  is,  by  a  lateral  cut,  with  the  great  Ohio  and  Erie  canal, 
it  will  no  longer  suffer  from  the  inconvenience  of  its  inland  position,  and 
will  become  a  place  of  importance.  It  is  central  to  a  large  and  populous 
country,  and  is  situated  twenty -eight  miles  south  of  Columbus;  and  thirty- 
six  south-westerly  from  Zanesville. 

New  Lisbon,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Columbiana  county,  is  situated  on 
a  branch  of  the  Little  Beaver,  four  miles  from  the  Ohio.  It  contains  a 
court  house,  jail,  bank,  two  churches,  six  public  houses,  nine  stores,  and 
in  the  township,  2,183  inhabitants.  It  has  four  merchant,  and  four  saw 
mills,  a  paper  mill,  two  woollen  factories,  a  fulling  mill,  and  carding  ma- 
chine. It  is  situated  fifty-six  miles  north-westerly  from  Pittsburgh;  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty  north-easterly  from  Columbus.  N.  latitude  40°  46', 
W.  longitude  3°  52'. 

Gallipolis  is  the  chief  town  of  Gallia  county.  It  has  a  court  house, 
jail,  two  churches,  an  academy,  three  steam  mills,  a  printing  office,  eighty 
houses,  and  twelve  stores.  It  was  originally  settled  by  French  immi- 
grants. They  had  been  deceived  by  speculators,  and  suffered  severely 
by  bilious  fevers,  in  becoming  acclimated.  Some  left  in  discouragement, 
many  died,  and  the  number  of  the  original  French  settlers  is  small. 

St.  Clairsville  is  an  inland  town,  the  county  town  of  Belmont  county, 
and  is  situated  on  elevated  ground,  surrounded  by  hilly,  but  fertile  lands. 
It  has  a  court  house,  jail,  market  house,  printing  office,  a  bank,  fifteen 
stores,  and  800  inhabitants.  It  is  on  the  great  road  from  Wheeling  to 
Cincinnati,  and  distant  eleven  miles  west  from  the  former  place. 

Portsmouth,  the  chief  town  of  Scioto  county,  is  situated  on  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  Scioto,  just  above  its  junction  with  the  Ohio.  Agreat  amount 
of  commission  business  for  the  Scioto  country  is  done  here ;  and  the  po- 
sition for  internal  commerce  with  the  state  is  exceedingly  advantageous. 
There  is  a  bank,  court  house,  jail,  printing  office,  eighteen  stores,  a  book 
store,  four  commission  stores,  one  druggist,  twenty  mechanical  establish- 
ments, two  churches,  a  steam  mill,  a  market  house,  and  1,063  inhabitants. 
The  great  Ohio  canal  here  communicates  with  the  Ohio,  which  must  at 
once  render  this  town  a  place  of  great  consequence.  It  is  forty-five  miles 
south  of  Chilicothe,  and  ninety  in  the  same  direction  from  Columbus.  N. 
latitude  38°  48',  W.  longitude  5°  53'. 


423  ohio. 

Circleville,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Scioto,  is  the  county  town  of  Pick- 
away county.  In  the  limits  of  the  town  are  two  Indian  mounds,  the  one 
square,  and  the  other  circular,  The  town  derives  its  name  from  being 
chiefly  built  in  the  limits  of  the  circular  mound.  These  mounds  are 
among  the  most  interesting  in  the  western  country,  and  are  described 
elsewhere.  The  town  contains  a  handsome  court  house,  a  printing  office, 
market  house,  ten  stores,  and  various  mechanic  shops.  The  rich  Picka- 
way plains  or  prairies  are  near  this  place.  The  adjacent  wooded  lands 
of  Lower  Walnut  creek,  are  equally  rich;  and  this  town,  central  to  such 
extents  of  fertile  soil,  must  become  of  importance.  The  Ohio  canal  passes, 
and  here  crosses  the  Scioto  by  the  largest  aqueduct  on  the  line  of  the  canal. 
It  has  recently  exhibited  a  rapid  progress,  and  contains  1,100  inhabitants. 
It  is  situated  twenty  miles  south  of  Columbus,  nineteen  north  of  Chilli- 
cothe,  and  twenty  miles  west  of  Lancaster.  N.  latitude  39°  26',  W» 
longitude  5°  53'. 

Urbana  is  the  county  town  of  Champaigne  county,  near  Mad  river. 
It  contains  a  court  house,  jail,  printing  office,  a  Methodist  and  Presbyte- 
rian church,  a  market  house,  nine  stores,  one  hundred  and  twenty  houses, 
and  1,003  inhabitants.  It  is  distant  forty-three  miles  north-west  from 
Columbus.     N.  latitude  40°  3',  W.  longitude  6°  4'. 

Xenia,  the  county  town  of  Green  county,  is  situated  on  Shawnee  creek, 
and  contains  a  court  house,  jail,  three  churches,  two  printing  offices,  ten 
stores,  and  919  inhabitants.  It  is  distant  fifty-six  miles  south-west  from 
Columbus. 

Dayton,  the  chief  town  of  Montgomery  county,  is  charmingly  situated 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Great  Miami,  just  below  the  confluence  of  Mad 
river,  near  where  the  Miami  canal  connects  with  the  Miami.  The  wa- 
ters of  Mad  river  are  artificially  conducted  from  that  river  to  the  Miami, 
so  as  to  afford  a  great  number  of  mill  seats. 

It  contains  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  houses,  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  shops  and  stores,  total  three  hundred  and  seventy;  four  church- 
es, a  court  house,  a  market  house,  and  jail.  In  1810,  the  population  was 
383 ;  in  1820,  1,139 ;  in  1830, 2,934.  The  population  of  the  township  is 
6,583.  In  1828,  seventy  buildings  were  erected,  and  probably  a  greater 
number  last  year.  No  town  in  the  state  affords  more  extensive 
water  privileges,  which  are  partly  occupied  by  a  number  of  saw  mills, 
grist  mills,  cotton  factories,  and  various  sorts  of  machinery  moved  by 
water. 

The  striking  increase  of  its  prosperity  is  owing  to  its  being  the  termin- 
ating point  of  the  Miami  canal,  connecting  it  with  Cincinnati.  It  is 
central  to  a  rich  and  populous  agricultural  country,  the  trade  of  which  this 
town  commands.    It  is  expected  that  the  canal  will  be  continued  to  lake 


ohio.  423 

Erie.  It  is  situated  sixty-eight  miles  south-west  from  Columbus,  and  fifty- 
two  by  land,  and  sixty-seven  by  the  canal  from  Cincinnati.  N.  lati- 
tude 39°  46'. 

Lebanon  is  the  county  town  for  Warren  county.  It  is  between  two 
small  branches  of  Turtle  creek.  It  has  the  usual  public  buildings,  two 
churches  of  brick,  and  a  jail  of  stone,  two  market  houses,  a  bank,  a 
printing  office,  and  a  respectable  social  library.  The  surrounding  country 
has  fine  land.  It  contained  in  1820,  1,079  inhabitants.  It  is  distant 
eighty  miles  south-westerly  from  Columbus,  and  thirty  miles  north-east- 
erly from  Cincinnati.    N.  latitude  39°  25',  W.  longitude  7°  5'. 

Athens  is  the  county  town  of  Athens  county.  It  is  situated  on  an  ele- 
vated bluff,  in  a  bend  of  the  Hockhocking,  in  a  position  equally  beauti- 
ful and  healthy.  In  this  village  is  located  the  Ohio  University.  There 
is  already  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  this  institution  a  handsome 
edifice  three  stories  high.  The  funds,  the  library,  and  philosophical  ap- 
paratus are  respectable ;  and  it  promises  to  be  an  institution  of  great  util- 
ity to  the  interests  of  the  literature  of  the  state.  The  town  contains  forty 
houses,  a  number  of  stores,  a  court  house,  a  jail,  and  has  several  mills 
on  the  river  in  its  vicinity,  and  750  inhabitants.  It  is  seventy-three  miles 
south-east  from  Columbus,  forty-one  westerly  from  Marietta,  and  fifty- 
two  east  from  Chillicothe.     N.  latitude  39°  23',  W.  longitude  5°  5'. 

Cleaveland,  situated  on  the  southern  shore  of  lake  Erie,  is  the  county 
town  of  Cuyahoga  count}'.  Its  position  is  at  the  mouth  of  Cuyahoga 
river.  During  the  late  war  it  was  a  depot  of  provisions,  and  a  place 
where  many  boats  and  lake  crafts  were  built;  and  it  is  a  noted  point  of 
embarkation  of  the  lake.  It  is  a  growing  place,  having  four  churches, 
a  court  house,  jail,  an  academy,  one  hundred  and  eighty  houses,  forty 
stores,  nine  groceries,  six  taverns,  and  1,200  inhabitants.  It  is  distant 
one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  westward  from  Pittsburgh,  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  north-easterly  from  Columbus.  N.  latitude  41°  31',  W.  longi- 
tude 4°  44'.  The  great  Ohio  canal  here  connects  with  the  lake,  and 
passes  through  the  central  parts  of  Ohio,  preserving  for  some  distance 
a  course  parallel  to  the  Scioto,  and  finally  connecting  with  the  Ohio  near 
the  mouth  of  that  river.  This  town,  intermediate  between  Buffalo  and 
Cincinnati,  and  the  depot  of  the  vast  amounts  of  merchandise  destined 
east  and  west,  will  not  fail  soon  to  become  an  important  town. 

Sandusky,  in  Huron  county,  on  the  southern  shore  of  Sandusky  bay,  is 
one  of  the  most  important  ports  on  lake  Erie.  Its  area  rises  gradually 
from  the  lake,  of  which,  its  passing  sails,  and  the  surrounding  country,  it 
commands  a  charming  view.  Though  a  new  place,  it  has  ten  stores,  a 
printing  office,  the  usual  number  of  mechanic  establishments,  public 
houses,  a  ship  yard,  a  rope-walk,  and  nine  wharves.     This  is  one  of  the 

54 


434  onio. 

chief  points  of  landing  and  embarkation  between  the  Mississippi  valley 
and  New  York,  Buffalo,  and  Detroit.  In  1828/  1,319,822  dollars  worth 
of  merchandise  was  landed  here.  In  1830,  there  were  over  five  hun- 
dred arrivals  at  this  port,  and  about  two  thousand  wagons  despatched 
with  dry  goods  and  groceries,  for  all  points  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
country  below.  A  turnpike,  now  constructing,  will  connect  this  town 
with  Columbus.  It  is  distant  seventy  miles  south  from  Detroit,  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  south-west  from  Buffalo,  sixty  west  from  Cleaveland,  and 
one  hundred  and  six  north  from  Columbus.  N.  latitude  41°  27'.  The 
principal  harbors  on  lake  Erie  are  Put-in-Bay,  Maumee  Bay,  Fair  Port, 
and  Ashtabula  creek. 

Ashtabula,  a  post  town  of  Ashtabula  county,  is  situated  two  miles  from 
the  entrance  of  Ashtabula  river  into  the  lake,  and  has  a  post  office,  tavern, 
two  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  and  five  stores.  A  turnpike  connects 
it  with  Warren,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Trumbull  county.  A  sloop  loaded 
with  a  certain  kind  of  boards  for  clock-making,  departed  from  this  place 
down  the  lake,  the  New  York  canal,  the  Hudson  and  Long  Island  Sound, 
and  arrived,  after  a  passage  of  twenty-five  days,  at  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut. A  schooner,  burthen  49  tons,  departed  from  Huron  county 
and  arrived  at  New  York. 

Baltimore,  in  Fairfield  county,  25  miles  south-east  from  Columbus,  is 
situated  on  the  Ohio  and  Erie  canal,  and  has  grown  to  be  a  respectable 
village  within  the  three  past  years.  It  already  contains  200  houses,  six 
stores,  a  great  number  of  mechanic  establishments,  and  500  inhabitants. 
Massillon,  in  Stark  county,  on  the  east  branch  of  Tuscarawas,  was 
laid  out  in  1826,  and  grew  into  immediate  consequence  from  being  for  a 
considerable  time  the  termination  of  the  Ohio  and  Erie  canal.  It  con. 
tains  a  printing  office,  eight  stores,  two  merchant  flour  mills,  four  ware. 
houses,  and  a  woollen  factory.  It  is  one  hundred  and  eleven  miles  north- 
east from  Columbus. 

Newark  is  the  county  town  of  Licking  county.  It  is  situated  on  the 
Ohio  and  Erie  canal,  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  miles  distant  from  its 
outlet  in  lake  Erie.  It  contains  two  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  ten  stores 
two  printing  offices,  two  warehouses,  a  market  house,  a  church,  and  the 
usual  county  buildings.     It  is  thirty-three  miles  north  of  Columbus. 

Canton,  the  county  town  for  Stark  county,  contains  two  hundred  dwel- 
ling houses,  two  hundred  and  fifteen  families,  1,490  inhabitants,  two 
printing  offices,  two  churches,  six  schools ,  five  ministers,  fifteen  stores, 
and  the  usual  number  of  mechanic  shops.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  north-cast  of  Columbus. 

Warren,  New  Philadelphia,  Woostcr,  Mansfield,  Coshocton,  Somerset, 
Delaware,   Worthington,  Franklinton,  Ilillsboro'   Pikcton,  Springfield, 


onio.  425 

Pickaway,  Troy,  Eaton,  Hamilton,  and  New  Richmond,  arc  most  of  them 
county  towns,  and  some  of  them  will  compare  in  size  with  those  we 
havo  mentioned. 

Fifty  other  incipient  villages  might  be  named,  which  are  rapidly  grow, 
ing  to  consequence,  and  which,  seen  by  the  traveller,  excite  surprise 
that  he  has  not  heard  them  named.  Such  is  the  march  of  town  making 
and  population,  that  the  scene  is  shifting  under  the  eye,  and  the  descrip- 
tion of  towns  and  villages,  that  is  accurate  this  year,  may  be  wide  from 
accuracy  the  next.  Another  inconvenience  results  from  this  order  o»" 
tilings.  Towns  are  originated  in  such  numbers  and  rapidity  as  to  havo 
outgrown  the  invention  of  the  founders.  For  example,  there  are  nine- 
teen townships  of  the  name  of  Jefferson,  and  twenty-four  of  the  namo 
of  Washington.  Odrer  names  of  places  are  repeated  from  four  to  ten 
times.  While  this  circumstance  is  unfavorable  to  the  right  direction  of 
missives  sent  by  mail,  it  argues  strongly  the  matter  of  fact  character  of 
the  people,  who  can  make  fields,  towns,  mills,  and  legislators,  easier  than 
the  latter  can  task  their  invention  for  names. 

The  following  military  positions  occur  so  often  in  the  history  of  this 
state,  that  we  deem  it  important  to  give  their  relative  position.  Fort  De- 
fiance is  situated  at  the  junction  of  Au  Glaize  and  Maumee  rivers,  fifty 
miles  south-west  of  Fort  Meigs.  Fort  Loramie  is  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  Big  Miami,  and  one  of  the  boundary  positions  referred  to  in  the 
Greenville  treaty.  Fort  Meigs  was  erected  in  1813,  on  the  south-eastern 
bank  of  the  Maumee,  a  few  miles  from  its  mouth,  at  the  lower  rapids 
of  the  river,  distant  southerly  from  Detroit  seventy  miles.  It  is  noted  for 
the  siege  which  it  sustained  from  the  British  and  Indians  in  April  and 
May,  1813.  Fort  Recovery  was  established  by  General  Wayne.  The 
disastrous  defeat  of  our  troops  commanded  by  general  St.  Clair,  by  the 
Indians,  occurred  here,  in  1795.  It  is  situated  twenty-three  miles  north, 
wardly  of  Fort  Loramie.  Fort  Greenville  is  one  of  the  most  noted  points 
in  the  history  of  Ohio,  and  was  one  of  the  first  fortifications  erected  in 
the  country.  It  is  in  the  present  limits  of  Darke  county,  and  within  a 
few  miles  of  the  western  limits  of  this  state.  Here,  in  1795,  was  con- 
cluded the  celebrated  treaty  of  General  Wayne  with  the  savages,  after  his 
memorable  victory  over  them.  From  fiiis  treaty,  the  country  began  to 
increase  in  population. 

Roads  and  Canals.  The  common  public  roads,  as  might  be  inferred, 
are  too  numerous  to  be  named.  The  country  being  level,  they  seldom 
have  the  inconvenience  of  being  hilly ;  but  the  soil  being  deep  and  loamy, 
and  most  of  them  little  wrought,  in  wet  weather  and  in  winter  they  are 
exceedingly  bad.  There  are  five  considerable  turnpikes,  besides  many 
shorter  ones.    The  length  of  the  first  is  sixteen  miles ;  and  the  second 


42G  e  n  i  o. 

forty-eight ;  of  the  third  fitly-one ;  of  the  fourth  one  hundred  and  six.  This 
Connects  Sandusky  with  Columbus,  and  is  not  yet  complete.  The  fifth  is 
the  McAdamized  road  leading  from  Cincinnati  to  the  interior,  of  which 
the  first  division  only  is  completed.  The  national  road  is  completed  thirty 
or  forty  miles  west  from  the  Ohio,  and  is  McAdamized  in  the  best 
manner. 

The  grand  canal,  connecting  lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio,  passes  nearly 
through  the  centre  of  the  state,  from  Cleaveland  on  the  lake  to  Portsmouth 
on  the  Ohio.  The  whole  distance  is  three  hundred  and  six  miles.  Later- 
al cuts  are  made,  or  making,  amounting  to  forty  miles  more.  The  canal 
is  of  the  same  depth,  and  dimensions,  and  construction  with  the  great  New 
York  canal.  It  is  now  completed,  and  in  full  operation.  This  wonder- 
ful work  of  uniting  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  Atlantic  has  already 
imparted  a  new  aspect  to  the  country  through  which  it  passes,  and  has  in 
many  places  quadrupled  the  value  of  the  land  near  its  course. 

The  Miami  canal,  sixty-seven  miles  in  length,  connects  Cincinnati 
with  Dayton.  To  this  a  considerable  lateral  cut  is  expected  to  be  made 
from  Lebanon.  Others  arc  in  contemplation.  These  noble  and  beauti- 
ful modes  of  transport  will  soon  supercede  the  draught  of  beasts  of  burden* 
on  deep  and  muddy  roads,  in  all  practicable  directions.  The  cost  of  these 
canals  will  be  between  three  and  four  millions  of  dollars. 

Surveys  have  been  made,  and  grants  of  land  from  the  General  Gov- 
ernment obtained  for  continuing  the  Dayton  canal  to  lake  Erie. 

Militia.  Few  descriptions  of  the  inhabitants  are  exempted  from  mili- 
tary duty.  The  militia  of  this  state  is  principally  composed  of  hardy  ag- 
riculturists, and  exceeds  150,000  men. 

Penitentiary.  This  establishment,  at  Columbus,  is  a  humane  and  effi- 
cient one.  Of  the  great  numbers  who  have  been  confined  here,  nearly 
half  have  been  pardoned  out. 

Government.  'The  legislative  authority  is  vested  in  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  both  of  which,  collectively,  are  styled  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Ohio.  The  members  of  both  branches  arc  elected  by 
counties,  or  districts  composed  of  counties,  according  to  population.  The 
representatives  are  chosen  for  one  year;  and  for  eligibility  a  man  must 
be  at  least  25  years  of  age,  have  resided  in  the  state  at  least  one  year, 
and  paid  a  tax.  Their  number  must  not  exceed  seventy -two,  nor  be  less 
than  thirty-six.  The  Senate  is  composed  of  members  elected  for  two 
years,  who  must  not  exceed  one-half,  nor  fall  short  of  one-third  of  the  num- 
ber in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  present  number  are  thirty- 
three  Senators,  and  sixty-nine  Representatives.  A  Senator  must  be  at 
least  thirty  years  of  age,  and  have  resided  two  years  in  the  district  from 


oiiio.  427 

which  he  is  chosen.  The  General  Assembly  has  the  sole  power  of  en- 
acting all  the  state  laws, — the  assent  or  signaturo  of  the  Governor  not 
.being  necessary  in  any  case  whatever. 

'The  judiciary  system  comprises  three  several  grades  of  courts,  viz : 
The  Supreme  Court,  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  Justice's  Courts^  Tho 
justices  of  the  peace  are  chosen  triennially  by  the  people  themselves,  in 
each  township  respectively.  They  are  conservators  of  the  peace  through- 
out the  country;  but  have  no  civil  jurisdiction  out  of  their  townships. 
The  state  is  divided  into  nine  judicial  circuits  for  courts  of  Common  Pleas, 
in  each  of  which  is  a  presiding  judge,  styled  President;  and  in  each 
county  of  which  the  district  is  composed,  three  associate  judges,  all  elec- 
ted by  the  legislature,  for  seven  years.  These  courts  are  held  three  times 
a  year  in  each  county.  Tne  Supreme  Court  consists  of  four  judges,  who 
hold  a  court  once  a  year  in  each  county  throughout  the  state.  They  are 
likewise  chosen  by  the  legislature  for  seven  years. 

'The  supreme  executive  authority  is  vested  in  a  Governor  chosen  bien- 
nially by  the  people.  He  must  be  thirty  years  of  age,  and  have  resided 
in  the  state  at  least  four  years.  He  is  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia, 
and  commissions  all  officers  in  the  state,  both  civil  and  military.  In  case 
of  disability,  or  vacancy  in  his  place,  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate  acts  as 
Governor,  until  the  next  succeeding  regular  election.  The  qualifications 
of  a  freeman  are  the  age  of  twenty-one,  residence  in  the  state,  and  the  pay- 
ment of  a  tax.' 

In  whatever  aspect  we  contemplate  this  wonderful  state,  the  mind  is 
affected  with  surprise  and  pleasure.  Wc  experience  surprise,  for  the 
history  of  colonies  affords  no  similar  example  of  a  colony  of  equal  num- 
bers, improvement  and  prosperity  so  rapidly  springing  from  a  solid  for- 
est wilderness,  with  no  adventitious  aid,  except  the  fertility  of  its  lands, 
the  freedom  of  its  institutions,  and  the  enterprising  character  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  The  real  lover  of  freedom,  who  firmly  believes  in  the 
strength  and  perpetuity  of  our  institutions,  contemplates  the  prospect  with 
unmingled  pleasure.  Ohio,  all  things  considered,  and  her  character  and 
institutions  carefully  analyzed,  is  the  most  completely  democratic  com- 
munity with  which  wc  are  acquainted.  Here,  if  the  enemies  of  democra- 
cy were  to  be  credited,  ought  to  be  found  the  most  revolting  effects  of  fe- 
rocity and  misrule.  Insurrection,  and  anarchy,  and  lawless  violence 
should  be  the  order  of  things.  This  state,  on  the  contrary,  is  making 
great  exertions  to  diffuse  general  education;  and  there  is  not,  perhaps,  in 
the  world,  a  more  peaceable  and  orderly  community,  or  one  where  the 
people  are  more  entirely  obedient  to  the  laws. 


WEST  PENNSYLVANIA. 


That  part  of  Pennsylvania  watered  by  the  Ohio  and  its  branches,  is 
situated  west  of  the  great  dividing  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies,  that  separates 
the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  from  those  of  the  Ohio.  Among  these  ridges 
the  principal  are  Peter's  Mountain,  Tuscarora  Mountain,  Sideling  Hill, 
Jack's  Mountain,  and  Bald  Eagle  Ridge.  West  of  these  is  the  Great  Al- 
leghany Ridge,  which  separates  between  the  eastern  and  western  waters. 
The  base  of  this  ridge  is  1,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the 
elevation  of  the  mountain  above  the  base  is  from  1,000  to  1,500  feet. 
About  one-third  of  the  surface  of  Pennsylvania  is  west  of  these  mountains, 
and  watered  by  the  Ohio  and  its  waters.  The  face  of  the  country  gen- 
erally is  hilly,  rolling,  and  in  some  places  mountainous.  Except  in  the 
regions  about  lake  Erie,  very  little  of  West  Pennsylvania  can  be  called 
level.  West  Pennsylvania  contains  considerably  more  than  200,000 
inhabitants. 

There  is  a  college  at  Cannonsburgh,  in  an  elevated  and  pleasant  situ- 
tion.  It  is  an  institution  of  considerable  importance,  but  too  near  the 
college  at  Washington  to  admit  the  supposition  that  both  the  institutions 
can  flourish.  The  college  edifice  makes  a  respectable  appearance.  The 
college  at  Washington  is  situated  in  that  pleasant  village,  in  the  centre  of 
a  populous  and  thriving  country.  It  has  a  collegiate  foundation,  consid- 
erable funds  and  endowments,  and  has  graduated  between  twenty  and 
thirty  students  in  some  years. 

The  system  of  common  schools  in  West  Pennsylvania  does  not  mate- 
rially differ  from  that  cast  of  the  mountains.  There  is  less  inequality  of 
condition  among  the  people,  and  the  modes  of  conducting  schools  aro  more 
similar  to  those  of  New  England. 


WEST   PENNSYLVANIA.  429 

The  inhabitants  arc  generally  a  hardy,  robust,  and  industrious  race, 
in  their  habits,  pursuits,  and  modes  of  thinking,  as  well  as  their  persons, 
much  resembling  the  people  of  New  England.  The  climate,  though 
something  milder,  is  not  much  unlike  that  of  Connecticut.  The  people, 
like  those  of  New  England,  are  generally  addicted  to  habits  of  religious 
worship,  and  to  connecting  themselves  to  some  religious  society.  Their 
trade  is  with  Pittsburgh,  or  Canada,  and  New  York,  by  the  way  of  lako 
Erie.  Besides  the  county  towns,  West  Pennsylvania  contains  the  follow- 
ing considerable  villages.  Connelsville,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Youghio- 
geny,  noted  for  the  important  mills  and  manufactures  in  its  neighborhood, 
contains  800  inhabitants. 

Brownsville  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  Monongahela  river.  Tho 
great  national  road  passes  through  it.  It  is  surrounded  with  fine  orchards 
and  fields,  in  a  rich,  picturesque,  and  romantic  country,  and  has  some  fine 
stone  buildings  in  and  about  it,  and  about  1,200  inhabitants.  Bridgeport 
is  a  village  opposite  to  Brownsville.  Cannonsburgh  is  on  the  west  side 
of  Chartier's  creek,  eight  miles  north  of  Washington.  It  is  surrounded 
by  a  hilly,  but  fertile  country.  Erie,  beautifully  situated  on  the  south 
side  of  lake  Erie,  is  a  thriving  village.  It  is  a  stopping  place  for  steam 
boats  that  pass  up  the  lake,  and  used  to  be  called  Presq'  Isle.  It  is  tho 
seat  of  justice  for  Erie  county,  and  in  N.  latitude  42°  2r','one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  north  of  Pittsburgh.  A  portage  from  the  lake  to  the  navi- 
gable waters  of  the  Alleghany  river,  commences  here.  The  distance  is 
fifteen  miles,  and  the  two  places  are  connected  by  a  turnpike.  Immense 
quantities  of  salt  used  to  be  transported  over  this  portage.  It  was  brought 
from  the  great  saline  in  New  York,  and  was  sent  down  the  Ohio,  for  the 
supply  of  the  country  on  its  waters.  But  salt  is  now  made  so  cheaply 
and  abundantly  on  the  Ohio  and  its  waters,  that  this  trade  is  in  a  great 
measure  suspended.  A  great  deal  of  trade,  however,  still  passes  this 
way,  both  that  of  articles  for  New  York  from  the  western  country,  and  of 
articles  sent  from  New  York  to  the  western  country.  In  the  year  1809, 
fifty-two  thousand  barrels  of  salt  were  sent  across  this  turnpike  to  Pitts- 
burgh. 

Waterford  is  situated  on  the  north  bank  French  creek,  a  considerable 
river  of  the  Alleghany;  and  is  the  place  where  the  portage  from  Erie 
terminates.  It  is  a  village  of  considerable  business,  and  has  a  post  office,  a 
number  of  stores  and  commission  warehouses,  and  is  fifteen  miles  south  of 
Erie.  Meadville  is  near  French  creek,  and  has  several  stores,  inns,  and 
public  buildings,  a  post  office,  and  printing  office,  two  churches,  and  a  col- 
lege, formerly  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Alden.  Dr.  Bently,  late 
of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  bequeathed  a  very  considerable  library  to  this 
college.    Franklin,  Kittanning,  and  Freeport,  are  considerable  villages' 


430  WEST   PENNSYLVANIA. 

between  this  place  and  Pittsburgh.  A  considerable  tract  of  country  in 
the  south-west  angle  of  New  York  is  watered  by  the  head  waters  of  the 
Alleghany.  In  New  York  principally,  and  along  the  upper  courses  of 
the  Alleghany,  are  found  those  deep  and  noble  pine  forests,  whence  are 
carried  the  boards  and  lumber  which  supply  the  greater  part  of  the  de- 
mand for  this  article  in  all  the  western  country,  and  quite  to  New  Orleans. 
Nearly  30,000,000  feet  of  plank  descend  the  Alleghany  annually.  In 
return,  keel  boats  carry  back  whiskey,  iron,  castings,  cider,  apples,  bacon, 
and  many  other  domestic  articles.  The  brig  Dean,  and  the  Sally  Ross, 
and  several  other  vessels  of  burthen  have  been  launched  on  the  Allegha- 
ny, and  have  descended  thence  to  New  Orleans.  The  Alleghany  is  four 
hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth.  Among  the  natural  curiosities  in  this 
region  is  Oil  creek,  which  enters  into  the  Alleghany.  The  spring  source 
of  this  creek  yields  great  quantities  of  bituminous  or  unctuous  matter, 
like  petroleum,  and  probably  is  that  substance.  It  is  taken  internally, 
as  a  medicine ;  and  the  rheumatic  find  relief  by  bathing  the  joints  affec- 
ted with  that  complaint,  with  this  oil.  Many  people  at  Pittsburgh  keep 
this  oil  in  bottles,  and  attach  much  confidence  to  it,  as  containing  some 
mysterious  efficacy. 

All  parts  of  the  western  country  seem  admirably  accommodated  the 
one  to  the  other;  the  one  part  supplying  what  the  other  wanted.  The 
country  on  the  Alleghany  is  much  of  it  broken,  sterile,  and  not  calculated 
to  become  a  rich  farming  country.  It  contains  inexhaustible  supplies  of 
the  finest  lumber,  and  innumerable  mill  seats.  Pittsburgh,  and  the 
country  below  it,  can  amply  supply  all  the  wants  of  this  region,  as  regards 
produce,  manufactures,  and  articles  of  iron  fabric.  In  return,  mills  with 
water-power,  arc  very  uncommon  about  Pittsburgh,  and  the  adjacent 
country  naturally  calls  for  the  lumber  of  the  Alleghany.  Steam  boats 
have  recently  ascended  this  river  almost  to  its  source. 

In  describing  the  Alleghany  and  its  waters,  we  have  named  the  prin- 
cipal streams  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  that  swell  that  fine  river. 
There  is  one  creek  that  we  have  not  mentioned ,  a  tributary  of  the 
Alleghany,  that  deserves  mention  were  it  only  for  the  name,  Muhul- 
buctitum. 

Economy,  the  present  seat  of  Mr.  llapp's  establishment,  formerly  at 
New  Harmony,  is  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  eighteen  miles  below 
Pittsburgh.  It  contains  many  factories,  a  large  church,  a  commodious 
hotel,  a  museum  containing  a  music  room  and  dining  hall,  all  laid  out 
with  the  utmost  neatness  and  regularity,  and  850  inhabitants.  Atthe 
east  end  of  the  town  is  a  park  containing  deer,  a  large  vineyard  and  a 
beautiful  orchard.  It  is  almost  exclusively  a  manufacturing  establish- 
ment.    It  is  a  community  of  a  peculiar  character. 


WEST    PENNSYLVANIA.  431 

Pittsburgh,  in  the  extent  of  her  manufactures,  is  the  only  rival  of  Cin- 
cinnati, in  the  west.  In  population,  wealth,  and  importance,  it  is  next  to 
that  city;  and  the  third  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  A  more  charm- 
ing spot  for  the  site  of  a  city  could  scarcely  be  selected.  No  place  is  sur- 
rounded by  more  charmingly  rounded  and  romantic  hills;  and  the  bound- 
less view  of  hill  and  dale,  the  Alleghany  bringing  down  its  northern  trib- 
ute on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Monongahela  its  southern  offering  on  the 
other,  the  singular  bluffs  of  these  rivers,  their  conjunction,  the  broad  and 
beautiful  Ohio,  calmly  commencing  its  course  of  one  thousand  miles,  and 
winding  away  among  its  deep  forests,  and  shores  shaded  by  noble  syca- 
mores, the  town,  its  surrounding  valleys,  and  the  whole  scene  taken  together, 
as  seen  from  the  adjoining  hills,  constitute  as  fine  a  landscape  as  can  well 
be  imagined.  The  town  is  built  on  an  alluvial  plain,  in  the  delta  of  the 
two  rivers,  where  they  unite  to  form  the  Ohio.  Over  the  Alleghany  is  a 
high  and  beautiful  plain,  bounded  in  the  distance  by  bold  and  rugged  hills. 
The  coal  hill,  across  the  Monongahela,  rises  more  than  three  hundred 
feet;  and  almost  perpendicularly  impends  the  town,  between  it  and  the 
river.  On  the  Monongahela  side,  is  a  manufacturing  village,  called  Bir- 
mingham; and  to  match  it,  on  the  Alleghany  side  another  manufacturing 
toAvn.  Both  are  connected  with  the  city  by  noble  and  long  bridges  over 
these  two  rivers. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  site  of  this  town  was  selected  at  an  early 
period  in  the  French  wars,  as  an  important  point  in  the  great  chain  of 
posts  which  was  to  connect  Canada  with  Louisiana.  It  had  been,  for  a 
considerable  time,  a  depot  of  French  goods  for  the  savages,  a  place  of 
outfits  for  the  trade  of  the  Ohio,  and  a  military  post,  to  defend  the  country 
against  the  occupancy  and  settlement  of  the  English,  and  to  secure  to  the 
inhabitants  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  with  the  savages,  when  Braddock 
was  sent  to  dispossess  the  French,  and  capture  the  post  of  Fort  Du  Quesne, 
as  it  was  then  called.  After  the  fatal  battle,  in  which  he  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  in  which  Washington  gained  his  first  laurels,  Colonel  Grant 
with  eight  hundred  Caledonians  was  defeated  here  on  the  hill,  which 
still  bears  his  name.  Not  long  after,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
British,  and  they  built  a  fort  at  the  expense  of  sixty  thousand  pounds  ster- 
ling. It  was  built  under  the  superintendence  of  Lord  Stanwin.  In  1760, 
a  considerable  town  arose  about  the  fort.  Beautiful  gardens  and  fruit 
orchards  were  planted;  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Indian  war,  in 
1703,  the  inhabitants  again  retired  into  the  fort.  The  present  town  of 
Pittsburgh  dates  back  to  1705.  Its  plan  was  enlarged,  and  it  was  re-sur- 
veyed in  1784.  It  then  belonged  to  the  Penn  family,  as  a  part  of  their 
hereditary  manor.     By  them  it  was  sold.      The  Lidian  wars,  and  the 


oo 


482  WEST    PENNSYLVANIA. 

troubles  in  the  western  country,  prevented  its  rapid  growth,  until  the  year 
1793.  Since  that  time,  it  has  increased  on  the  same  scale  of  improve- 
ment with  the  most  growing  towns  of  the  west. 

It  is  supplied  with  water  by  a  high  pressure  steam  engine  of  81  horse 
power,  which  raises  the  water  one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  above  the 
Alleghany  river.  A  million  and  a  half  gallons  of  water  can  be  raisedin 
twenty-four  hours.     These  works  went  into  operation  in  1828. 

The  churches  in  this  city  are  a  Baptist,  Roman  Catholic,  Covenanters', 
Seceders',  a  Methodist  church,  German  Lutheran  church,  Union  church, 
Episcopal  church,  first  and  second  Presbyterian  churches,  Unitarian 
church,  second  Methodist  church,  and  an  African  church,  making  a  total 
of  thirteen.  The  other  public  buildings  are  the  Western  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  Pittsburgh  High  School,  Pittsburgh  Exchange,  Mansion 
House  and  Hotel,  Lambdin's  museum,  the  U.  S.  Bank,  and  the  Pittsburgh 
bank.  There  are  eleven  large  establishments  of  iron  founderies,  in 
which  were  manufactured  from  pigs,  in  1830,  five  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-nine  tons.  There  are  six  rolling  mills  and  iron  works 
with  nail  factories  attached,  in  which  were  manufactured,  in  the  same 
year,  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  pigs  into  blooms;  and 
two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  five  tons  into  nails.  There  are  four 
large  cotton  factories,  in  the  largest  of  which  are  ten  thousand  spindles, 
spinning  one  thousand  four  hundred  pounds  of  yarn  weekly.  There  are 
two  large  establishments  of  glass  works ;  and  two  hundred  and  seventy 
other  large  manufacturing  establishments  of  a  miscellaneous  character. 
The  suburbs  of  Pittsburgh  are  Alleghany  Town,  Northern  Liberties, 
Birmingham  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Monongahela,  Lawrenceville,  East 
Liberty,  and  remainder  of  Pitt  township.  Population  of  the  city  proper, 
12,540,  and  of  the  suburbs,  9,983.     Total,  22,433. 

The  town  is  compactly,  and  in  some  streets,  handsomely  built;  although 
the  universal  use  of  pit  coal  for  culinary  and  manufacturing  purposes  has 
carried  such  quantities  of  fine  black  matter,  driven  off  in  the  smoke  into 
the  air,  and  deposited  it  on  the  walls  of  the  houses,  and  every  thing  that 
can  be  blackened  with  coal  smoke,  as  to  have  given  the  town  a  gloomy 
aspect.  Its  position  and  advantages,  as  a  manufacturing  town,  and  its 
acknowledged  hcalthfulness  will  continue,  however,  to  render  it  a  place  of 
attraction  for  builders,  manufacturers,  and  capitalists. 

At  the  present  time,  the  following  articles  are  manufactured  on  a  great 
scale.  Iron  mongcry  of  every  description,  steam  engines,  and  enginery, 
and  iron  work  in  general ;  cutlery  of  all  descriptions ;  glass  and  paper, 
cotton  and  woollens,  pottery,  chemicals,  tin,  and  copper  ware  are  manu- 
factured, and  exported  to  a  great  extent.  Boat  and  steam  boat  building 
have  been  pursued  here  on  a  greater  scalo  than  in  any  other  town  in  the 


WEST    PENNSYLVANIA.  433 

western  country.  So  long  ago  as  1814,  4,055  wagons  of  four  and  six 
horses,  employed  as  transport  wagons,  passed  between  this  place  and 
Philadelphia.  Boats  of  the  smaller  kinds  are  continually  departing  down 
the  river  at  all  seasons,  when  the  waters  will  admit.  In  moderate  stages 
of  the  river,  great  numbers  of  steam  boats  arrive  and  depart.  Of  course, 
this  place  transacts  a  great  amount  of  commission  business  for  all  the 
western  country.  Great  contracts  are  continually  ordered  from  all  the 
towns  on  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  for  machinery,  steam 
boat  castings,  and  the  various  manufactures,  that  this  city  supplies.  The 
inexhaustible  supplies  of  excellent  pit  coal,  in  all  directions  in  the  coal 
hills  about  the  town,  furnish  great  facilities  for  keeping  in  operation  the 
great  number  of  steam  manufactories.  The  coal  costs  little  more  than 
the  simple  expense  of  digging ;  and  there  is  no  fear  that  the  supply  will 
either  fail,  or  become  difficult  to  procure.  The  present  amount  of  the 
value  of  manufactures  is  supposed  to  be  not  far  from  2,500,000  dollars 
annually.  The  market  is  rich  and  abundant ;  but  much  higher  than  in 
the  towns  lower  down  the  Ohio.  It  is  believed  that  the  expense  of  articles 
in  the  Pittsburgh  market  will  compare  pretty  accurately  with  those  of 
Philadelphia.  It  is  still  a  place  of  great  resort  for  emigrants  descending 
the  Ohio.  It  has  the  disadvantage  of  having  the  river  shallower  in  low 
water  than  at  Wheeling.  Flat  and  keel  boats  can  descend  the  river  from 
the  latter  place,  in  stages  of  water  that  would  not  admit  of  it  from  the 
former  place. 

Pittsburgh  is  more  entirely  a  manufacturing  place  than  Cincinnati ; 
and  more  so  than  any  other  place  in  the  West,  or  perhaps  in  America. 
It  deserves  the  name,  that  has  so  often  been  bestowed  on  it,  the  Birming- 
ham of  America.  Its  prosperity  probably  depends  lesson  the  fluctuations 
of  the  markets,  the  changes  of  the  times,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  peace 
and  war,  than  any  other  town  in  the  country.  Its  manufactures  are  of 
articles  of  prime  importance,  and  vital  necessity,  which  must  be  con- 
sumed in  all  changes  of  times;  and  which  this  city,  from  its  extensive 
operations,  from  its  long  practice  and  experience,  and  from  the  skill  and 
practised  talents  of  its  manufacturers,  can  furnish  on  as  good  terms  as 
any  other  place. 

The  inhabitants  are  a  mixture  of  all  nations.  Germans  and  Irish  pre- 
dominate. But  there  are  great  numbers  of  English,  Scotch,  French,  and 
Swiss,  mechanics  and  artisans,  who  come  here  to  bring  their  mechani- 
cal skill  and  industry  to  a  better  market  than  they  could  find  in  the  old 
world.  The  habits  of  the  people  of  the  place  are  those  of  persevering 
industry,  calculating  carefulness,  distrust  of  strangers,  and  a  fixed  pur- 
pose to  look  to  their  individual  interests.  They  are  of  all  the  different 
denominations  of  religion,  and  as  moral  as  could  be  expected  of  a  people 


434 

so  situated.  Luxury,  splendor,  and  display,  are  not  much  in  fashion  here ; 
and  the  habits  of  all  the  people  are  frugal  and  economical.  This  city  has 
immense  advantages  of  artificial  as  well  as  natural  water  communica- 
tions. The  great  Pennsylvania  canal,  over  five  hundred  miles  in  length, 
terminates  here.  Another  canal  is  laid  out  to  connect  it  with  lake  Erie 
through  Meadville ; '  and  still  a  third  is  proposed  to  the  mouth  of  Mahon- 
ing;, where  it  will  connect  with  a  branch  of  the  Ohio  aud  Erie  canal  from 
its  summit  head. 

Pittsburgh  is  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  county  of  Alleghany;  and  is 
situated  in  N.  latitude  40°  30',  W.  longitude  4°  40'  from  Philadelphia; 
three  hundred  miles  north-west  from  Philadelphia ;  three  hundred  and 
fifty-two  from  Washington;  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  from  Lexing. 
ton,  Kentucky;  one  thousand  one  hundred  from  New  Orleans  by  land; 
and  two  thousand  by  water. 


WEST  VIRGINIA. 


West  Virginia  probably  bears  a  smaller  proportion  to  the  surface  of 
the  whole  state,  than  the  portion  of  the  above  mentioned  state  west  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  does  to  Pennsylvania.  The  Alleghany  ridge  here, 
as  in  Pennsylvania,  separates  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  from  those  of  the 
Potomac  and  the  Atlantic.  The  names  of  the  principal  ranges,  beyond 
this  continued  chain,  are  Chesnut  Ridge  and  the  Gauly  mountains.  The 
face  of  the  country  is  similar  to  that  we  have  been  describing.  A  consid- 
erable portion  is  covered  with  lofty  and  precipitous  mountains,  and  val- 
leys embosomed  within  them.  There  is,  however,  much  cultivable  coun- 
try. Many  of  the  hills  have  table  summits,  and  are  capable  of  cultivation. 
On  the  whole  it  may  be  called  a  hilly  country,  with  a  salubrious  atmos- 
phere,- and  the  people  are  tall,  muscular,  laborious,  and  frugal  in  their 
habits,  having  a  much  greater  resemblance,  in  their  general  manners 
and  habits,  to  the  people  of  New  England,  than  to  the  Virginians  east  of 
the  mountains.  In  the  dialect  of  the  country,  a  dialect  of  universal  use 
in  the  west,  the  people  west  of  the  mountains  are  called  'Cohoes,'  and 
those  east  of  the  mountains  'Tuckahoes.'  Some  of  the  planters  have  con- 
siderable gangs  of  slaves ;  but  it  is  more  common  that  the  labor  of  the 
family  is  performed  by  the  members  of  it.  The  people  are  more  in  the 
habit  of  forming  themselves  into  religious  societies,  and  attending  public 
worship,  than  the  people  of  the  state  east  of  the  mountains.  The  staple 
products  are  wheat  and  the  grains.  It  is  a  fine  country  for  orchards,  and 
there  is  considerable  attention  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  fruit. 


438  WEST    VIBGINIA. 

A  great  many  streams  rise  in  the  mountains,  and  fall  either  into  the 
Monongahela,  the  Kenhawa,  or  the  Ohio.  The  Kenhawa  is  the  only  river 
of  any  importance.  It  rises  in  the  Alleghany  mountains.  One  of  its 
principal  branches,  the  Green  Briar,  almost  interlocks  with  the  head 
waters  of  the  James'  River,  and  with  those  of  the  Holston  of  Tennessee. 
The  river  is  four  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  in  moderate  stages 
of  the  water,  is  boatable  by  large  boats  to  the  falls,  seventy  miles  above  its 
mouth.  Forty  miles  above  its  mouth,  and  near  Charlestown,  com- 
mence the  most  extensive  salines  in  the  western  country.  There 
are  a  great  number  of  furnaces  constantly  evaporating  the  water. 
The  water  is  found  for  a  considerable  distance  round  the  works.  To  ob- 
tain it  they  bore  from  one  to  two  hundred  feet  deep  in  the  earth.  It  is  so 
strongly  saline  that  from  sixty  to  ninety  gallons  only  are  required  for 
a  bushel  of  salt.  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  boring  for  this  water,  when 
the  augur  had  pierced  the  different  strata  of  earth,  and  had  reached 
the  salt  water,  it  spouted  up  twenty  feet  in  the  air.  The  quantity 
made  at  present  at  these  works,  is  from  500,000  to  700,000  bushels  an- 
nually. It  is,  indeed,  a  kind  and  wonderful  provision  of  Providence,  that 
such  an  ample  and  easy  supply  of  an  article  so  important  and  indispensa- 
ble, should  have  been  thus  bountifully  supplied  by  nature,  at  such  remote 
distances  from  the  sea. 

Chief  Towns.  Wellsburgh,  formerly  called  Charlestown,  is  the  county 
seat  of  Brooke  county.  It  is  handsomely  situated  on  a  high  bank  of  the 
Ohio.  It  contains  one  hundred  houses,  a  court  house,  jail,  post  office, 
academy,  a  number  of  inns,  several  stores,  and  two  or  three  large  ware- 
houses, from  which  are  shipped  large  quantities  of  flour  for  the  market  at 
New  Orleans.  There  are  a  number  of  valuable  merchant  mills  in  this 
vicinity,  that  ship  their  flour  from  this  place.  It  is  a  place  of  considerable 
embarkation  on  the  Ohio.  Some  considerable  manufactures  of  glass  and 
earthen  or  stone  ware  are  carried  on  here.  It  is  situated  fifty  miles 
south-west  from  Pittsburgh. 

Wheeling,  the  county  town  of  Ohio  county,  is  situated  on  a  high  and 
gravelly  but  alluvial  bank  of  the  Ohio,  a  little  above  the  mouth  of  Wheel- 
ing creek.  The  town  is  surrounded  by  bold  and  precipitous  hills,  which 
are  generally  covered  with  a  fine  verdure,  and  contain  inexhaustible 
quantities  of  pit  coal.  These  hills  come  in  so  near  the  river  as  to  leave 
rather  a  small  area  fur  the  town.  The  great  national  road  from  Balti- 
more terminates  here,  or  rather  is  continued  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Ohio.  Stages  and  public  roads  connect  it  with  Pittsburgh.  It  is  the  first 
town  on  the  Ohio  where  certain  embarkation,  in  small  flats  or  keels,  may 
be  calculated  upon  in  low  stages  of  the  water.  It  has  a  fine  surrounding 
country.     There  is  a  great  deal  of  rich  land  back  of  il,  along  Wheeling 


WEST    VIRGINIA.  437 

creek.  These  circumstances,  united  to  its  favorable  position  on  the  Ohio, 
impart  many  advantages  to  Wheeling.  Of  course,  few  towns  on  the  Ohio 
have  grown  more  rapidly.  A  number  of  mail  stages  arrive  and  depart 
here ;  and  its  situation  in  regard  to  the  Ohio,  and  the  national  road,  cause 
that  it  is  a  place  of  great  and  constant  resort  for  travellers.  It  has  a 
courthouse,  jail,  banking  house,  a  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  church,  a 
market  house,  a  book  store,  a  printing  office,  a  Lancastrian  academy,  a 
library,  and  a  number  of  inns,  some  of  them  highly  respectable.  It  has  a 
large  number  of  stores  and  commission  ware  houses,  six  hundred  dwelling 
houses,  and  5,111  inhabitants.  It  has  manufactories  of  cotton,  glass, 
earthen  ware,  and  a  number  of  considerable  establishments  of  mechanical 
fabrics  of  the  common  kinds.  Flat  and  keel  boats  are  built  here;  and 
recently  a  number  of  steam  boats  of  the  first  class.  There  are  many 
reasons  to  suppose  that  this  place  will  eventually  become  one  of  the  most 
considerable  on  the  Ohio.  The  other  villages  in  West  Virginia,  on  the 
Ohio  and  its  waters,  are  Belleville,  Point  Pleasant,  Greenville,  Abingdon, 
Jefferson ville,  Franklin,  and  Jonesville. 


MICHIGAN  TERRITORY. 


Length,  250  miles.  Breadth,  135.  Square  miles,  33,950.  Acres, 
21,600,000.  Between 41°  31'  and45°40'  N.  latitude;  and  between  5° 
12'  and  10°  W.  longitude.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  straits  of  Mich- 
ilimackinac ;  east  by  lakes  Huron,  St.  Clair,  and  Erie,  and  their  waters ; 
south  by  Ohio  and  Indiana ;  and  west  by  lake  Michigan. 

CIVIL   DIVISIONS. 


Counties. 

County  Towns.               Dis 

(ancesfrom  Detn 

Barry, 

\ 

Berrien, 

Niles, 

179  miles. 

Branch, 

Bronson's  Prairie, 

133 

Brown, 

Menomonic, 

Calhoun, 

Cass, 

Edwardsburgh, 

169 

Chippewa, 

Sault  de  St.  Marie, 

356 

Crawford, 

Prairie  du  Chein, 

Eaton, 

Hillsdale, 

Sylvanus, 

108 

Ingham, 

Ioway, 

Helena, 

Jackson, 

Jacksonopolis, 

77 

Kalamazoo, 

Prairie  Ronde, 

Lapeer, 

Lenawee, 

Tecumseh, 

63 

Macomb, 

* 

MICHIGAN    TERRITORV.  439 

Michilimackinack,  Mackinack,  320 

Monroe,  Monroe,  36 

Oakland,  Pontica,  26 

Saganum , 

Sanilac, 

Shianessee, 

St.  Clair,  St.  Clair,  59 

St.  Josephs,  White  Pigeon  Prairie, 

St.  Marie, 

Van  Buren, 

Washtenaw,  Ann  Arbour,  42 

Wayne,  Detroit, 

The  census  of  1830  gives  the  population  of  this  territory  as  follows: 
Whites,  30,848;  Slaves  270.     Total,  31,128. 

Michigan  Territory  is  a  large  peninsula,  something  resembling  a  tri- 
angle, with  its  base  resting  upon  Ohio  and  Indiana.  Three  quarters  of 
its  extent  are  surrounded  by  the  great  lakes,  Huron  and  Michigan.  It  is 
generally  a  level  country,  having  no  mountains,  and  not  many  elevations 
that  might  properly  be  called  hills.  The  centre  of  the  peninsula  is  table 
land,  elevated,  however,  not  many  feet  above  the  level  cf  the  lakes,  and 
sloping  in  every  direction  to  them.  But,  though  the  general  surface  of 
this  territory  is  level,  there  is  far  less  swampy  and  wet  surface,  than  in  the 
northern  belt  of  Ohio,  adjoining  the  lakes.  The  country  is  divided  into 
nearly  equal  proportions  of  grass  prairies,  like  those  of  Indiana  and  Ohio, 
divided  into  wet  and  dry ;  and  extensive  and  deep  forests  of  trees  of  nearly 
the  same  classes  with  those  in  Ohio,  except,  that  here  there  is  an  inter- 
mixture of  white  and  yellow  pine.  A  considerable  belt  of  land  along 
the  southern  shore  of  lake  Michigan  is  sandy  and  sterile;  and  so  swept 
by  the  bleak  and  desolating  gale  of  the  lake,  as  not  to  promise  much  in 
the  way  of  cultivation.  But  a  great  proportion  of  the  lands  of  this  terri- 
tory are  of  excellent  quality,  and  it  promises  one  day  to  be  a  populous 
country.  The  productions  are  the  same  as  those  of  New  York.  Orch- 
ards flourish  remarkably,  and  this  will  undoubtedly  become  a  fine  fruit 
country. 

Rivers.  This  is  a  country  watered  by  almost  innumerable  rivers  and 
branches.  From  the  levelness  of  the  country,  they  are  generally  boata- 
ble  almost  to  their  sources.  These  rivers  abound  in  the  fine  fish  of  the 
lakes;  and  the  fisheries  on  them  are  no  inconsiderable  source  of  supply  to 
the  new  settlers.     We  can  only  mention  a  few  of  the  most  important. 

Grand  river  is  the  largest  that  enters  lake  Michigan.  It  rises  in  the 
south-east  angle  of  the  territory,  and  interlocks  at  its  sources,  or  in  its 
passage,  with  the  waters  of  Raisin,  Black,  Mastigon,  and  Saganum;  and 

56 


44G  MICHIGAN     TERRITORY. 

enters  the  lafce  twenty  miles  north  of  the  Raisin.  It  courses  through  for- 
ests and  prairies  abounding  with  game ;  and  its  bosom,  at  the  proper  sea- 
sons, is  covered  with  wild  fowls.  Small  boats  reach  its  source,  and  by  this 
and  Huron  rivers,  periogues  pass  from  lake  Michigan  to  lake  Erie.  It 
has  been  proposed  to  connect  it  by  a  canal  with  the  Saganum  of  lake 
Huron. 

The  St.  Joseph  heads  in  Indiana  and  interlocks  with  Black  river,  St. 
Joseph's  of  the  Miami,  Eel  river,  and  Tippicanoe  of  the  Wabash.  It  has 
a  strong  current  and  is  full  of  islands,  is  boatable  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  and  is  two  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  entrance  into  the  lake.  There 
are  most  abundant  fisheries  on  it.  The  Raisin  derives  its  name  from  the 
great  number  of  grapes  that  grow  on  its  banks.  Black  river,  Marame, 
Barbue,  White,  Rocky,  Beauvais,  St.  Nicholas,  Marguerite,  Monistic, 
Aux  Sables,  Lasiette,  Grand  Traverse,  Thunder  river,  Sandy,  Saganum^ 
St.  Clair,  Belle,  and  Huron  are  considerable  streams  that  empty  into  the 
lakes.  These  rivers,  like  those  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  before  they  enter 
the  lakes,  expand  into  considerable  basins,  caused,  no  doubt,  by  the  con- 
flict between  the  current  of  the  rivers,  and  the  surf  of  the  lakes,  meeting 
in  a  level  and  sandy  soil.  In  the  proper  season,  they  are  covered  with 
abundant  harvests  of  wild  rice ;  and  with  innumerable  flocks  of  wild  fowls, 
that  come  here  to  feed  upon  it. 

A  great  many  Indians  still  reside  in  this  country.  But  the  tide  of  white 
immigration  has  recently  set  strong  this  way ;  and  the  banks  of  the  Huron 
and  the  Raisin  are  rapidly  covering  with  the  clearings  of  the  settlers. 
The  strait  of  St.  Clair,  connecting  that  lake  with  lake  Huron,  is  twenty- 
six  miles  long.  It  runs  through  a  country  partly  prairie  and  partly  forest. 
Deep  groves  of  beautiful  white  pine  arc  found  along  this  strait.  The  strait 
of  Detroit,  connecting  lakes  Erie  and  St.  Clair  is  twenty-four  miles.  It  is 
navigable  for  large  vessels,  is  studded  with  islands,  and  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  sheets  of  water  in  the  world.  Its  current  is  nearly  three  miles 
an  hour.  It  receives  the  rivers  Rouge,  Ecorce,  Magaugua,  and  Browns- 
town.  Five  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Rouge  is  a  ship  yard.  It  has 
excellent  lands  on  its  banks.  South  of  Huron  river,  the  river  Aux  Cignes, 
Rocky  creek,  Aux  Sables,  and  some  other  small  streams  enter  the 
lake. 

Raisin  derives  importance  from  the  circumstance  that  it  is  more  settled 
than  any  river  in  the  country,  except  Detroit.  It  has  also  obtained  a  mel- 
ancholy celebrity  from  the  events  of  the  late  war.  It  has  at  its  mouth  ex- 
tensive prairies,  and  wide  tracts  covered  with  wild  rice.  The  French  set- 
tlements on  this  river  are  conformable  to  their  customs  in  Canada,  Mis- 
souri, and  Louisiana;  that  is  to  say,  they  are  laid  out  in  long  and  narrow 
parallelograms,  two  or  three  arpens  wide  in  front,  and  from  forty  to  one 


MICHIGAN     TERRITORY.  441 

hundred  arpens  deep.  In  this  way  they  gratify  their  propensity  for  soci- 
ety, by  having  the  fronts  of  their  plantations  resemble  a  continued  vil- 
lage. There  are  fine  orchards  on  this  river.  Its  banks  are  covered 
with  grape  vines,  and  from  the  abundance  of  its  grapes  it  receives  its 
name. 

Michilimackinack  island  is  situated   in  the  north  west  angle  of  lake 
Huron,  in  the  straits   between  it  and  lake  Michigan.     It  is  considered 
among  the  most  impregnable  fortresses   on  the  northern  frontier.     The 
British  gained  possession  of  it  during  the  late  war.     It  derives  its  name 
from  an  Indian  word,  implying  'the  back  of  a  tortoise,'  which,  in  its  form 
of  rising  from  the  lake,  it  resembles.     The  island  is  nine  miles  in  circum- 
ference.    The  village  stands  on  the  south  side  of  it,  and  on  rising  grounds 
back  of  it,  the  fort  is  situated.     This  is  one  of  the  most  remote  northern 
settlements  in  the  United  States.     The  fortifications  are  of  great  strength. 
The  population  of  the  island  and  its  vicinity  is  about  1,000.     The  islands 
in  lake  Michigan  are  as  follows :  Manitou  Island,  near  the  eastern  coast, 
is  six  miles  long  and  four  wide.     The  Castor  Islands  extend  from  Grand 
Traverse  Bay  nearly  across  the  lake.     Grosse  Isle  is  five  miles  long,  and 
from  one  to  two  wide.     Bois  Blanc  is  in  front  of  Maiden,  and  has  been 
possessed  by  the  British ;  and  is  one  of  the  points  of  territory  in  question 
between  our  government  and  theirs.     The  bays  on  the  east  side  of  lake 
Michigan,  are  Sable  and  Grand  Traverse.      Those  on  the  Huron  coast 
are  Thunder  and  Sagana.     The  last  is  forty  miles  in  extent  in  one  direc- 
tion, and  from  eight  to  twelve  in  the  other.     Maumee  bay  resembles  a 
lake;  and  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  Maumee  river.     It  is  eighteen  miles 
in  circumference.     In  the  interior  of  this  territory  are  great  numbers  of 
small  lakes  and  ponds,  from  which  the  rivers  have  their  sources.     The 
strait,  which  connects  lake  Huron  and  lake  Michigan,  is  called  Lac  des 
Illinois,  is  fifteen  miles  long,  of  an  elliptical  figure,  and  subject  to  a  tide, 
which  has  sensible  fluxes  and  refluxes.     The  Indians  that  reside  in  this 
territory  are  chiefly  the  following :  Ottowas,   Miamies,  Pottawattomies, 
Chippeways,  and  Wyandots.     By  different  treaties  they  have  made  ces- 
sions of  the  greater  part  of  the  lands  in  this  territory  to  the  United  States. 
They  still  retain  considerable  tracts  of  fine  country ;  and  have  many  res 
ervations  and  villages,  even  among  the  settlements.     Some  of  them  have 
made  no  inconsiderable  advances  in  cultivation,,  and  the  arts  of  civilized 
life.     Most  of  the  converts  to  Christianity   in  this  region  profess  to  be 
Roman  Catholics.     The  Protestants  have  recently  established  missionary 
stations  and  schools  among  them.     The  savages  of  this  region  suffered 
much  during  the  late  war;  and  their  numbers  are  clearly  diminishing. 

The  climate  of  this  region,  in  consequence  of  its  being  level  and  pen- 
insular, and  surrounded  on  all  sides  but  the  south  with  such  immense 


442  MICHIGAN    TERRITORY. 

bodies  of  water,  is  more  temperate  and  mild  than  could  be  expected  from 
its  latitude.  The  southern  parts  have  mild  winters,  and  the  spring  opens 
as  early  as  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  latitude.  The 
position  of  the  northern  part  must  subject  it  to  a  Canadian  temperature. 
The  winter  commences  here  early  in  November,  and  does  not  terminate 
except  with  the  end  of  March.  At  Detroit  in  1818,  the  mean  heat  of 
January  was  24°,  and  in  1820,  the  mean  heat  of  July  was  69°,  of  De- 
cember, 27°.  At  Mackinack,  the  most  northern  settlement  in  the  United 
States,  the  mean  heat  of  October  was  45°;  of  November  32°;  and  of 
December  21°. 

Agriculture,  Manufactures,  Exports,  fyc.  The  eastern  parts  of  this 
territory,  from  various  circumstances,  became  first  settled.  Within  the 
few  last  years  a  great  mass  of  immigrants  have  begun  to  spread  themselves 
over  this  fine  and  fertile  country.  Situated,  as  it  is,  between  the  west, 
the  south,  and  the  east,  with  greater  facilities  for  extensive  inland  water 
communication  than  any  other  country  on  the  globe,  with  a  fertile  soil, 
of  which  millions  of  acres  are  fit  for  the  plough,  with  a  healthful  climate, 
and  with  a  concurrence  of  circumstances,  inviting  northern  population, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  will  soon  take  its  place  as  a  state,  and  rival 
its  western  sister  states.  Wheat,  Indian  corn,  oats,  barley,  buck  wheat, 
polatoes,  turnips,  peas,  apples,  pears,  plums,  cherries,  and  peaches,  are 
raised  easily  and  in  abundance.  It  is  a  country  more  favorable  to  culti- 
vated grasses  than  the  western  country.  In  short,  it  is  peculiarly  fitted 
for  northern  farmers.  No  inland  country,  according  to  its  age,  popula- 
tion, and  circumstances,  has  a  greater  trade.  A  number  of  steam  boats 
and  lake  vessels  ai'e  constantly  plying  in  this  trade,  which  is  with  Mack- 
inack, Detroit,  Chicago,  and  Ohio.  The  amount  of  foreign  exports  in 
1821,  was  53,290  dollars. 

Chief  Towns.  Detroit  is  the  political  metropolis,  and  the  only  town 
of  much  size  in  the  territory.  It  is  situated  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
river  Detroit,  eighteen  miles  above  Maiden  in  Canada,  and  six  miles  below 
the  outlet  of  lake  St.  Clair.  The  banks  are  twenty  feet  above  the  high- 
est waters  of  the  river.  The  plain  on  which  it  is  built  is  beautiful,  and 
the  position  altogether  delightful  and  romantic.  The  streets  are  wide,  and 
the  houses  arc  of  stone,  brick,  frame,  and  logs ;  and  some  of  them  make  a 
very  showy  appearance.  Three  of  the  principal  streets  run  parallel  with 
the  river,  and  are  crossed  at  right  angles  by  six  principal  cross  streets. 
Several  wharves  project  into  the  river.  The  United  States'  wharf  is  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet  long,  and  a  vessel  of  four  hundred  tons  burthen  can 
load  at  its  head.  The  public  buildings  are  a  council  house,  state  house, 
United  States1  store,  Presbyterian  church,  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  and 
some  other  public  buildings.     There  are  a  number  of  stores,  and  others 


MICHIGAN   TERRITORY.  413 

building.  Rents  and  the  value  of  lots  are  rising;  and  the  town  exhibits 
marks  of  rapid  population  and  improvement.  It  was  almost  entirely  con- 
sumed bv  fire,  in  1806;  and  the  appearance  of  the  new  town  is  much  su- 
perior to  the  old  one.  It  is  a  place  of  great  and  constant  resort  of  tho 
Indians;  and  here  the  greatest  numbers  and  the  fairest  sample  of  tho 
northern  tribes  are  seen.  Though  the  lake  boatmen,  the  courevrs  du  bois, 
and  the  huntsmen  of  the  northern  wilderness  are  not  exactly  the  Bedo- 
win  Arabs,  and  the  frightful  scare-crows  that  Volney  has  described,  it 
must  be  admitted,  that  living  in  the  woods,  being  exposed  to  the  heats  and 
colds  of  the  climate,  and  rowing  on  the  rivers  and  lakes  under  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun,  are  things  not  favorable  to  complexion  and  appearance; 
and  Detroit  can  show  many  inhabitants  sufficiently  outre  in  their  costume, 
and  who  have  nothing  in  their  appearance  to  recommend  them.  Respect 
table  schools  are  now  established  here.  A  public  journal  issues  from  the 
press.  Libraries  are  in  contemplation.  It  must  continue  to  increase 
with  the  influx  of  immigrants,  and  the  extension  of  back  settlements.  It 
is  the  chief  depot  of  the  shipping  of  the  lakes.  A  steam  boat  plies  be- 
tween it  and  Buffalo.  The  operation  of  the  Erie  canal  has  been  favora- 
ble to  the  business  and  importance  of  this  town,  and  of  the  whole  country. 
The  finishing  of  the  Ohio  canal  will  still  farther  enhance  its  business  and 
prosperity.  Detroit  is  evidently  destined  to  become  a  considerable  town. 
The  population  exceeds  2,000.  The  one  half  of  these  are  French,  the 
other  half  Americans,  with  a  considerable  sprinkling  of  foreigners  from 
various  countries.  The  other  villages,  that  have  received  names,  are 
Mount  Clement,  Brownstown,  Monroe,  Lawrenceville,  Frenchtown,  and 
the  New  Settlement. 

Government.  This  is  upon  the  common  plan  of  the  territorial  govern- 
ments. But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  this  territory  will  soon  be  in  a  condition 
to  claim  admission  into  the  confederacy  of  the  states.  Every  thing  is 
yet  in  the  commencement.  The  usual  provisions  are  made  for  roads; 
and  the  country  is  so  level  that  it  will  easily  be  susceptible  of  good  ones. 
At  present,  transport  and  passage  are  almost  entirely  by  water,  for  which 
this  country  furnishes  greater  facilities  than  any  other  of  the  same  extent 
in  the  United  States.  Detroit  is  comparatively  an  ancient  place.  Tho 
French  plantations  along  Detroit  river  exhibit  the  aspect  of  a  continued 
village.  They  are  laid  out  in  the  usual  manner,  two  or  three  arpens  in 
front,  by  forty  or  eighty  arpens  deep.  The  mansions  have  that  foreign 
and  interesting  aspect,  that  French  buildings  and  establishments  naturally 
have  to  the  American  eye.  They  are  embowered  in  ancient  and  beauti- 
ful orchards.  All  have  the  appearance  of  comfort;  and  some  of  them  of 
splendor  and  opulence.  There  are  few  landscapes  more  interesting,  few 
water  excursions  more  delightful,  than  that  from  Detroit  to  the  lakes, 


444  MICHIGAN    TEKBITOKY. 

along  this  broad,  cool,  and  transparent  river,  studded  with  islands,  and 
alive  with  fishes,  in  view  of  this  continuous  line  of  French  houses  and 
orchards,  on  either  bank  of  the  river.  The  French  here  have  their  cus- 
tomary national  manners.  They  live  in  ease  and  abundance  in  the  for- 
ests, and  take  very  little  thought  about  education  or  intellectual  improve- 
ment. But  every  thing  has  changed  in  this  region  since  it  has  become 
subject  to  the  free  institutions  of  the  United  States.  A  corporate  body, 
Btyled  the  'University  of  Michigan,'  has  been  formed.  They  have  power 
to  institute  colleges,  academies,  and  public  schools.  The  march  of  im- 
provement in  this  and  in  all  respects  is  rapid. 

History.  Michigan  was  originally  comprised  in  the  North-Western 
Territory.  French  missionaries  were  settled  here  as  early  as  1648. 
Detroit  was  founded  by  the  French,  in  1670.  In  1763,  this  country, 
along  with  other  possessions  conquered  from  the  French,  came  under  the 
government  of  Great  Britain.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  it 
became  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  But  the  British  gov- 
ernment held  possession  of  the  military  posts  in  it  until  1796.  In  1805, 
the  country  was  formed  in  a  distinct  territorial  government.  On  the 
breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  this  country  became  the  theatre  of  part  of  its 
operations.  Mackinack  was  captured  by  the  British,  and  Chicago  sur- 
rendered to  the  savages.  The  disastrous  and  humiliating  affair  of  the  sur- 
render of  Detroit,  by  General  Hull,  occurred  soon  after,  and  the  British 
held  possession  of  it  a  year.  The  signal  victory  over  the  British  fleet  on 
lake  Erie,  and  the  subsequent  defeat  of  the  forces  under  General  Proctor, 
by  General  Harrison,  changed  the  tide  of  success;  and  Michigan  again 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States.  It  is  now  one  of  the  principal 
points  of  immigration. 

Sketches  of  the  LaJees  and  the  river  Niagara.  Although  the  territory 
of  Michigan,  and  the  lakes  may  not  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  yet  we  have  considered  them  as  the  ex- 
ternal north-eastern  limits  of  that  prodigious  basin.  They  evidently 
mark  a  part  of  its  grand  features.  The  lakes  every  where  exhibit  marks 
of  having  been  formerly  much  higher  than  they  now  are,  and  vast  allu- 
vial tracts,  beyond  their  present  limits,  indicate  that  their  waters  covered 
a  much  greater  extent  of  country  than  at  present.  It  scarcely  admits  a 
doubt,  that  by  the  Illinois  and  other  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  in  that 
direction,  the  lakes  discharged  from  the  western  extremity  of  lake  Michi- 
gan into  the  Mississippi.  Every  person  that  has  traversed  the  upper 
courses  of  the  Illinois,  remarks  that  the  water  line  on  the  bluffs  indicates 
the  floods  of  the  river  to  have  been  twenty  feet  above  its  highest  present 
elevation.  These  vast  bodies  of  fresh  water,  then,  formerly  discharged 
from  one  extremity  into  the  gulf  of  Mexico;  and  from  the  other,  into  that. 


MICHIGAN    TBREITORT.  445 

of* the  St.  Lawrence.  Even  now,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  a  few 
feet  of  excavation  would  empty  them  anew  into  the  Illinois.  These  inter- 
nal seas  of  fresh  water  therefore  belong  to  the  arrangement  of  the  great 
Mississippi  basin;  and  require  a  brief  description,  in  order  that  we  may 
mark  the  magnificent  northern  outline  of  the  country,  we  have  been 
describing. 

Whatever  theories  may  be  adopted  to  explain  the  phenomena  of  recent 
submersion,  that  are  seen  over  all  the  western  country,  little  doubt  can 
exist,  that  these  lakes  are  the  pools,  that  remain,  as  mementos  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  agents  employed  in  that  work.  They  display  a  feature  in  the 
conformation  of  our  country,  that  has  no  other  parallel  on  the  globe.  They 
seem  to  be  generally  beyond  the  reach  of  prairies.  Boundless  forests 
encircle  them.  Their  vast  extent,  the  fierce  and  untamed  character  of 
the  wandering  hordes,  that  have  hunted,  fought,  and  fished  around  them 
for  unknown  ages,  the  terror  of  the  winters  that  rule  these  regions  of  ice 
and  storms,  for  so  great  a  part  of  the  year,  the  precipitous  crags  of  secon- 
dary formation,  that  line  their  southern  shores,  and  the  black  masses  of 
primitive  granite,  that  rise  to  impassable  heights  on  the  north,  the  remote- 
ness of  their  extent  beyond  fixed  human  habitations,  and  almost  beyond 
the  stretch  of  the  imagination,  have  connected  with  them  associated  ideas 
of  loneliness,  grandeur,  and  desolation.  A  line  drawn  through  the  centre 
of  all  these  lakes,  beginning  with  Ontario  and  ending  with  the  lake  of 
the  Woods,  would  be  not  far  short  of  a  length  that  would  measure  the  At- 
lantic. Their  waters  are  uniformly  deep,  cold,  pure,  and  transparent. 
They  repose  upon  beds  of  granite.  They  have  great  abundance  of  fine 
fish.  The  country  north  of  lake  Superior,  and  the  lake  of  the  Woods,  is 
one  of  stupendous  cataracts,  impassable  swamps  and  morasses,  rushing 
rivers,  often  confined  in  precipitous  channels  of  black  granite,  exhibiting 
an  aspect  which  would  chill  the  heart  of  any  one,  except  a  savage,  hun 
ter,  fisherman,  or  courcur  du  bois,  in  the  description,  much  more  in  tra- 
versing it.  We  have  a  faithful  and  interesting  account  of  these  dreary 
regions  in  the  narrative  of  Major  Long's  second  expedition. 

This  chain  commences  on  the  north-east  with  lake  Ontario.  Its  extent 
is  one  hundred  and  eighty  by  forty  miles.  At  its  eastern  extremity,  is 
a  group  of  islands,  known  by  the  name  of  the  'Thousand  Islands.'  From 
this  lake,  we  ascend  by  a  strait,  called  Niagara  river,  a  mile  in  average 
width,  very  swift  and  deep,  and  thirty-six  miles  long,  to  lake  Erie.  This 
is  a  broad  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  equally  transparent  with  the 
former,  but  falling  short  of  it  in  general  depth.  Its  extent  is  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  by  forty -five  miles.  In  various  central  positions  on  this 
lake,  the  voyager  is  out  of  sight  of  land,  as  on  mid  ocean.  It  embosoms 
a  number  of  considerable  islands.     Ascending  still  farther  west,  we  find 


446  MICHIGAN    TERRITORY. 

another  strait,  as  the  French  word  Detroit  imports.  It  connects  lake 
Erie  with  lake  St.  Clair,  and  is  twenty-seven  miles  in  length.  Lake  St. 
Clair  is  another  clear  and  beautiful  basin  of  water,  thirty  miles  in  diame- 
ter. The  strait  between  this  lake  and  Huron  is  thirty-two  miles  in  length, 
and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  with  a  deep  and  rapid  current. 
Lake  Huron  is  the  second  on  the  continent  in  size,  being  two  hundred  and 
twenty  by  ninety  in  extent.  It  has  the  usual  cold,  transparent,  and  deep 
waters,  is  studded  with  many  islands,  and  of  a  depth  to  be  every  where 
navigated  by  the  largest  vessels.  At  its  western  extremity,  by  the  straits 
of  Michilimackinack,  it  communicates  with  the  singular  lake,  Michigan. 
This  lake  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  episode  in  the  great  chain,  not  appearing 
necessary  for  the  expansion  or  conveyance  of  the  waters  collected  above, 
in  lake  Superior.  It  is  wholly  in  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  while 
half  of  the  rest  pertains  to  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain.  Its  extent 
is  three  hundred  by  fifty  miles.  It  receives  forty  considerable  rivers,  has 
valuable  fisheries  of  sturgeon  and  white  fish,  and  embosoms  some  islands 
towards  its  northern  extremity. 

Returning  to  lake  Huron,  we  find  it  connected  with  lake  Superior  by 
a  strait  of  twenty-seven  miles  in  length.  The  current  of  this  river  is 
shallow,  rapid,  and  rendered  difficult  of  navigation  by  huge  masses  of 
rock.  Lake  Superior  is  by  far  the  largest  collection  of  fresh  waters  on 
the  globe,  being  three  hundred  and  fifty  by  one  hundred  miles  in  extent, 
and  reputed  nearly  one  thousand  five  hundred  miles  in  circumference.  The 
water  is  transparent,  and  deeper  and  colder,  than  any  of  the  rest.  The 
shores,  especially  on  the  northern,  are  walled  with  frowning  and  lofty 
precipices  of  granite  rock.  All  the  lakes  abound,  and  this  more  than  the 
rest,  with  fine  fish.  They  consist  of  different  kinds  of  trout,  all  of  them 
delicious,  sturgeon,  pike,  pickerel,  muskalunge,  carp,  bass,  herrings, 
&c,  and  the  best  kind  of  all,  white  fish,  which  is  found  in  this  lake  in 
greater  perfection  than  in  either  of  the  rest.  It  embosoms  some  large 
islands.  The  principal  rivers  that  discharge  themselves  into  it,  are 
Michipicoten,  St.  Louis,  Nipegon,  and  Pic.  Beyond  this  lake,  and 
stretching  still  farther  to  the  north-west,  towards  the  frozen  regions  of 
Red  river  of  the  north,  and  the  Arctic  sea,  is  the  long  and  narrow  Lake 
of  the  Woods,  apparently  the  Ultima  Thulc  of  our  continent. 
'  These  lakes,  from  the  circumstance  that  their  waters  possess  less  spe- 
cific gravity  than  that  of  the  ocean,  and  the  comparative  shallowness  of 
their  beds,  and  it  may  be  from  other  causes,  when  swept  by  the  winds, 
raise  waves,  if  not  so  extensive  and  mountainous,  more  rough  and  dan- 
gerous than  those  of  the  sea.  It  has  been  repeatedly  asserted,  that  they 
have  septennial  fluxes  and  refluxes.  From  the  silence  of  the  recent  and 
intelligent  travellers  that  have  explored  them,  touching  a  fact  so  very 


MICHIGAN    TERRITORY.  447 

striking,  we  should  be  led  to  doubt  it.  It  has  been  affirmed,  also,  that  they 
have  perceptible  diurnal  tides.  We  doubt  this  also;  for  were  it  even  true, 
that  the  same  causes  which  raise  tides  in  the  sea,  operated  perceptibly 
here,  the  surface  that  could  be  operated  upon  is  so  small,  compared  with 
that  of  the  ocean,  that  any  general  movement  of  the  water  would  be  so 
arrested  by  capes,  points,  islands,  and  headlands,  that  such  a  uniform  re- 
sult, as  a  diurnal  tide,  could  hardly  be  calculated  to  take  place  in  any 
sensible  degree. 

The  waters  of  the  lakes,  in  many  instances  collected  from  the  same 
marshes  as  exist  at  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  filtered  through  oozy 
swamps,  and  numberless  fields  of  wild  rice,  where  the  shallow  and  stag- 
nant mass,  among  this  rank  and  compact  vegetation,  becomes  slimy  and 
unpotable,  as  soon  as  they  find  their  level  in  the  deep  beds  of  the  lakes, 
lose  their  dark  and  red  color,  and  their  swampy  taste,  and  become  as 
transparent  almost  as  air.  When  the  lakes  sleep,  the  fishes  can  be  seen 
sporting  at  immense  depths  below.  The  lower  strata  of  the  water  never 
gain  the  temperature  of  summer.  A  bottle  sunk  an  hundred  feet  in  lake 
Superior,  and  filled  at  that  depth,  feels,  when  it  comes  up,  as  if  filled  with 
ice  water.  Imagination  can  not  but  expatiate  in  traversing  the  lofty  pre- 
cipices, the  pathless  morasses,  and  the  dark  and  inhospitable  forests  of 
these  remote  and  lonely  oceans  of  fresh  water,  where  the  tempests  have 
raged,  and  the  surges  have  dashed  for  countless  ages,  unwitnessed  except 
here  and  there  at  the  distance  of  an  hundred  leagues  by  a  few  red  skins, 
or  more  recently,  Canadian  coureurs  du  bois,  scrambling  over  the  pre- 
cipices to  fish,  or  paddling  the  periogues  in  agonies  of  terror  to  find  shel- 
ter in  the  little  bays  from  the  coming  storm. 

Hundreds  of  rivers,  though  none  of  great  length,  discharge  themselves 
into  these  inland  seas.  Situated  as  they  are,  in  a  climate  generally  re- 
markable for  the  dryness  of  its  atmosphere,  they  must  evaporate  incon- 
ceivable quantities  of  water.  It  has  been  commonly  supposed,  that  the 
Niagara,  their  only  visible  drain,  does  not  discharge  a  tenth  part  of  the 
waters  and  melted  snow  which  they  receive.  They  spread  such  an  im- 
mense surface,  and  have  so  much  of  the  grand  levelling  power  of  the 
ocean,  that  neither  they,  nor  their  outlet,  the  St.  Lawrence,  have  any 
thing  of  that  flood  and  subsidence,  that  form  such  a  distinguishing  feature 
in  the  Mississippi  and  its  waters.  Hence,  too,  the  Niagara  has  little  of 
marked  alluvial  character  in  common  with  the  Mississippi.  It  rolls  down 
its  prodigious  volume  of  waters,  alike  uninfluenced  by  droughts,  or  rains, 
by  the  heat  and  evaporation  of  summer,  or  the  accumulated  snows  and 
ices  of  winter. 

Will  the  shores  of  these  vast  and  remote  waters  be  ever  settled,  except 
by  a  few  wandering  trappers,  fishermen,  and  savages  ?     Shoals  of  immi- 

57 


448  MICHIGAN    TERRITORY. 

grants  from  the  old  world  are  continually  landing  at  Quebec  and  Montreal. 
Upper  Canada  is  becoming  populous.  Wave  is  propelled  beyond  wave. 
Much  of  the  country  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  is  of  an  inhospitable  and 
sterile  character,  never  to  be  cultivated.  There  are,  also,  along  their 
shores  and  tributary  waters,  sheltered  valleys  and  large  extents  of  fertile 
soil,  sufficient  for  numerous  and  populous  settlements.  It  is  an  inexpli- 
cable part  of  the  composition  of  human  nature,  that  men  love  to  congre- 
gate and  form  the  most  populous  cities  and  settlements  in  northern  and 
inhospitable  climes,  rather  than  in  the  country  of  the  banana  and  the  pine- 
apple. The  astonishing  advance  of  population  and  improvement,  both 
on  the  American  and  British  side  of  the  country,  has  caused  that  the  bo- 
soms of  the  remotest  lakes  have  been  whitened  with  the  sails.of  commerce. 
The  smoke  of  the  passing  steam  boats  is  seen  rising  in  columns  among 
their  green  islands .  The  shores  have  echoed  with  the  exploding  cannon 
of  conflicting  fleets.  The  northern  forests  of  Ohio  have  already  seen  the 
red  cross  of  a  hostile  squadron  giving  place  to  the  stai's  and  stripes. 
Roads  are  constructing  to  reach  their  shores.  Canals  arc  excavating  to 
connect  the  whole  extent  of  this  vast  chain  with  the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Is  it  too  sanguine  to  predict,  that  within  the  compass  of  a 
century,  their  shores  will  count  an  hundred  populous  towns,  where  sen- 
ates will  debate  and  poets  sing?  That  every  nook  of  them  will  be  visited 
by  vessels  and  steam  boats,  and  connected  by  roads  and  mail  routes, 
and  that  the  fisheries  on  them  will  become  as  much  an  object  of  national 
importance,  as  are  now  those  of  Newfoundland? 

It  is  out  of  our  plan  to  describe  the  rivers  that  empty  into  these  lakes. 
But  we  shall  notice  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  next  largest  in  North  America 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  the  counterpoise  and  rival  of  that  mighty  stream. 
Commencing  his  course  for  another  ocean,  and  moving  off  in  an  opposite 
direction,  he  seems  proudly  determined  to  resemble  his  mighty  rival  in 
nothing  but  in  bearing  off  the  tribute  of  waters  from  a  world.  The  for- 
mer is  continually  swelling  or  subsiding;  and  in  his  spring  floods,  moving 
with  a  front  many  leagues  in  width,  he  has  no  resemblance  to  his  autum- 
nal course  in  a  deep  channel,  and  winding  by  beaches  and  sandbars. 
His  alluvial  forests  are  wide  and  dark,  with  a  vegetation  of  surpassing 
grandeur.  His  sides  are  marly  and  crumbling,  and  his  bottom  is  oozy 
and  of  slime.  His  turbid  waters,  when  united  with  those  of  the  sea,  dis- 
color it  for  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth. 

The  other  is  perpetually  the  same,  steady,  full,  clear,  and  his  current 
always  sweeping.  His  bed  is  worn  in  strata  of  stone.  His  banks  rise  at 
once  to  the  primitive  soil.  Bluffs  of  rock  impend  his  course.  Forests  in 
their  season  beautifully  verdant,  but  bearing  the  more  healthy,  stinted,  and 
sterile  character  of  the  north,  the  larch,  the  pine,  and  the  white  birch. 


MICHIGAN     TERRITORY.  449 

bend  over  his  waters,  and  before  he  meets  the  sea,  vision  can  scarcely 
reach  the  opposite  shore. 

At  the  point  where  this  river  issues  from   lake  Erie,  it  assumes  the 
name  of  Niagara.     It  is  something  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  mile  in 
width,  and  the  broad  and  powerful  current  embosoms  two  islands;    one  of 
them  Grand  Isle,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Noah's  famous  Jewish  colony,  contain- 
ing eleven  thousand  acres,  and   the  other,  Navy   Island,  opposite  to  the 
British  village  of  Chippeway.     Below  this  island  the  river  again  becomes 
an  unbroken  sheet,  a  mile  in  width.     For  a  half  a  mile  below  it  seems  to 
be  waxing  in  wrath  and  power.     Were  this  rapid  in  any  other  place,  itself 
would  be  noted  as  one  of  the  sublimest  features  of  river  scenery.     Along 
this  rapid,  the  broad  and  irresistible  mass  of  rolling  waters  is  not  entirely 
whitened,  for  it  is  too  deep  to  become  so.     But  it  has  something  of  that 
curling  and  angry  aspect,  which  the  sea  exhibits   when  swept  by  the  first 
burst  of  a  tempest.     The  momentum  may  be  conceived,  when  we  are  in- 
structed, that  in  half  a  mile  the  river  has  a  descent  of  fifty  feet.     A  col- 
umn of  water,  a  mile  broad,  twenty-five  feet  deep,  and  propelled  onward 
by  the  weight  of  the  surplus  waters  of  the  whole  prodigious  basin  of  the 
lakes,  rolling  down  this  rapid  declivity,  at  length  pours  over  the  cataract, 
as  if  falling  to  the  central  depths  of  the  earth.     Instead  of  sublimity,  the 
first  feeling  excited  by  this  stupendous  cataract  is  amazement.     The  mind 
accustomed  only  to  ordinary  phenomena  and  common  exhibitions  of  pow- 
er, feels  a  revulsion  and  recoil  from  the  new  train  of  thought  and  feeling, 
forced  in  an  instant  upon  it.     There  is  hardly  sufficient  coolness  for  dis- 
tinct impressions,  much  less  for  calculations.     We  witness  the  white  and 
terrific  sheets — for  an  island  on  the  very  verge  of  the  cataract  divides  the 
fall — descending  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  into  the  abyss  be- 
low.    We  feel  the  earth  trembling  under  our  feet.     The  deafening  roar 
fills  our  ears.     The  spray,  painted  with  rainbows,  envelopes  us.     We  im- 
agine the  fathomless  caverns,  which  such  an  impetus, continued  forages, 
has  worn.     Nature  arrays  herself  before  us,  in  this  spectacle,  as  an  an- 
gry and  irresistible  power,  that  has  broken  away   from  the  beneficent 
control  of  Providence.     When  we  have  gazed   upon  the  spectacle  and 
heard  the  roar  until  the  mind  has  recovered  from  its  amazement,  we  be- 
lieve the  first  obvious  thought  in  most  minds  is  a  shrinking  comparison  of 
the  littleness  and  helplessness  of  man,  and  the  insignificance  of  his  pigmy 
efforts,  when  measuring  strength  with  nature.     Take  it  all  in  all,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  sublime  and  astonishing  spectacles,  seen  on  our  globe. 
The  eye  distinctly  measures  the  amount  of  the  mass,  and  we  can  hardly 
avoid  thinking  with  the   peasant,  that  the    waters   of  the  upper  world 
must  shortly  be  drained  down  the  cataract.      But  the  stream  continues 
to  pour  down,  and   this  concentered  and  impressive  symbol  of  the  pow- 


450  MICHIGAN   TERRITORY. 

er  of  Omnipotence  proclaims  his  majesty  through  the  forests  from  age 
to  age. 

An  earthquake,  the  eruption  of  a  volcanic  mountain,  the  conflagration 
of  a  city,  are  all  spectacles  in  which  terror  is  the  first  and  predominant 
emotion.  The  most  impressive  exertion  of  human  power  is  only  seen  in 
the  murderous  and  sickening  horrors  of  a  conflict  between  two  mighty 
armies.  These,  too,  are  transient  and  contingent  exhibitions  of  sublim- 
ity. But  after  we  have  stood  an  hour  at  the  foot  of  these  falls,  after  the 
eye  has  been  accustomed  to  look  at  them  without  blenching,  after  the  ear 
has  become  familiarized  with  the  deafening  and  incessant  roar,  when  the 
mind  begins  to  calculate  the  grandeur  of  the  scale  of  operations  upon 
which  nature  acts,  then  it  is  that  the  entire  and  unmingled  feeling  of  sub- 
limity rushes  upon  it,  and  this  is,  probably,  the  place  on  the  whole  globe, 
where  it  is  felt  in  its  most  unmixed  simplicity. 

It  may  be,  that  the  beautiful  and  romantic  country  between  Erie  and 
Ontario  receives  a  richer  coloring  from  the  imagination,  excited  strongly 
to  action  by  dwelling  on  the  contiguity  of  the  great  lakes,  and  the  deep 
thunder  of  the  falls  heard  in  the  distance.  Remembrances  of  the  bloody 
field  of  Bridgewater  will  be  naturally  awakened  by  this  view.  Be  the 
cause  what  it  may,  every  one  approaches  the  falls,  finding  the  scenery 
and  accompaniments  just  what  they  should  be.  Every  one  finds  this  to 
be  the  very  place  where  the  waters  of  the  upper  world  should  pour  upon 
the  lower.  We  have  figured  to  ourselves  the  bloody  struggle  of  Bridge- 
water  by  the  uncertain  intervals  of  moonlight,  and  the  feelings  with  which 
the  combatants  must  have  listened  to  the  deafening  and  eternal  roar  of 
the  cataract,  which  became  audible  whenever  the  crash  of  the  cannon 
was  for  a  moment  suspended.  Must  it  not  have  sounded  as  the  voice  of 
nature,  mocking  in  her  own  sublime  irony,  the  feeble  and  the  mad  wrath 
of  man,  in  attempting  these  murderous  and  momentary  imitations  of  her 
thunder  and  her  power ! 

The  Rideau  canal  connects  lake  Ontario  with  the  river  Ottawas  and 
Quebec.  The  number  of  vessels  employed  on  the  lakes  Erie,  Huron, 
and  Michigan,  is  fifty-three,  besides  steam  boats,  which  make  casual 
trips  to  Green  Bay  and  Fond  du  Lac.  The  Welland  canai,  thirty -eight 
miles  long,  and  ten  feet  deep,  with  thirty  locks,  overcoming  three  hundred 
and  sixty  feet,  connects  lake  Erie  by  schooner  navigation  with  lake 
Ontario. 


NORTH  WEST    TERRITORY. 


Nearly  five  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  four  hundred  in  breadth. 
Between  42°  30',  and  49°  N.  latitude,  and  10°  31',  and  18°  30',  W.  lon- 
gitude. Bounded  east  by  lake  Michigan ;  north  by  lake  Superior  and  the 
British  possessions;  west  by  the  Mississippi,  and  a  line  drawn  from  its 
source  to  the  northern  boundary,  which  separates  it  from  Missouri  Ter- 
ritory. The  most  accurate  account  of  this  country  is  to  be  found  in 
Long's  second  expedition.  It  is  generally  a  hilly  country,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  extensive  level  prairies.  At  the  western  extremity  of  lake  Supe- 
rior, are  the  Cabotian  mountains ;  and  near  the  mineral  district,  the  Smoky 
mountains.  In  some  of  its  features,  this  country  resembles  Missouri  ter- 
ritory ;  but  has  greater  proportions  covered  with  wood.  The  chief  rivers, 
except  the  Mississippi,  are  Ouisconsin  river,  Fox,  Chippeway,  St.  Croix, 
Rum,  St.  Francis,  and  Savanna  of  the  Mississippi,  Grand  Portage,  Onton- 
agon, Montreal,  Mauvaise,  Bois  brule,  St.  Louis,  and  nearly  fifty  smaller 
streams,  are  waters  of  lake  Superior.  Riviere  la  Pluie  falls  into  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods.  None  of  the  lake  rivers  have  a  course  of  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  few  more  than  fifty  miles. 

The  largest  river  of  the  Mississippi,  in  this  territory,  is  Ouisconsin 
which  rises  in  the  northern  interior  of  the  country,  and  interlocks  with  the 
Montreal  of  lake  Superior.  It  has  a  course  of  between  three  and  four 
hundred  miles,  has  a  shallow  and  rapid  current,  which  is,  however,  gen- 
erally boatable  in  good  stages  of  the  water,  and  is  eight  hundred  yards 
wide  at  its  mouth.  There  is  a  portage  of  only  half  a  mile  between  this 
and  Fox  river.  It  is  over  a  level  prairie,  across  which,  from  river  to 
river,  there  is  a  water  communication  for  periogues  in  high  stages  of  the 
water. 


452  NORTH-WEST    TERRITORY. 

Fox  river  has  a  course  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  It  runs 
through  Winnebago  lake.  It  has  a  fine  country  on  its  banks,  with  a  sa- 
lubrious climate.  Chippeway  is  a  considerable  river  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  enters  it  just  below  lake  Pepin.  It  is  half  a  mile  wide  at  its  mouth, 
and  has  communications,  by  a  short  portage,  with  lake  Superior.  A  ca- 
nal of  six  miles,  over  a  perfectly  level  plain,  could  connect  this  river  with 
the  preceding,  and  furnish  steam  boat  navigation  from  Buffalo  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

This  is  a  fine  region  for  hunters.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  country, 
buffaloes,  elk,  bears,  and  deer,  are  common.  Beavers,  otters,  and  musk- 
rats  are  taken  for  their  furs.  The  trappers  and  savages  roam  over  im- 
mense prairies  in  pursuit  of  their  objects.  In  some  parts  of  it  the  soil  is 
fertile.  White  and  yellow  pine,  and  white  birch,  are  common  among  the 
forest  trees.  All  the  water  courses,  ponds,  and  marshes,  are  covered 
with  wild  rice,  which  constitutes  a  considerable  part  of  the  nourishment 
of  the  inhabitants.  The  liead  waters  of  the  Mississippi  are  estimated  to 
be  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea. 

It  is  a  country  abundant  in  minerals.  In  it  are  found  great  quantities 
of  the  terre  verte,  or  green  earth,  lead,  copper,  and  iron.  The  lead  mine 
district  is  in  the  lower  part  of  the  country,  between  Rock  river  and  the 
Ouisconsin.  On  Fever  river  are  the  chief  establishments  of  the  present, 
miners,  and  the  mines  are  probably  as  rich  and  as  abuudant  as  any  in 
the  world.  It  has  been  asserted  for  half  a  century,  that  great  quantities 
of  native  copper  are  found  along  the  northern  shore  of  lake  Superior. 
On  the  Ontagon  are  great  quantities  of  pure  copper  in  detached  masses. 
A  single  mass  is  estimated  to  weigh  three  thousand  pounds.  More  recent 
and  intelligent  travellers  have  not  realized  the  expectations  that  have 
been  raised  in  respect  to  finding  this  metal.  But  lead  and  iron  are  found 
in  various  places,  and  sufficient  indications  of  the  existence  of  mines  of 
copper. 

The  southern  part  of  this  extensive  region  possesses  a  climate  com- 
paratively mild,  and  not  much  unlike  that  of  the  northern  belt  of  Mis- 
souri. At  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  the  summers  are  temperate,  and  the 
winters  extremely  cold.  The  sources  of  the  Mississippi  are  in  a  region 
severely  inclement.  At  St.  Peters,  in  1820,  the  mean  temperature  of 
January  was  zero,  a  degree  of  cold  not  felt  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States  that  is  much  settled.  The  summer  was  temperate,  and  the  atmos- 
phere beautifully  serene.  Even  at  Prairie  du  Chicn,  though  much  more 
temperate,  the  winters  are  very  severe.  The  following  table  is  selected 
from  Mr.  Schoolcraft. 


NORTH 

•WEST     TERRITORY. 

«§1 

Avei 

age 

PrccaiVm^ 

Place. 

Date. 

temperature. 

winds. 

Air. 

Water. 

Detroit, 

May  15  to  24 

61° 

00° 

i\.  E. 

River  St.  Clair, 

24      27 

51 

52 

N.  W. 

Lake  Huron, 

28  to  June  6 

51 

51 

N.  W. 

Mackinack, 

June  7  to  13 

55 

00 

S.  E. 

Mackinack  to  Lake  Superioi 

,           13     18 

66 

00 

s.  w. 

Lake  Superior, 

19     27 

66 

58 

N.  W. 

Ontonagon  River, 

28     30 

80 

73 

N.  W. 

Water  of  Lake  Superior, 

66 

Ontonagon  River  to  Fond ) 
du  Lac,                    ) 

July    1  to  5 

64 

61 

s.  w. 

Between  Fond  du  Lac  ) 
and  Sandy  Lake,*        $ 

6  to  1G 

67 

N.  W. 

At  Sandy  Lake, 

17     24 

73 

From  Sandy  Lake  to  ) 
St.  Peters,               \ 

25  to  Aug.  1 

69 

s.  w. 

Chicago, 

January, 

15 

N.  W. 

&s.  w. 

February 

,    32 

s.  w. 

March  to  15. 

29 

N.  E. 

Note. — On  the  19th  of  July,  near  the  Falls  of  Packagama,  the  ele- 
vation being  one  thousand  two  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
4  the  night  breeze  was  so  cold  that  the  water  froze  upon  the  bottoms  of 
the  canoes,  and  they  were  oncrusted  with  a  scale  of  ice  of  the  thickness 
of  a  knife  blade.  The  thermometer  stood  at  36°  at  sun-rise.  There 
had  been  a  heavy  dew  during  the  night,  which  was  succeeded  by  a  dense 
fog  in  the  morning,  and  the  forenoon  remained  cloudy  and  chilly.' 

Green  Bay  Settlement  is  situated  at  the  outlet  of  Fox  river,  and  con- 
tains nine  hundred  and  fifty-two  inhabitants.  A  few  miles  up  Fox  river 
of  this  bay,  in  a  most  romantic  position,  is  an  interesting  Episcopal  Mis- 
sionary establishment.  There  are  two  or  three  other  incipient  establish- 
ments of  hunters  and  trappers.  Prairie  du  Chien  is  a  considerable  vil- 
lage. There  are  flour  mills  near  it.  It  is  a  place  of  importance  as  an 
outfit  from  the  lower  Mississippi  to  the  upper  waters.  It  is  situated  near 
a  beautiful  prairie.  The  position  of  the  village  has  been  recently  inun- 
dated. Most  of  the  permanent  inhabitants  have  Indian  blood  in  their 
veins.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year  it  is  populous,  bustling,  and  busy. 
Curious  modes  of  justice,  and  of  despatching  business  have  been  adopt- 
ed here  by  prescription.  The  inhabitants  in  this  village  and  settlement 
amount  to  four  hundred  and  ninety-two.  Frequent  voyages  are  made 
from  St.  Louis  to  this  place  in  keel  boats.  The  richest  copper  mines, 
and  large  masses  of  pure  copper,  are  found  here.  One-third  of  the  land 
is  fit  for  farming,  and  one-sixth  well  Timbered. 

*The  distance  from  Fond  du  Lac  to  Detroit  is  1,100  miles. 


454  NORTH-WEST     TERRITORV. 

This  vast  region  has  hitherto  been  politically  connected  with  Michigan 
territory;  but  as  that  territory  has  as  distinct  geographical  limits  as  any 
state  in  the  Union,  and  this  region  is  only  connected  with  that  by  circum- 
stances of  a  temporary  nature,  it  is  evident  that  this  country  ought  to  be 
viewed,  at  least  geographically,  as  a  territory  by  itself. 

Prairie  du  Chien,  Cassville,  and  Green  Bay,  are  the  largest  villages, 
and  the  whole  population  is  rated  at  sixteen  thousand.  Three  thousand 
immigrants  for  this  country  passed  through  Buffalo  in  a  single  week. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Buffalo  Journal  gives  an  agreeable  picture  of 
that  portion  of  this  territory  which  has  been  lately  ceded  to  government 
by  the  Menomenee  Indians,  and  in  which  he  had  just  made  an  excursion. 
The  tract  reserved  to  the  Indians,  of  500,000  acres,  is  also  a  fine 
body  of  land,  containing  very  extensive  and  fertile  meadows  along  the 
Fox  river,  with  woodlands  of  good  timber,  in  which  there  is  no  under- 
brush. The  writer  proceeded  thirty-eight  miles  from  Green  Bay  up  the 
Fox  river  to  Winnebago  lake,  passing  rapids  whose  whole  descent  is  about 
one  hundred  feet.  The  river  is  ninety  yards  wide,  its  bed  a  limestone 
rock,  the  banks  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high.  The  wa- 
ter power  is  of  course  adequate  to  move  any  machinery.  Doty's  island, 
in  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  contains  four  hundred  acres,  heavily  timbered. 
The  bank  of  the  lake  itself  is  covered  with  trees  of  a  height  and  diame- 
ter indicating  the  nature  of  the  soil,  which  is  black  loam,  rich  and  deep. 
The  Cliff,  so  called,  is  a  mountain,  three  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  lake,  presenting  a  picturesque  prospect.  The  main  roads,  leading 
from  Green  Bay  to  Chicago,  Ouisconsin,  Portage,  the  Lead  Mines,  and 
Galena,  will  probably  pass  this  point.  Beyond  this,  the  mountain  recedes 
three  or  four  miles  from  the  shore,  forming  a  valley  fifteen  miles  in 
length,  of  as  fertile  land  as  can  be  found  in  the  United  States,  termina- 
ting to  the  south  in  a  dry  prairie  called  Cass  Plains.  These  plains  con- 
tain twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  rich  land,  which  are  already  cleared 
by  nature  for  the  plough ;  and  they  extend  to  the  Manitoovoc  river.  Soon 
after  begin  the  prairies  which  run,  with  scarcely  any  timber,  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. In  the  whole  distance,  near  one  hundred  miles,  passed  by  the 
writer,  the  land  seems  to  be  of  the  kind  and  aspect  just  described;  name- 
ly, rich  prairie,  with  occasional  growths  of  fine  timber,  equally  indicative 
of  fertility.  A  road  from  the  mouth  of  Fond  du  Lac  river  to  Galena, 
would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  mines,  and  a  direct  route  for  one  might 
be  followed  at  a  trifling  expense.  It  would  facilitate  the  transportation 
of  property  from  New  York  by  the  canal  and  the  lakes. 


MISSOURI    TERRITORY. 


Length,  nine  hundred  miles;  breadth,  eight  hundred.  Between  36° 
30'  N.  latitude,  and  13°  40'  and  35°  10'  W.  longitude.  Bounded  by 
the  British  possessions  on  the  north ;  east  by  the  North-West  Territory, 
Illinois,  and  Missouri ;  south  and  south-west  by  the  territories  of  the  Mex- 
ican Republic ;  west  by  the  Rocky  mountains.  No  writers  have  given 
such  striking  general  views  of  this  country  as  the  gentlemen  of  Long's 
first  expedition. 

The  belt  of  country,  partially  wooded,  extends  generally  from  two  to 
four  hundred  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  waters.  There  com- 
mences that  ocean  of  prairies,  that  constitutes  so  striking  and  impressive 
a  feature  in  the  vast  country  beyond  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri.  This 
vast  country  is  for  the  most  part  a  plain,  more  or  less  covered  with  grass, 
in  great  extents;  in  other  extents  almost  a  moving  sand.  It  is  pastured 
and  trodden  by  countless  number  of  buffaloes,  elk,  and  other  wild  animals 
that  graze  upon  it.  In  some  places,  as  on  the  Missouri,  spurs  of  the  moun- 
tains are  encountered  long  before  we  reach  the  main  ridge.  In  other 
places,  as  at  the  outlet  of  the  Arkansas  from  the  mountains,  these  moun- 
tains spring  up,  as  the  eternal  barriers  of  the  plains,  directly  from  their 
base.  One  mountain  is  distinguishable  from  all  the  rest.  We  have 
wished  that  it  might  be  denominated  Mount  Pike,  from  the  name  of  the 
intrepid  and  adventurous  traveller,  who  gave  us  the  first  account  of  it. 
Its  black  sides  and  hoary  summits  are  a  kind  of  sea  mark  at  immense 
distances  over  the  plain.     It  elevates  its  gigantic  head,  and  frowns  upon 

58 


456  -M  1 3  S  O  V  R  I    TERRITORY. 

the  sea  of  verdure,  and  the  boundless  range  of  buffaloes  below,  taking 
its  repose,  solitary  and  detached  from  the  hundred  mountains,  apparently 
younger  members  of  the  family,  which  shrink  with  filial  awe  at  a  distance 
from  it. 

The  Rocky  mountains  commence  in  the  unexplored  regions  to  the 
north-west  of  the  United  States,  and  ranging  across  the  sources  of  the 
Missouri,  the  Roche  Jaune,  Platte,  Arkansas,  and  Red  river,  in  the 
Mexican  states  of  Texas  and  Coahuila,  they  diverge  and  unite  with 
the  ranges  of  Mexican  mountains.  They  separate  the  waters  of  the 
great  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  from  those  that  fall  into  the  Columbia, 
or  Multnomah,  the  Great  Lake  of  Bueneventura,  and  other  waters  of 
the  Pacific.  They  have  a  far  greater  extent  than  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains, are  a  wider  range,  and  for  the  most  part  run,  like  them,  in  paral- 
lel ridges,  though  generally  more  ragged,  detached,  and  broken,  and  are 
by  no  means  so  regular.  They  are  also  of  a  character  decidedly  more 
primitive.  Their  black,  precipitous,  and  frowning  appearance  has  pro- 
bably given  them  the  name  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Their  bases  have 
an  elevation  of  between  three  and  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  James',  or  Pike's  mountain  has  been  given  as  twelve  thousand 
feet  in  height.  As  this  vast  range  of  mountains  is  as  yet  but  very  imper- 
fectly known,  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt,  that  many  of  the  peaks,  when 
more  fully  explored,  and  more  accurately  measured,  will  be  found  to 
approach  much  nearer  in  height  to  the  highest  ranges  in  Mexico,  than 
has  been  commonly  supposed.  Most  of  the  more  elevated  summits  are 
above  the  point  of  perpetual  congelation.  In  one  respect  they  resemble 
the  Alleghanies.  In  numerous  places,  the  waters  that  run  into  the  Paci- 
fic rise  near  those  that  fall  into  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi.  Thus 
has  nature  kindly  provided  points  of  easy  transit  from  the  eastern  to  the 
western  side  of  these  frowning  and  apparently  impassable  barriers  of 
nature.  By  communications  of  unquestionable  veracity,  from  persons 
engaged  in  the  Missouri  Fur  Company,  we  learn,  that  following  up  the 
valleys  of  the  sources  of  the  Platte  to  the  opposite  valleys  of  waters  that 
fall  into  the  Great  Lake  of  Bueneventura,  on  the  other  side,  a  good  road 
was  found,  and  easily  passable  by  loaded  wagons. 

The  waters  of  this  great  inland  sea  were  found  by  General  Ashley  to 
be  much  saltcr  than  those  of  the  ocean.  He  descended  a  boatablc  river 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  reach  it.  He  coasted  it  with  canoes,  and 
found  it  to  be  one  hundred  miles  long,  and  from  sixty  to  eighty  wide. 
From  this  lake  he  returned  to  St.  Louis  in  seventy  days.  He  found  game 
so  abundant  that  he  could  have  subsisted  one  thousand  men  on  their  whole 
route.  The  caravan  crossed  the  mountains  by  the  valley  of  the  North 
Fork  of  the  river  Platte.     The  ascent  and  descent  of  the  mountains 


MISSOURI     TERRITORY.  457 

never  exceeded  three  degrees.  Many  of  this  paity  had  been  in  these 
remote  mountain  solitudes  five  years  in  perfect  health. 

This  line,  when  viewed  at  a  distance,  every  where  seems  continuous, 
iron  bound,  and  impassable.  The  mind  recoils  from  the  attempt  as  hope- 
less, to  find  a  way  over  such  frowning  and  formidable  barriers.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  within  half  a  century  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  will 
be  united  with  those  of  the  western  sea  by  navigable  canals. 

What  are  called  *  The  Gates  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,'  through  which 
the  Missouri  seems  to  have  torn  itself  a  passage,  are  commonly  described 
as  among  the  sublimest  spectacles  of  this  range  of  mountains.  For 
nearly  six  miles  these  mountains  rise  in  black  and  perpendicular  masses, 
one  thousand  two  hundred  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  river.  The 
chasm  is  little  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide;  and  the  deep 
and  foaming  waters  of  the  Missouri  rush  through  the  passage  as  if  it  were 
a  cataract.  The  heart  of  the  beholder  is  chilled  as  he  contemplates,  in 
these  wild  and  uninhabited  regions,  this  conflict  between  the  river 
and  the  mountains.  The  smooth  and  black  walls  of  the  cleft  rise 
more  than  twice  as  high  as  the  mountains  on  North  river,  below  West 
Point.  Every  passenger  up  North  river  has  been  impressed  with  the 
grandeur  of  that  scene  in  the  midst  of  amenity  and  life.  What  then  must 
be  the  sensations  of  the  passengers  through  the  '  Gates  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,'  who  witness  the  proofs  of  this  conflict  of  nature,  in  a  region 
three  hundred  leagues  from  civilization  and  habitancy?  Vast  columns 
of  the  rock,  torn  from  the  mountains  and  lying  along  the  river,  attest  the 
fact  of  this  forced  passage  of  the  river  through  the  mountains.  The 
Black  Hills,  the  elevated  table  lands  between  the  heads  of  the  Missouri 
and  the  Mississippi,  called  Cotcau  du  Prairie,  the  Ozark  mountains, 
and  the  Masserne  mountains,  may  all  be  considered  as  collateral  ranges 
of  the  Rocky  mountains. 

The  principal  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  in  this  territory  are  River 
de  Corbeau,  St.  Peter's,  Cannon,  Upper  Ioway,  Lower  Ioway,  and  des 
Moines.  An  interesting  and  accurate  account  of  St.  Peter's  is  given  in 
Long's  second  expedition.  It  is  one  of  the  principal  upper  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  has  a  course  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  It  enters  the 
Mississippi  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  by  a  mouth  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  wide,  and  a  depth  of  fifteen  feet  water. 


Supposed 

length. 

200 

Side 
they 

on  which 
enter. 

N. 

600 

S. 

225 

s. 

200 

w. 

300 

s.  w. 

300 

N. 

270 

N. 

700 

w. 

550 

w. 

200 

N. 

150 

N. 

180 

N. 

350 

S. 

150 

s. 

458  MISSOURI    TERRITORY. 

The  principal  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  are  given  in  the  following 
table : 

Width  at  outlet 
Rivers.  in  yards. 

Milk  river,  150 

Yellow  Stone,  297 

Little  Missouri,  134 

White  river,  150 

Running  Water,  152 

Jacques,  90 

Sioux,  110 

Platte,  600 

Kansas,  340 

Grand  river,  90 

Charaton,  E.  30 

Charaton,  W.  70 

Osage,  397 

Gasconade,  157 

Red  river  of  the  North  rises  near  the  sources  of  St.  Peter's,  and  by  a 
northern  and  winding  course  runs  nearly  two  hundred  miles  in  our  terri- 
torial limits,  and  then  passes  into  the  British  dominions  of  Upper  Cana- 
ada,  and  empties  itself  into  lake  Winnepeck.  Its  principal  branches  are 
Red  Lake  river,  and  Mouse  river,  which  latter  stream  rises  within  a  mile 
of  fort  Mandan  on  the  Missouri.  Red  river  is  a  broad,  deep,  and  very 
interesting  river,  abounding  with  fish,  and  the  country  along  its  banks 
with  elk  and  buffaloes.  It  is  on  the  banks  of  this  remote  stream  that 
Lord  Selkirk's  very  interesting  colony  is  settled. 

The  next  grand  tributary  to  the  Mississippi,  after  the  Missouri,  as  we 
have  already  remarked,  is  the  Arkansas.  The  head  waters  of  this  river 
were  first  explored  by  Pike,  and  afterwards  more  thoroughly  by  Long. 
This  survey  reached  to  Bell's  Springs,  3S°  32'  N.  latitude,  and  28°  45' 
W.  longitude.  Indians  and  hunters  describe  its  sources  to  be  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  north-west  from  that  point.  From  Bell's  Springs  it  runs 
in  a  direction  generally  south-east  by  its  windings,  two  thousand  miles, 
and  one  thousand  two  hundred  in  a  straight  direction  to  the  Mississippi. 
It  runs  through  a  country  where  the  traveller  can  often  see  nothing  but 
a  grass  plain,  boundless  to  the  vision.  The  Nagracka  and  Grand  Saline 
are  the  principal  upper  tributaries  of  the  Arkansas.  The  lower  belt  of 
this  region  is  of  secondary  formation.  The  middle  belt,  extending  from 
the  Council  Bluffs  to  the  sources  of  the  Negracka,  contains  lime  stone 
and  pit  ct  '  oper  belt  is  primitive  and  granitic.     The  lead  mines 

below  Pr  du  Chien  have  already  been  described.     Blue  and  green 


MISSOURI    TERRITORY.  459 

earths,  which  the  Indians  use  as  paints,  and  the  beautiful  red  pipe  stone 
of  the  St.  Peter's,  have  already  been  mentioned.  The  elevations  of  the 
south-west  part  of  this  region  have  been  given  as  follows :  Eastern  limits 
of  the  territory  on  Osage  river,  750  feet  in  height.  Neosho  river,  1,000. 
Arkansas,  at  the  base  of  James'  Peak,  2,500.  Summit  of  the  peak, 
11,000  feet. 

The  surface  and  soil  of  this  vast  extent  of  country  is  different  from 
any  other  of  the  same  dimensions  on  the  globe.  The  lower  courses  of 
all  the  rivers  that  enter  the  Mississippi  from  this  region  are  wooded.  In 
proportion  as  we  ascend  toward  the  mountains,  the  wood  becomes  more 
scarce,  and  the  upper  tributaries  of  these  streams  run  through  open 
prairies.  There  is  also  a  fertile  belt  along  the  banks  of  all  these 
streams;  but  in  proportion  as  we  diverge  from  them,  the  land  becomes 
more  sterile  and  parched.  We  sometimes  may  travel  whole  days  with- 
out seeing  water.  Great  extents  of  this  country  may  be  likened  to  the 
great  Sahara  of  the  African  deserts.  There  is,  however,  in  the  most 
sterile  parts,  a  thin  sward  of  grass  and  herbage.  Countless  droves  of 
buffaloes,  elk,  and  deer,  range  upon  these  vast  prairies.  These  will  pro- 
bably, in  some  future  period  of  our  national  existence,  be  replaced  by 
herds  of  domestic  cattle,  and  flocks  of  sheep,  followed  by  moving  bands  of 
shepherds.  Almost  the  whole  courses  of  the  Missouri,  Platte,  and  Yellow 
Stone,  are  through  a  rich  soil.  The  same  may  be  affirmed  of  Red  river. 
The  upper  courses  of  the  Arkansas  are  through  the  most  sterile  region 
of  this  ocean  of  prairies. 

Climate.  In  a  country  of  such  immense  extent,  generally  level, 
naked,  and  open,  the  climate  must  of  course  in  a  great  measure  corres- 
pond to  latitude.  The  first  climate  beyond  the  state  of  Missouri  and  the 
territory  of  Arkansas  is  mild  and  temperate.  The  belt  beyond  has  near- 
ly the  climate  of  New  England.  Still  farther  towards  the  mountains  it 
is  Canadian.  Pike  and  other  travellers  speck  of  encountering  storms 
of  sleet  and  hail  in  the  summer,  near  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas.  When 
the  winds  blow  from  the  west  over  the  summits  of  these  mountains,  and 
bring  down  on  these  vast  plains  the  temperature  of  the  regions  of  per- 
petual frost,  we  may  of  course  expect  such  a  change  of  temperature  near 
their  bases.  We  select  the  following  table,  as  compiled  by  Mellish  from 
the  travels  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  as  conveying  a  synoptical  view  of  the 
climate  of  this  country. 


460 


MISSOURI      TERRITORY 


lighest 

Lowest. 

Mean. 

Prevailing 
winds. 

88° 

42° 

63° 

S.  E.  &S.  W. 

62 

32 

47 

N.W.&S.E. 

62 
38 

12 
—45 

34 
0 

N.  W.&S.E. 

N.  W. 

36 
38 
40 

—40 

—18 
—  2 

3i 
11 

28 

N.W. 
N.W.  &S. 
N.  E.  &  S.  E 

80 

24 

49 

N.W.S.&W. 

82 

28 

52 

s.  w 

76 

35 

56 

s.  w. 

90 

52 

65 

s.  w. 

91 

31 

57 

s.  w, 

1804. 

Sept.  19  to  30,  Big  Bend  to/ 

Ricaree,  lat.  46°,  \ 

Oct.   Ricaree  to  Mandan, 

lat.  47°  30', 
Nov.  Fort  Mandan, 
Dec.  Fort  Mandan, 
1805. 

Jan.  Fort  Mandan, 
Feb.  Fort  Mandan, 
March.  Fort  Mandan, 
April.    Fort  Mandan  to  24) 

miles  beyond  Martha's   V 

river,  lat.  48°.  ) 

May.      Martha's  river   to   ) 

Stone   Wall  creek,    lat.   > 

47°  15',  ) 

June.     Stone  Wall    creek  j 

to  falls  of  Missouri,  lat.  \ 

47°  15',  ) 

July.     Falls  to  Philosophy  ) 

river,  lat.  45°,  j 

Aug.     Philosophy  river  to\ 

the  head  waters  of  Colum-> 

bia  river,  lat  44°.  ) 

N.  B.  —  Signifies  below  Zero. 

GENERAL    REMARKS. 

September  23.     The  air  remarkably  dry. 

October  5.     Slight  frost.     18.  Hard  frost.     27.  Went  into  winter  quar- 
ters at  Fort  Mandan. 
November  9.     Strong  frost.     13.  Much   drifting  ice.     30  Indians  cross 

the  river  on  the  ice. 
December  5.     Excessive  N.  W.  wind.      7.  River  closed.       28.  Strong 

wind. 
January  3.     Snow  9  inches  deep.     8.  Snow  10  inches.     19.  Ice  3  feet 

thick  on  the  most  rapid  part  of  the  river. 
March  2.      River  partially  open.      26.  Ice  broke  up  and  descended  in 

immense  shoals.      30.  Ice  floating  in  great  quantities. 
April  1.     A  fine  shower  of  rain,  the  first  since  the  15th  of  September. — 

The  air  dry  and  remarkably  pure. 
April.  4.     Hard  gales ;    scarcely  any  timber  to  shelter  the  country,  and 

the  winds  blow  with  astonishing  violence. 
April  7.     Left  Fort  Mandan. 
April  11.      Vegetation  appears.      18.  A  heavy  dew,  the  first  since  the 

15th  of  September.     21.  White  frost. 
May  2.     Violent  wind;  snow  and  vegetation  intermixed. 
May  4.     Snow  disappeared.     9.  Choke  cherry  in  bloom. 
May  18.     Wild  rose  in  bloom.     23.  Strawberries  in  bloom. 
May  26.     The  air  warm,  fine,  and  dry. 


MISSOURI      TERRITORY.  461 

June  27.      Thunder,  lightning,  and  hail,  so  large  that  one  stone  wns  7 

inches  in  circumference,  and  weighed  3  ounces. 
July  0.     Rain,  thunder,  and  hail;  a  blackbird  killed  by  the  latter. 
July  7.      Near  the  sources  of  Missouri.      21.  A  sudden  cold  caused  a 

difference  of  50°  in  the  thermometer  in  8  hours. 

At  Council  Bluffs,  in  the  summer  of  1820,  the  greatest  heat  was  105°, 
and  the  winter's  cold  22°  below  Zero.  Same  year  at  St.  Peters,  93°  heat, 
and  30°  below  Zero  cold. 

This  country  is  part  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  and  has  been  explo- 
red by  Lewis  and  Clark,  by  Pike,  and  the  gentlemen  of  Long's  expedi- 
tion. We  have  gleaned  information,  also,  from  hunters  and  trappers, 
who  have  traversed  it  in  all  directions,  and  who  have  lived  long  in  it.  It 
is  inhabited  by  various  tribes  of  Indians,  of  whom  the  Sioux  are  the  most 
numerous.  The  whole  number  is  estimated  between  130,000  and 
140,000. 

Much  important  information,  touching  the  south-west  part  of  this  vast 
region,  has  been  recently  afforded  by  Mr.  James  O.  Pattie,  who  passed 
seven  years,  in  trapping,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Arkansas,  Platte, 
Yellow  Stone,  and  other  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  Helay  of  Rio 
del  Norte,  a  river  before  unexplored  by  white  people,  and  which  he  ascen- 
ded from  its  junction  with  the  Del  Norte  to  its  head  source.  He  crossed 
the  Rocky  mountains  in  various  points,  and  a  number  of  times.  Most  of 
the  peaks  were  found  covered  with  perpetual  snow.  He  descended  the 
Rio  Colorado,  or  Red  river  of  California,  from  its  source  to  its  junction 
with  the  Pacific.  It  is  a  large  river,  with  a  course,  by  its  curves,  of  more 
that  one  thousand  miles;  and  in  many  of  its  characteristics,  particularly 
in  the  extent  of  its  alluvion,  it  resembles  the  Mississippi.  It  waters  a 
beautiful  and  interesting  country,  on  which  not  a  vestige  of  civilized  habi- 
tancy  exists.  Its  whole  course  is  through  forests  and  prairies,  and  un- 
described  tribes  of  naked  savages.  He  visited  a  salt  hill  not  far  from  the 
sources  of  the  Platte,  and  loaded  mules  with  the  salt,  for  Santa  Fe.  He 
discovered  in  the  uninhabited  country,  ores  of  iron,  copper,  and  silver  in 
great  abundance;  a  great  variety  of  useful  fossils,  and  a  country  alto- 
gether of  a  most  interesting  character. 


OREGON  TERRITORY 


This  Territory  has  been  so  named  in  the  Congressional  discussions, 
that  have  taken  place  in  reference  to  the  country.  It  is  a  country  of  vast 
extent.  Its  southern  limits  are  clearly  denned  in  our  late  treaty  with 
Spain,  being  on  the  42d  parallel  to  the  Pacific.  Our  limits  to  the  north- 
west are  yet  in  question  with  those  of  Russia,  which  claims  to  the  51st 
parallel.  Our  limits  with  Great  Britain  are  the  49th  parallel.  It  has, 
therefore,  the  British  and  Russian  possessions  on  the  north;  the  Pacific 
on  the  west;  the  Mexican  dominions  on  the  south;  and  the  territories  of 
Arkansas  and  Missouri  on  the  east;  and  may  be  assumed  as  stretching 
between  41°  and  49°  N.  latitude,  and  34°  and  48°  W.  longitude.  The 
stupendous  ridges  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  which  we  have  already  descri- 
bed, bound  this  country  on  the  east.  The  waters  that  rise  in  the  west- 
ern declivities  of  these  mountains  flow  into  the  Columbia,  the  Multnomah, 
and  the  lake  Bueneventura.  Most  of  the  elevated  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains are  above  the  limits  of  perpetual  congelation.  Beyond  the  moun- 
tains the  country  descends  by  regular  belts,  in  the  form  of  immense  terra- 
ces, or  descending  plains,  disposed  regularly  the  one  below  the  other.  Be- 
yond the  first  plain,  and  between  the  Rocky  mountains  and  the  Pacific,  is 
another  extensive  and  high  chain  of  mountains,  in  which  are  the  great 
falls  of  the  Columbia.  Still  west  of  these,  and  running  parallel  with  the 
coast,  and  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  is  the  third  and 
last  chain.  The  peaks  of  all  these  chains  are  covered  with  perpetual 
snow.  The  highest  peaks  have  been  named  Mount  Baker,  Mount  Reg- 
nier,  Mount  St.  Helens,  Mount  Hood,  and  Mount  Jefferson. 


OREGON    TERRITORY.  463 

The  only  rivers  explored  in  this  region  are  the  Columbia  and  its 
branches.  This  noble  river  has  its  head  waters  near  those  of  the  Mis- 
souri. It  collects  its  tribute  for  a  wide  extent  along  the  western  dividing 
ridges  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Immediately  upon  emerging  from  these 
mountains,  it  has  become  a  broad  and  deep  stream.  Having  received 
Clark's  and  Lewis'  rivers,  each  large  streams  from  the  east,  it  is  already 
nine  hundred  and  sixty  yards  wide.  It  there  forms  a  great  southern  bend, 
and  breaks  through  the  second  chain  of  mountains.  One  hundred  and 
thirty-six  miles  below,  are  the  great  falls,  where  the  river  desccnds'in  one 
rapid  57  feet.  Below  these  falls  it  winds  first  to  the  north-west,  and  then 
to  the  south-west,  and  passes  through  the  third  chain  of  mountains;  where 
it  is  again  compressed  to  the  width  of  150  yards.  Below  this  rapid,  at 
180  miles  from  the  sea,  it  meets  the  tide,  beyond  which  it  has  a  broad  es- 
tuary to  the  sea.  Sixty  miles  below  the  rapids,  Multnomah,  a  very  large 
and  unexplored  tributary,  falls  in  from  the  north-east.  The  mouth  of  the 
river  is  in  46°  24',  and  the  tide  there  rises  eight  and  a  half  feet.  The 
Columbia  and  its  tributaries  abound  in  the  finest  salmon,  which  seem  in 
fact  to  constitute  the  chief  article  of  food  of  the  savages  west  of  the 
Rocky  mountains.  Seals  and  other  aquatic  animals  are  taken  in  this 
river  in  great  numbers;  and  the  skins,  shipped  to  China,  constitute  the 
chief  article  of  trade  from  this  great  river.  A  number  of  the  head  streams 
of  the  Missouri  interlock  with  the  waters  of  this  river,  as  Wisdom  river 
with  Clark's  of  the  Columbia ;  and  Jefferson  of  the  Missouri  with  Lewis' 
of  the  Columbia.  Clark's  river  has  a  course,  between  2  and  300  miles 
in  length,  before  it  unites  with  the  Columbia.  Lewis'  river  is  a  large  and 
long  tributary  of  the  Columbia.  In  its  course,  it  receives  North  Fork  and 
Kooskooskee,  and  after  winding  600  miles  falls  into  the  Columbia  from 
the  east,  by  a  mouth  250  yards  wide. 

The  geological  character  of  this  country  is  little  known;  but  the  west- 
ern declivities  of  these  mountains  are  presumed  to  be  primitive  and  gra- 
nitic. The  country  must  have  an  abrupt  slope  to  the  Pacific,  descending 
as  much  in  600  miles  to  the  west,  as  it  does  in  1,500  to  the  east.  The 
summits  of  these  mountains  of  course  are  sterile,  being  ragged  rocks,  and 
covered  with  snow  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  But  among  these  moun- 
tains there  are  sheltered  and  fertile  valleys.  The  timber  in  the  mountains 
is  pine,  spruce,  fir,  and  the  other  terebinthines.  The  terrace  plains  be- 
low, generally  have  a  fine  soil,  but  are  very  deficient  in  timber.  The 
prairies,  like  those  on  the  eastern  sides  of  these  mountains,  are  covered 
with  grass,  and  a  profusion  of  most  beautiful  flowers.  Among  the  prairie 
plants  are  two  or  three  kinds  of  edible  roots,  which  furnish  vegetable 
food  to  the  savages,  as  an  aid  to  the  great  proportion  of  salmon  which  they 
devour.     Wild  sage  is  also  an  abundant  herb.     It  grows  of  a  size  and 

59       - 


464 


OREGON    TERRITORY. 


height  to  be  like  a  small  tree ;  and  on  these  extensive  plains  is  one  of  the 
principal  articles  of  fuel.  The  sea  shore,  for  a  considerable  distance  into 
the  interior,  is  skirted  with  deep  and  thick  forests  of  evergreens,  such  as 
pine  and  hemlock.  On  the  whole,  it  is  believed  that  few  countries  on 
the  earth  have  a  more  fertile  soil,  and  agreeable  climate ,  than  those  of  this 
region  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  Baron  Langsdorf  has  given  us  a 
very  delightful  and  apparently  just  and  discriminating  account  of  the 
countries  belonging  to  the  Missions  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  in  the  Mex- 
ican country,  bounding  on  the  southern  limits  of  this  country.  The  mild- 
ness of  the  climate  is  surprising.  Sheltered  on  the  north  by  protecting 
ridges  of  mountains,  and  the  breezes  from  the  west  being  softened  by  co- 
ming over  immense  extents  of  sea,  the  climate  is  as  mild  as  it  is  in  the 
country  east  of  these  mountains,  four  or  five  degrees  south  of  that  point. 
Langsdorf  describes  these  countries,  extending  to  our  southern  limit,  as 
the  country  of  oranges  and  figs,  of  verdure,  health,  and  fertility.  We 
scarcely  remember  to  have  seen  more  sober  pictures  of  a  more  desirable 
country,  than  those  drawn  by  him  of  that  region.  They  correspond  with 
the  accounts  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  other  travellers,  who  have  explored 
that  country.  When  these  intelligent  and  intrepid  travellers  left  the 
country  in  March,  and  in  the  latitude  of  Montreal,  the  prairies  were  in 
blossom,  and  the  forwardness  of  the  season  seems  to  have  corresponded 
with  that  of  North  Carolina  at  the  same  time.  It  is  true,  the  winters  are 
rainy,  and  some  parts  of  them  severe. 

The  following  table  will  serve  to  convey  clear  ideas  of  the  temperature 
of  these  regions : 

TABLE   OF   THE   WI3VDS,    AND    REMARKS    ON   THE   WEATHER,   BETWEEN 
THE   ROCKY   MOUNTAINS    AND    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


Month.                  Place. 

NJN.W. 

N.E. 

K. 

S.  E. 

S. 

S.W. 

W. 

Sept.  i806.   From  Dividing  Ridge? 
to  Canoe  Camp,     $ 

4 

9 

C> 

2 

9 

Oct.     Canoe  Camp  to  Tide  Water, 

2 

8 

4 

12 

Nov.     Shores  of  the  Pacific, 

4 

8 

1 

15 

2 

Dee.                do. 

4 

2 

5 

20 

Jan.                 do. 

1 

6 

2 

4 

2 

15 

1 

Feb.                 do. 

5 

3 

20 

March  20.       do. 

1 

6 

1 

8 

4 

11 

April.     To  outlet  of  Kooskooskee   ) 

4 

4 

2 

2 

11 

7 

River,                       \ 

May.     To  Quashnash  Flats, 

5 

1 

11 

11 

June.     To  Traveller's  Rest, 

21 

8 

1 

July  8.     To  Dividing  Ridge. 

2 

6 

OREGON   TERRITORY. 


465 


January. 


12. 


14. 


25. 

28. 
February. 

8. 


March. 


April. 


,  May. 


24. 

1. 
13. 
15. 
25. 
26. 
30. 

6. 
12. 


3. 

10. 
22. 

27. 


June. 


3. 
5. 

6. 
22. 

July  to   8. 
5. 


REMARKS. 

September.     Fair  19  days,  rain„7,  snow  4  days. 
October.     Fair  24  days,  rain  5,  cloudy  2. 
November.     Fair  7  days  rain  17,  cloudy  6. 
December.     Fair  3  days,  rain  27,  cloudy  1. 
January.     Fair  7  days,  rain  19,  cloudy  3,  snow  2. 
The  loss  of  the  thermometer  sincerely  regretted.    The  parties 
confident  that  the  climate  is  much  wanner  than  in  the  same 
parallel  of  latitude  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean.     There  has  been 
only  one  slight  white  frost  since  the  7th  of  November.     "We 
have  seen  no  ice,  and  the  weather  is  so  warm  that  we  are 
obliged  to  cure  our  meat  with  smoke  and  fire  to  save  it." 
The  wind  from  any  quarter  off  the  land,  or  along  the  north- 
west coast,  causes  the  air  to  become  cooler. 
Weather  perfectly  temperate.     Never  experienced  so  warm 
a  winter  as  the  present. 

It  is  now  perceptibly  colder  than  it  has  been  this  winter. 
Pretty  keen  frost.     The  coldest  night  of  the  season. 
Fair  6,  rain  16,  cloudy  5,  snow  1  day. 

The  feeling  of  the  air  indicated  that  the  rigor  of  the  winter 
had  passed. 
Quite  warm. 
Fair  8,  rain  16,  cloudy  7. 
So  warm  that  Hie  was  unnecessary. 
Plants  began  to  appear  above  ground. 
Plants  put  forth  their  leaves. 
Gooseberry  bushes  in  leaf. 
Humming  birds  appear. 
Grass  16  inches  high  in  river  bottoms. 
Fair  20,  rain  7,  cloudy  3  days. 
Cotton  wood  in  leaf. 

Vegetation  is  rapidly  progressing  in  the  bottoms,  though  the 
snow  reaches  within  a  mile  of  the  base  of  the  mountains  at 
the  Rapids  of  Columbia. 
Fair  19,  rain  5,  cloudy  6,  snow  1. 
An  increase  of  snow  in  the  mountains  last  evening. 
Weather  cold  with  a  heavy  fall  of  snow. 
The  air  remarkably  dry  and  pure. 

The  snow  has  disappeared  on  the  high  plains,  and  seems  to 
be  diminishing  fast  on  the   spurs  and  lower  regions  of  the 
Rocky  mountains. 
Fair  20,  cloudy  5,  rain  5. 

A  great  rise  in  the  river  in  consequence  of  the  melting  of  the 
snow  in  the  mountains. 
River  at  its  greatest  height. 
The  wild  rose  in  bloom. 
The  vining  honey-suckle  in  bloom. 
Strawberries  ripe  at  Quashnash  Flats. 
Fair  6,  rain  2  days. 

A  dew  this  morning;  the  nights  cool ;  the  mosquitoes  trouble- 
some. 


466  OREGON    TERRITORY. 

6.  In  the  open  plain  there  was  a  violent  wind  from  the  north- 
west, accompanied  by  hard  rain. 

8.  A  heavy  shower,  accompanied  by  hard  rain  from  the  south- 
west. 

This  country  was  first  discovered  by  the  Spaniards.  In  1791,  Captain 
Gray,  of  the  ship  Columbia,  of  Boston,  entered  the  river,  and  from  his 
ship  it  received  its  name.  It  was  occasionally  entered  by  navigators 
afterwards.  In  1805,  Lewis  and  Clark  descended  this  river  from  the 
mountains  to  the  Pacific,  and  spent  the  winter  on  its  shores.  They  re- 
turned by  the  same  river  to  the  mountains ;  and  most  of  the  exact  infor- 
mation that  we  have  of  the  country  is  from  them.  For  some  years  a  set- 
tlement of  fur  traders,  called  Astoria,  has  existed  here.  The  chief  inter- 
course of  this  place  is  with  China.  The  question  of  settling  this  delightful 
country  permanently,  has  been  more  than  once  debated  in  Congress. 
Were  such  settlements  authorized  and  rendered  secure  by  the  requisite 
military  establishments,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  it  would  receive  large 
accessions  of  immigrants.  The  number  of  Indians  of  the  different  tribes 
is  estimated  at  140,000. 

A  company  is  understood  to  be  now  forming,  of  emigrants  principally 
from  New  England,  who  intend  to  assemble  at  St.  Louis,  ascend  the 
Missouri,  and  cross  the  mountains  to  the  plains  of  the  Oregon.  Settle- 
ments to  a  considerable  extent  already  exist  on  this  river.  Many  of  the 
settlers  are  understood  to  be  British,  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the 
United  States.  They  have  great  stocks  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses.  On 
a  stream  that  enters  the  Oregon  not  far  from  the  Great  Falls,  they  have 
mills,  and  admirable  water  privileges  for  an  indefinite  number.  It  is  con- 
fidently believed,  that  no  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  in  point 
of  soil,  climate,  and  commercial  advantages,  holds  out  stronger  induce- 
ments to  emigrants  than  this  country. 

As  the  Mexican  States  of  Texas,  Coahuila,  and  Sonoro,  bound  the 
country,  admitted  by  the  treaty  of  the  cession  of  Florida  to  belong  to  the 
United  States  in  its  whole  extent,  from  the  upper  waters  of  Arkansas  and 
Red  river  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  it  is  presumed  that  a  sketch  of  those 
states  will  not  be  unacceptable  in  this  place. 

It  is  well  known  that  Texas  has  already  received  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  its  present  population  in  emigrants  from  the  United  States. 
The  body  of  trappers  and  traders  from  Missouri  across  the  prairies  to 
Santa  Fe  in  New  Mexico,  is  numerous  and  increasing.  The  trade  has 
received  a  regular  form,  and  has  already  had  a  very  sensible  effect  upon 
the  growth  of  the  town  of  Santa  Fe,  and  the  adjoining  country.  Many 
of  these  traders  have  formed  connections,  and  intermarriages,  and  have 
found  homes  there.     Santa  Fe  may  be  considered,  in  some  sense,  an 


OREGON     TERRITORT.  4(57 

American  town,  the  stores  being  tilled  with  American  goods,  and   the 
streets  with  American  people. 

The  Americans  have  explored  the  whole  country  from  the  sources  of 
the  Rio  del  Norte  to  its  mouth,  in  search  of  fur?,  and  in  purtuit  of  a  lu- 
crative traffic.  There  are  few  of  the  towns  of  New  Mexico,  in  which 
more  or  less  of  them  are  not  to  be  found.  Constantly  oppressed  by  the 
ignorant,  miserable,  bigotted,  petty  despots  of  these  semi-barbarous  re- 
gions, who  assume  to  be  republican  rulers  of  an  amicable  sister  republic, 
the  United  States  emigrants,  like  the  Jews,  multiply  and  thrive  under  the 
extortions  and  cruelties  practised  upon  them.  Never  was  a  more  vivid 
and  artless  picture  of  these  oppressions  presented,  than  in  the  recently 
published  journal  of  James  O.  Pattie,  of  seven  years  wanderings  and 
imprisonment  among  these  people.  Having  personally  explored  all  por- 
tions of  the  country  to  Rio  del  Norte,  and  thence  to  the  Pacific,  we  con- 
sider his  narrative  the  most  exact,  as  well  as  interesting  account  of  that 
country,  that  has  yet  been  published.  He  has  reversed  many  previous  im- 
pressions in  regard  to  its  sterility  and  destitution  of  rains.  Copious  rains 
are  noted  in  his  journal,  as  events  of  frequent  occurrence.  In  Texas 
and  in  Sonora,  he  speaks  with  enthusiasm  of  the  verdure  and  fertility  of 
the  country,  in  his  diurnal  movements.  He  is  seldom  out  of  sight  of 
mountain  peaks,  white  with  perpetual  snow.  His  sketches  of  the  Mexi- 
can people,  of  their  superstitious  devotion  to  the  ceremonials  of  their 
church,  of  their  amusements,  and  bull  baiting,  are  fresh  and  graphic, 
presenting  these  singular  semi-barbarians  in  a  new  light.  He  describes 
the  tribes  of  the  Umeds,  Eiotaro,  and  Nabahoes,  with  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  detail,  as  he  traversed  their  whole  extent  of  country,  and  met 
them,  both  in  battle  and  in  friendship.  He  describes  (hem  as  of  uncom- 
mon stature,  and  the  finest  forms;  and  most  of  them,  both  males  and  fe- 
males, entirely  naked.  Their  arms  were  bows  and  arrows,  the  arrows  of 
reed,  headed  with  flint,  and  the  bows  rendered  elastic  by  adding  buffalo 
bones  to  the  tough  wood.  These  are  the  savages  that  occupy  the  coun- 
try along  the  course  of  Red  river  of  California. 

In  travelling  from  the  estuary  of  that  uninhabited  river  to  the  Catholic 
missions  of  California,  he  passed  over  an  immense  sand  plain,  totally  des- 
titute of  all  herbage  but  the  prickly  pear.  Here  he  and  his  party  were 
near  perishing  of  thirst.  At  length  they  reached  a  lake,  but  its  waters 
were  Salter  than  those  of  the  sea.  White  bears,  white  wolves,  antelopes, 
and  mountain  sheep,  were  the  animals  they  most  frequently  met.  White 
bears  in  numbers  and  of  a  ferocity  never  before  adequately  described, 
render  trapping  and  hunting  in  these  regions  a  perilous  employment, 
even  were  there  no  savages  to  encounter. 

His  description  of  the  country  along  the  Gulf  of  California,  occupied 


468  OREGON     TERRITORY. 

by  the  Catholic  missions,  is  of  great  interest  and  freshness.  It  corres- 
ponds, in  most  particulars,  with  the  account  of  the  country  given  by 
Langsdorf  in  his  voyages  and  travels.  Mr.  Pattie  visited  each  one  of 
the  Missionary  stations,  having  been  liberated  from  a  long  and  painful 
imprisonment  in  San  Diego,  on  the  express  condition  that  he  should  vac- 
cinate all  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  missions. 

He  describes  the  country  as  one  of  the  most  charming  and  delightful 
of  which  the  imagination  can  form  an  idea.  The  missions  are  situated 
along  a  wide  belt  of  plain  of  the  richest  soil,  literally  covered  with  sheep, 
cattle,  horses,  and  domestic  animals.  The  missions  are  surrounded  with 
beautiful  vineyards,  yielding  pleasant  and  generous  wine,  and  all  the 
fruits  of  the  temperate,  and  most  of  those  of  the  tropical  climates. 

He  travelled  along  this  extensive  plain  from  mission  to  mission,  direct- 
ly on  the  verge  of  the  sea  shore,  viewing  on  the  one  hand,  the  expanse  of 
the  Pacific,  and  the  whales,  sea  lions,  and  other  monstrous  water  dwel- 
lers, performing  their  unwieldy  gambols;  and  on  the  other  hand,  moun- 
tains white  with  snow,  from  which  innumerable  cool  streams  descended 
to  irrigate  the  fields.  The  names  of  the  Missions  are  San  Diego,  San 
Luis,  the  largest  and  handsomest  of  the  whole,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  St. 
Gabriel,  St.  Ferdinand,  St.  Bueneventura,  St.  Barbara,  Santa  Cruz,  St. 
Enos,  St.  Luis  Obispes,  St.  Michael,  St.  John  Capistrano,  La  Solada, 
San  Carlos,  St.  Anthony,  and  San  Francisco.  In  these  places  he  vac- 
cinated twenty-two  thousand  persons,  the  greater  portion  of  them  con- 
verted Indians,  the  condition  of  whom  he  represents  to  be  very  similar  to 
that  of  our  slaves.  They  are  carefully  watched  to  prevent  their  escape 
to  their  native  forests.  When  the  husbands  and  fathers  of  the  females  aro 
absent,  the  holy  fathers  lock  them  up  at  night  and  preserve  the  key. 
These  missions  number  their  cattle,  sheep,  horses,  and  mules  by  tens  of 
thousands.  Though  in  a  tropical  climate,  the  temperature  was  uniformly 
cool  and  delightful. 

The  fathers  have  procured  for  themselves,  by  the  aid  of  these  thou- 
sands of  converted  Indians,  the  most  delightful  abodes  in  the  world. 
Their  apartments  were  sumptuously  furnished.  Their  tables  were  spread 
with  plate,  and  an  ample  supply  of  the  most  delicious  wines;  and  they 
have  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  secured  for  themselves  a  paradise 
in  these  solitary  regions,  as  a  prclibation  of  the  rewards  reserved  for 
them  hereafter,  for  their  labors  in  converting  the  heathens.  This  coun- 
try is  contiguous,  and  these  people  will  be  the  nearest  whites  to  our  set- 
tlements in  the  Oregon  territory. 

Mr.  Austin,  formerly  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  has  settled,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Mexican  government,  a  considerable  colony,  compo- 
sed aim  >st  entirely  of  emigrants  from  the  United  States,  on  the  Brassos 


OREGON    TERRITORY.  469 

and  Colorado,  rivers  of  Texas.  The  town  of  San  Felipe  de  Austin  has 
a  compact  street  of  some  length,  publishes  a  gazette,  has  a  number  of 
attorneys  and  physicians,  and  a  respectable  school.  Small  vessels  come 
up  to  this  town,  which  is  forty  or  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
The  eastern  border  of  Texas,  about  the  Iyish  Bayou,  is  chiefly  settled 
with  Americans.  St.  Antonio  and  Nachodochcs  are  the  only  considera- 
ble villages  of  the  interior.  Nachodochcs  is  sixty  miles  west  of  the  Sa- 
bine, and  contains  about  four  hundred  and  ninety  inhabitants.  St. 
Antonio  is  1,300  miles  further  south-west,  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  river  St.  Antonio,  in  29°  50'  N.  latitude,  and  contains  between 
two  and  three  thousand  inhabitants.  Trinity  is  a  considerable  stream 
of  Texas,  running  parallel  with  the  Sabine,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  west  of  it.  The  next  important  river  is  the  Brassos,  which  has  a 
course  of  between  four  and  five  hundred  miles.  The  Colorado  is  a  river 
still  further  west,  of  about  the  same  length  and  course.  Two  hundred 
miles  further  west  is  the  Rio  del  Norte,  which  has  a  course,  including  its 
windings,  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  miles. 


E.VD    OF    VOLUME    I. 


THE 


UNITED    STATES 


AND 


THE     OTHER     DIVISIONS 


OF 


THE    AMERICAN    CONTINENT. 


BY   TIMOTHY   FLINT, 

AUTHOR  OF  '  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  THE  LAST  TEN  YEARS  IN  THE 
MISSISSIPPI   VALLEY.' 


'salve  magna  parens.' 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


VOL.  II. 


CINCINNATI: 
E.  h.  flint. 

BOSTON : 
CARTER,  HENDEE  AND  CO. 

1833. 


ADVERTISEMENT 

TO 

VOLUME     SECOND. 


It  will  be  sufficiently  obvious,  that  the  preceding  physical  geography 
of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  modified  to  meet  the  recent  change* 
occasioned  by  its  rapidly  increasing  population,  originally  made  the  chiel 
part  of  an  entire  work,  intended  simply  for  readers  who  wished  to  ac- 
quaint themselves  with  that  vast  country,  constituting  the  greater  portion 
of  the  surface  of  the  United  States,  and  at  no  distant  period  to  contain 
the  greater  part  of  our  entire  population.  It  was  objected  to  the  original 
work  that  it  was  too  sectional.  In  attempting  to  obviate  that  objection,  a 
brief  view  is  here  presented  of  the  United  States,  of  each  one  of  the 
Atlantic  states,  and  of  the  whole  continent  of  America,  from  the  latest 
and  most  approved  authorities.  Our  object  has  been  to  find  a  way,  if 
we  could,  between  the  unsatisfactory  dryness  of  a  mere  abridgement, 
and  the  prolixity  of  uninteresting  detail;  in  a  word,  to  present  all  the  im- 
portant and  interesting  information,  touching  our  country  and  continent, 
that  could  be  compressed  into  the  limits  of  our  pages. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred 
and  thirty-one,  by  Timothy  Flint,  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District 


Court  of  Ohio 


N.  &.  G.  Guilford  &  Co.  Printers. 


BRIEF  GENERAL  VIEW 


UNITED   STATES 


The  United  States  are  bounded  north  by  British  America ;  east  by 
the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  south  by  the  Mexican  Republic ;  west  by  the  Paci- 
fic Ocean.  The  length  of  the  line  of  the  sea  coast,  from  Passamaquod- 
dy  to  the  Sabine,  is  about  two  thousand  eight  hundred  miles.  The  north- 
ern line  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Pacific  is  more  than  three  thousand. 
The  present  number  of  states  is  twenty-four;  Maine,  New  Hampshire, 
Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Tennessee, 
Missouri,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana. 

There  are  three  organized  territories,  that  send  delegates  to  congress, 
that  is,  Michigan,  Arkansas,  and  Florida.  These  will  shortly  become 
states,  increasing  the  number  to  twenty-seven.  Besides  these,  there 
is  the  North-Western  Territory,  between  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  ; 
at  present  included  in  the  limits  of  Michigan,  but  very  remote  from  it, 
considerably  settled,  and  soon  to  become  an  organized  territory,  the  pre- 
liminary steps  for  that  purpose  having  already  been  taken  by  congress. 
West  of  the  Mississippi,  and  north-west  of  the  state  of  Missouri,  is  the 
Missouri  territory,  as  yet  unorganized,  having  few  civilized  inhabitants, 
except  hunters  and  trappers.  Extending  from  the  Mississippi  and  Missou- 
ri, west  and  north-west  to  the  Rocky  mountains,  south  of  White  river, 
and  west  of  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  spreads  another  immense  territory 
of  prairies,  bounded  south  by  the  Mexican  Republic,  west  by  the  Rocky 


4  BRIEF     GENERAL   VIEW 

mountains,  north  by  the  territory  of  Missouri,  and  east  by  the  territory 
of  Arkansas.  The  territory  of  Oregon,  as  yet  unorganized,  but  contain- 
ing a  considerable  number  of  actual  American  settlers,  includes  the 
country  belonging  to  the  United  States,  between  the  territorial  limits  of 
the  Mexican  Republic  in  California  on  the  south,  the  Pacific  Ocean  on 
the  west,  the  country  claimed  by  Great  Britain  on  tbe  north-west  coast 
on  the  north,  and  the  Rocky  mountains  on  the  east.  Beside  these,  there 
is  the  District  of  Columbia,  containing  the  seat  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  under  the  jurisdiction  and  legislation  of  that  government. 

This  vast  country  spreads  from  49°  to  24°  20'  N.  latitude,  and  from 
10°  E.  longitude  to  48°  25'  W.  longitude  from  Washington,  comprising 
an  area  of  more  than  two  million  square  miles.  No  government  exer- 
cises territorial  jurisdiction  over  so  much  extent  of  compact  surface, 
except  that  of  Russia. 

The  United  States  are  divided  either  by  physical  land  marks,  or  by 
distinct  climates  and  productions,  into  noi'thern,  middle,  and  southern, 
and  eastern,  and  western  states.  The  northern  states  include  New  Eng- 
land, or  all  the  states  east  of  the  Hudson  river.  The  middle  states  in- 
clude all  the  states  between  Hudson  river  on  the  east,  and  Potomac  on 
the  south  and  west;  including,  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.  The  southern  states  include 
the  country  south  and  west  of  these  limits. 

Mountains.  The  United  States  are  physically  divided  by  two  great 
and  two  lesser  chains  of  mountains.  The  two  great  chains  are  the  Al- 
leghanies  and  the  Rocky  mountains.  The  lesser  chains  are  the  Green 
and  the  Ozark  mountains.  The  Green  mountains  stretch  from  Canada 
through  Vermont  and  Connecticut  to  Long  Island  Sound.  The  Allegha- 
nies  commence  in  two  continuous  and  parallel  ridges  in  New  York;  be- 
come three  parallel  ridges  in  Pennsylvania;  and  preserving  this  confor- 
mation, stretch  through  Virginia  and  the  southern  states  to  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico. The  Ozark  mountains  commence  near  the  Warm  Springs,  in  the 
territory  of  Arkansas,  and  stretch  northwardly  along  the  sources  of 
White  river  and  St.  Francis,  and  pass  through  the  state  of  Missouri  in 
the  mine  country.  The  Rocky  mountains  preserve  a  general  distance 
of  about  1,200  miles  in  a  right  line  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  They  rise 
in  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  stretch  northwardly  on  the  western  boun- 
dary of  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  running  parallel  with  the  Mississippi 
on  the  east,  and  the  Pacific  ocean  on  the  west,  they  terminate  in  the  arc- 
tic regions  of  British  America.  Groups  of  isolated  and  detached  moun- 
tains spring  up  near  these  grand  ranges,  which  to  common  observation, 
seem  independent ;  but  which  are  easily  traced  by  the  eye  of  the  geologist, 
as  connected  branches  of  these  ranges.     The  Rocky  mountains  are  by 


OP   T  IT  V.    V  1*1  T*  D    S  T  A  T  V.  B  .  5 

far  the  longest,  loftiest,  and  broadest  belt  of  those  chain?,  showing  numer- 
ous peaks  of  a  much  higher  elevation,  than  has  generally  been  assigned 
to  them,  manv  of  them  being  above  the  region  of  perpetual  congelation. 
From  one  point  in  this  range,  and  at  no  great  distance  from  each  other, 
are  the  head  sources  of  the  southwestern  branches  of  the  Missouri,  Co- 
lumbia, the  great  lake  and  river  Buencvcntura,  the  Yellow  Stone,  Platte, 
Arkansas,  Red  river  of  the  Mississippi,  Rio  del  Norte,  and  Colorado,  or 
Red  river  of  California,  recently  explored  from  its  head  springs  to  its 
junction  with  the  Pacific  in  the  gulf  of  California,  by  James  O.  Pattie. 

Lakes.     See  Michigan  Territory  and  Canada. 

Rivers.  For  those  that  belong  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  see  Western 
states.  The  chief  rivers  of  the  Atlantic  states,  as  we  pass  from  north 
to  south,  are  Kennebec,  Connecticut,  Hudson,  Delaware,  Susquehannah, 
Potomac,  Roanoke,  Pedee,  Santee,  Savannah,  and  Chattahouchy.  Of 
these  the  Susquehannah  is  the  largest. 

Geology  and  Physical  Aspect.  The  northern  division  of  the  Atlantic 
belt  of  the  United  States  is  primitive  in  formation,  and  abounds  in  rock  of 
granitic  character.  Towards  the  Alleghany  ridges,  is  a  belt  on  either 
side  of  them  of  transition  character.  We  have  seen,  that  the  western 
valley  is  of  secondary  formation.  The  Atlantic  country  is  a  long  belt  of 
a  gentle  and  equable  slope  from  the  foot  of  the  Alleghany  ridges  to  the 
sea.  It  is  subdivided  into  a  long  and  narrow  line  of  soil  of  sandy  charac- 
ter, apparently  won  from  the  sea;  or  alluvial,  and  of  a  more  fertile 
character,  the  formation  of  rivers.  This  belt  extends  from  the  sea  shore 
to  the  upper  limits  of  the  tide  waters.  It  is,  for  the  most  part,  an  exten- 
ded plain.  The  next  division  stretches  from  the  sandy  belt  to  the  foot  of 
the  Alleghany  ridges.  It  is  of  a  loamy  and  more  fertile  soil,  pleasantly 
variegated  by  hill  and  dale,  and  comprises  the  more  wealthy  and  produc- 
tive agricultural  division  of  the  Atlantic  country. 

Climate.  To  pursue  the  details  of  tins  article,  would  alone  require  a 
volume.  The  United  States  embrace  every  variety  of  temperature,  from 
the  cold  sea  air  of  Passammaquoddy  to  the  dry,  elastic,  and  severe  tem- 
perature of  the  White  and  Green  mountains;  softening  through  all  the 
degrees  of  Fahrenheit'^  scale  to  the  climate  congenial  to  the  olive,  sugar 
cane,  and  sweet  orange.  The  variableness  of  the  climate  has  generally 
been  overcharged.  The  range  of  the  mercury  in  the  thermometer  is  in- 
deed great  and  sudden;  sometimes  amounting  to  25  and  30  degrees  in  a 
day.  This  rapid  mutability  of  temperature,  probably  produces  a  benefi- 
cial corresponding  flexibility  of  constitution.  The  American  people, 
from  some  cause,  are  more  excitable,  and  rapid  in  muscular  movement, 
than  the  European  stock,  from  which  they  arc  derived.  Many  of  our 
wealthier  invalids  cross  the  Atlantic,  for  the  benefit  of  climate;  generally, 


6  BRIEF   GENERAL   VIEW 

it  is  believed,  to  a  disadvantage.  There  can  be  no  doubt,' that  every  spe- 
cies of  malady  and  physical  infirmity,  upon  which  climate  operates,  may 
find  in  the  wide  and  strong  diversities  of  climate,  furnished  by  some  por- 
tion of  our  vast  country,  all  the  alleviation  which  can  be  reasonably  hoped 
from  this  source.  The  best,  as  well  as  the  most  favorable  judges  of  Amer- 
ican climate,  are  those  who  have  longest  experimented  the  widest  range 
of  foreign  climates.  Our  country  and  climate,  in  configuration,  charac- 
ter, and  productions,  correspond  more  nearly  to  that  of  China  than  any 
other;  and  are,  probably,  as  favorable  to  population,  comfortable  occupa- 
tion in  the  open  air,  and  longevity,  as  those  of  countries  much  more  vaun- 
ted in  these  respects. 

Soil.  The  Atlantic  country  has  every  variety  of  soil,  from  the  poorest 
to  the  best.  The  sandy  belt,  from  the  river  estuaries  to  the  head  of  tide 
waters,  is  principally  a  thin  and  meagre,  though  a  warm  soil ;  and  is  ca- 
pable of  great  fertility  from  artificial  cultivation.  The  belt  between  this 
and  the  mountains  is  variegated,  though  generally  fertile  and  loamy.  We 
trace  this  belt  through  the  western  part  of  New  York,  the  middle  region 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland;  a  more  pleasant,  fertile,  and  productive 
country  than  which  could  scarcely  be  desired.  This  belt  is  warmed  and 
enriched  by  dissolved  lime  stone,  intermixed  with  the  soil.  The  estuary 
belt  of  New  England,  is  narrow;  and,  almost  immediately  from  the  sea,  it 
swells  into  hills  indented  with  innumerable  valleys,  furnishing  charming 
landscapes,  and  a  productive,  though  generally  hard  and  rugged  soil. 

Productions.  An  infinite  variety  of  plants,  shrubs,  and  trees,  are  indi- 
genous to  this  wide  country.  In  New  England,  and  as  far  south  as  Vir- 
ginia, the  most  common  fruits  are  apples  and  pears.  Contrary  to  the 
general  impression  at  the  south,  cultivated  grapes  and  the  silk  mulberry 
succeed  perfectly  well  as  far  north  as  Boston.  The  peccan  andcatalpa 
will  undoubtedly  naturalize  there.  Peaches  do  not  succeed  well  north 
of  New  Hampshire.  The  common  garden  fruits  are  abundantly  raised  in 
this  whole  extent.  Maize  and  rye  are  the  chief  grains  cultivated  north 
and  cast  of  the  Hudson;  maize  and  wheat  in  the  middle  states;  tobacco 
and  cotton  in  the  southern  states  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  sweet 
potato,  with  care  in  the  cultivation,  is  raised  in  abundance  and  of  excel- 
lent quality  in  New  Jersey. 

Articles  of  Export.  In  Maine,  lumber,  vessels,  butter,  cheese,  beef, 
and  pork.  New  Hampshire  is  chiefly  a  grazing  state.  Having  but  a 
very  narrow  line  of  sea  coast,  her  facilities  for  the  lumber  trade  are  com- 
paratively small.  Vermont  is  famed  for  the  finest  beef,  and  the  richest 
grazing  in  the  United  States.  Since  its  connection  with  New  York  by 
the  Champlain  canal,  Vermont  has  come  in  for  a  share  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness.     Massachusetts   furnishes  the  general  products  of  New  England, 


OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  7 

together  with  a  great  amount  of  salted  and  pickled  fish,  the  product  of 
her  extensive  fisheries.  She  has,  also,  a  natural  aptitude  for  various 
sorts  of  manufactures,  being  the  greatest  manufacturing  state  in  the 
Union.  The  middle  states  add  to  the  productions  of  New  Engiand  wheat 
and  flour.  From  the  southern  Atlantic  states,  the  chief  exports  are  to- 
bacco and  cotton;  and  from  the  southern  states  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
sugar  and  cotton.  Since  the  home  trade  of  the  United  States  has  become 
one  of  the  most  important  elements  of  our  prosperity,  our  foreign  trade 
has  not  advanced  in  a  ratio  so  great,  as  in  past  periods.  The  exporting 
states  rank  in  the  following  order:  New  York,  Louisiana,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  and  South  Carolina;  and  the  whole  amount  generally  ran- 
ges from  sixty  to  seventy  millions  of  dollars.  In  1829,  it  was  72,558,671 
dollars. 

Chief  Towns  will  be  noted  under  the  head  of  their  states.  They  rank 
in  the  following  order:  New  York, Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Boston, New 
Orleans,  Charleston,  and  Cincinnati. 

Canals  are  bisecting  the  country  in  every  direction.  So  strong  has 
the  impulse  of  the  public  mind  recently  become,  in  the  direction  of  mak- 
ing canals  and  rail  roads,  that  timid  legislators  have  shrunk  from  these 
enterprises;  as  fearful,  that  the  spirit  was  running  beyond  the  limits  of 
sound  calculation.  But  the  community  is  daily  becoming  enlightened 
upon  the  subject,  by  the  sure  and  unerring  teaching  of  experience.  If 
some  great  calamity  do  not  arrest  the  onward  progress  of  our  country,  fifty 
years  will  not  elapse  before  wagons  drawn  by  animal  power  will  gener- 
ally have  given  place  to  canal  boats,  or  rail-road  cars  impelled  by  steam; 
and  the  whole  country  will  be  chequered  by  canals  and  rail-roads,  as  it 
now  is  by  the  bad  and  deep  common  roads  of  the  country.  Details  in  re- 
gard to  the  names,  number,  and  extent  of  the  canals,  will  be  presented 
hereafter  in  a  tabular  view.  There  are  not  far  from  fifteen  hundred 
miles  of  canal  now  in  actual  use,  and  five  hundred  miles  more  are  laid 
out,  as  in  actual  progress  towards  completion.  Of  these,  the  longest  and 
most  important,  in  complete  operation,  is  the  New  York  and  Erie  canal, 
three  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in  length.  The  canal  connecting  Phila- 
delphia with  Pittsburgh,  in  a  continuous  chain  of  a  number  of  different 
canals,  will  comprise,  when  completed,  an  extent  of  between  three  and 
four  hundred  miles,  being  by  far  the  longest  in  the  United  States.  The 
Ohio  and  Erie  canal  is  a  stupendous  work,  three  hundred  and  six  miles  in 
extent,  uniting  the  waters  of  lake  Erie  with  the  Ohio.  The  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  canal,  now  in  progress,  is  intended  to  unite  the  waters  of  the 
Potomac  at  Washington  city  with  the  Ohio  river,  and  Pennsylvania  canal, 
at  Pittsburgh.  Of  thirty  canals  in  operation,  or  progress,  these  are  the 
most  important. 


8  BRIEF   GENERAL   VIEW 

Rail  roads,  though  less  experimented,  are  becoming  common  objects  of 
contemplation.  One  for  a  short  distance  in  Quincy,  in  Massachusetts, 
conveys  granite  from  the  quarry  to  tide  waters.  One  from  the  summit  of 
Mauch  Chunk  coal  hill,  connecting  it  with  a  branch  of  the  Pennsylvania 
canal,  is  in  successful  operation.  A  rail  road  is  constructing  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina.  One  is  completed,  connecting  Albany  with  Sche- 
necteday  in  New  York.  A  rail  road  connects  New  Orleans  with  lake 
Ponchartrain.  One  of  gigantic  features  is  in  progress,  and  two  considera- 
ble sections  of  it  finished,  to  pass  from  the  Chesapeake  to  the  Ohio.  Loco- 
motive rail  cars  have  been  driven  upon  this  with  a  speed  and  facility  to 
justify  all  the  reasonable  expectations  that  have  been  raised  by  accounts 
of  their  success  in  England.  Others  are  commencing  in  points  too  nu- 
merous to  mention.  A  project  still  more  Herculean,  than  any  yet  com- 
menced, has  excited  much  attention  in  New  York.  It  proposes  to  make  a 
rail  way  from  the  city  over  the  Alleghany  mountains,  through  the  states 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  to  the  Mississippi.  Rail  roads,  though 
growing  into  public  favor,  from  their  rapidity  of  transport,  and  the  great 
■effect  of  the  power  applied  upon  them,  together  with  the  advantage  that 
they  are  not  liable,  like  canals,  to  be  impeded  by  frost,  are  still,  in  com- 
parison with  canals,  matters  of  question,  in  regard  to  their  comparative 
cheapness  and  utility. 

These  projects  would  have  seemed  visionary  and  chimerical,  had  not 
many  works,  which  were  viewed,  but  a  few  years  since,  equally  so,  been 
carried  into  execution,  with  results  outstripping  the  most  sanguine  calcu- 
lations. It  has  been  discovered,  as  a  new  demonstration  in  political 
economy,  that  such  works,  if  wisely  executed,  enrich  instead  of  impover- 
ishing a  country.  Nothing  but  physical  impossibilities  are  beyond  the 
sober  hopes  of  a  great  and  growing  people,  whose  national  wealth  is  accu- 
mulating, and  whose  physical  resources  are  constantly  developing  by 
new  discoveries  of  the  materials  necessary  to  bring  those  resources  into 
play.  The  number  of  miles  of  canal  and  rail  road,  which  will  be  in  use, 
when  the  public  works  of  this  sort  now  under  contract  shall  be  comple- 
ted, will  exceed  four  thousand  two  hundred  miles. 

Population  advances  with  a  steady  step  with  these  improvements;  or 
rather  they  are  the  scale  by  which  its  advance  may  be  measured.  Fresh, 
cheap,  and  abundant  lands,  together  with  the  protection  and  encourage- 
ment of  free  institutions,  are  the  natural  elements  of  a  rapid  increase  of 
population.  Instead  of  any  other  attempt  at  illustrating  our  increase,  we 
present  the  following  view  of  it,  as  presented  by  the  census  of  different 
years.  In  1790,  it  was  3,929,827.  In  18Q0,  5,305,925.  In  1810, 
7,289,314.  In  1820,  9,638,131.  In  1830,  12,856,487.  Of  this  popu- 
lation, the  greatest  amount  on  a  given  space  is  found  in  New  England, 


OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  V 

particularly  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut;  if  we  except  a  parallelo- 
gram of  equally  dense,  or  greater  population,  extending  westwardly  from 
the  Delawaie  to  the  Susquehannah,  seventy  miles  in  length  and  sixty 
miles  in  breadth.  Massachusetts  has  72  persons  upon  each  square  mile 
of  its  surface.  Some  of  the  western  states  have  not  more  than  one  per- 
son, on  an  average,  in  the  same  extent. 

Schools.  The  noble  and  truly  republican  system  of  free  schools  exist 
in  New  England,  and  in  Ohio.  It  is  extending  its  influence  in  all  the 
northern  and  middle  states.  New  York  has  devised  another  plan  of  gen- 
eral education,  of  great  efficiency  and  sustained  with  a  munificence,  in 
which  this  great  state  stands  alone.  Schools  supported  by  private  con- 
tribution, seminaries,  academies,  high  schools  for  both  sexes,  lyceums, 
medical,  law,  and  theological  schools,  are  springing  up  with  each  new 
session  of  the  legislatures.  Assuming  the  number  of  children  taught  in 
the  different  schools  in  New  York  as  a  basis,  we  may  calculate  the  number 
of  actual  pupils  in  the  United  States  at  one  million.  Another  million  are 
as  yet  untaught.  There  are  fifty  incorporated  colleges  in  the  United 
States;  and  in  New  England  and  New  York,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  incorporated  academies.  Supposing  this  division  of  the  Union  to 
contain  half  of  those  in  the  United  States,  there  will  be  a  total  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight.  The  standard  of  the  requisite  character  and  qual- 
ifications of  instructers  has  been  elevated  by  the  great  and  laudable  exer- 
tions of  associations  of  teachers.  The  school  books  are  of  a  higher  and 
more  instructive  stamp.  In  no  department  of  the  improvements  of  the 
age  has  more  been  done,  than  in  the  cause  of  general  education;  and  in 
none  does  more  yet  remain  to  be  done.  Our  institutions  can  never  be 
based  on  the  right  foundation,  until  the  whole  community  receive  a  sub- 
stantial and  virtuous  education. 

Religion  is  left  to  the  voluntary  choice  of  the  people,  no  sect  being 
favored  by  the  laws  beyond  another,  it  being  an  essential  principle  in  the 
national  and  state  governments,  that  legislation  may  of  a  right  interfere  in 
the  concerns  of  public  worship  only  so  far  as  to  protect  every  individual 
in  the  unmolested  exercise  of  that  of  his  choice.  Hence,  all  the  sects  of 
Christianity  are  abundantly  represented  in  our  country.  The  Methodist 
are,  probably,  the  most  numerous  denomination.  The  Presbyterians, 
Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Episcopalians,  and  Roman  Catholics,  proba- 
bly rank  in  point  of  numbers,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  here  men- 
tioned. The  Cumberland  Presbyterians  and  Christians  are  growing  de- 
nominations. There  are  nearly  ten  thousand  fixed  congregations  of  the 
different  denominations.  The  income  of  the  different  religious,  charita- 
ble, missionary,  bible,  tract,  education,  and  Sunday  school  societies,  is 
about  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually.  There  are  twenty-five 
Vol.  H  2 


10  BRIEF   GENEHAL   VIEW 

theological  seminaries,  in  which  young  gentlemen  of  the  different  denom- 
inations are  trained  for  their  respective  ministries,  from  which  between 
two  and  three  hundred  are  annually  graduated. 

Military  Force.  Beside  an  organized  militia  of  about  a  million,  the 
General  Government  keeps  up  a  small  standing  army,  distributed  in  sta- 
tions along  the  sea  board,  and  the  extensive  frontier.  The  remotest  posts 
are  at  St.  Peters  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  at  the  Council  Bluffs  on  the 
Missouri,  at  Kiamesia,  or  Kimichie,  on  Red  river,  and  at  Cantonment 
Jessup,  not  far  from  the  Sabine.  The  naval  force  consists  of  seven  ships 
of  the  line,  ten  frigates,  fifteen  sloops  of  war,  and  seven  armed  schooners, 
and  is  as  powerful  and  ellicient  a  force,  measured  by  the  number  of  guns, 
as  can  be  shown  by  any  country.  In  1829  the  whole  tonnage  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  shipping  was  1,741,391.  The  same  year  there  was  freighted 
from  the  United  States,  133,000  tons  of  foreign  shipping.  One-fourth  of 
the  shipping  is  owned  in  Massachusetts ;  and  the  next  largest  amounts  in 
New  York.  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  rank  next  in  order,  as  ship- 
owning  states. 

Revenue — Has  been  chiefly  derived  hitherto  from  customs,  or  duties, 
paid  by  merchants  on  goods  imported,  and  from  the  sales  of  public  lands. 
It  is,  in  common  years,  not  far  from  $25,000,000.  This  amount,  in  the 
ordinary  and  peaceable  progress  of  the  government,  exceeds  the  expendi- 
tures, and  the  interest  of  the  national  debt,  leaving  a  considerable  unap- 
propriated balance  in  the  national  treasury.  The  national  debt,  in  the 
present  course  of  things,  will  be  extinguished  in  a  few  years.  It  has 
already  become,  in  anticipation,  a  question  of  congressional  discussion,  in 
what  manner  the  surplus  remainder  shall  be  appropriated,  after  the  na- 
tional debt  shall  have  been  liquidated. 

Federal  Constitution.  This  instrument  contains  the  compact  of  our 
national  confederation.  It  guarantees  religious  and  political  freedom; 
and  is  probably  the  most  simple  and  well  digested  charter  of  political  lib- 
erty, that  was  ever  penned.  This  instrument  is  too  well  known  to  re- 
quire us  to  give  any  thing  more  than  some  of  its  prominent  features.  The 
legislative  power  is  vested  in  Congress,  composed  of  a  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives.  The  judicial  power  is  in  the  Supreme  and  Circuit 
Courts,  presided  over  by  judges  appointed  during  good  behavior.  The 
executive  authority  is  in  the  President.  Each  state  furnishes  two  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  in  number  and  latio  as  follows:  they  are  cho- 
sen by  the  people  biennially,  each  state  being  entitled  to  a  number  pro- 
portionate to  its  population,  in  a  ratio  in  the  states  which  do  not  admit  sla- 
very, of  1  to  every  40,000  souls;  and  in  the  states  where  there  are 
slaves,  of  1  for  every  40,000  of  the  free  population,  and  one  for  every 


OF  THE    UNITED   STATES.  11 

66,GGG  of  the  slaves.     The  relative    proportions  of  the  representation 
are  settled  every  tenth  year,  immediately  after  taking  the  census. 

It  is  an  unfortunate  fact,  that  the  purest  efforts  of  abstract  reason  and 
wisdom  cannot  be  divested  of  the  taint  of  the  passions.  This  instrument, 
devised  by  as  enlightened  men  and  as  pure  patriots  as  have  lived,  is 
still  a  human  production,  and  could  not  exercise  a  prophetic  ken,  to  settle 
questions  growing  out  of  relations  Avhich  no  foresight  could  have  foreseen. 
It  has  become  as  the  apple  of  discord,  a  question,  how  far  it  grants  powers 
by  construction  ?  where  its  power  terminates,  and  that  of  the  state  con- 
stitutions commence  ?  And  what  umpire  shall  determine  what  are  infrac- 
tions of  its  authority?  And  how  the  penalties  of  those  infractions  shall 
be  inflicted?  No  community  has  existed  that  could  fairly  trace  a  greater 
amount  of  political  prosperity  and  happiness  to  a  charter  of  government, 
than  the  United  States  to  the  operation  of  the  federal  constitution.  Every 
patriot  will  join  in  the  acclamation,  csto  pcrpctua — may  it  last  for  ever! 
and  to  this  most  sacred  of  political  petitions  all  but  Catalines,  who  de- 
light in  political  storms  in  hopes  of  the  plunder  of  the  wrecks,  will  respond. 

Aborigines.  From  the  apparent  incompatibility  of  the  Indian  char- 
acter with  the  modes  and  requirements  of  civilized  life,  this  ill-fated  race 
is  every  where  wasting  away,  when  brought  in  contact  with  people  of  mu- 
nicipal and  industrious  habits.  The  whole  number  existing  at  present 
within  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  United  Spates,  more  probably  falls 
short  of  300,000,  than  exceeds  that  number.  Of  this  number  half  reside 
east  and  half  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  The  most  humane  exertions 
have  constantly  been  in  operation,  on  the  part  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, to  preserve  the  race  from  extinction,  by  severe  provisions  to  pre- 
vent their  obtaining  ardent  spirits,  and  by  unwearied  efforts  to  train  them 
to  the  arts  and  agriculture,  and  to  impart  to  them  the  blessings  of  educa- 
tion and  Christianity. 

Under  the  system  adopted  by  the  government,  140  agents  and  sub- 
agents,  interpreters,  and  mechanics,  are  employed  among  the  different 
Indian  tribes,  to  carry  these  purposes  into  effect-  and  the  President  is 
authorized  to  cause  the  stores  of  the  licensed  traders  to  be  searched,  and 
ii  ardent  spirits  are  found  among  the  articles  for  sale,  the  whole  goods 
are  forfeited  to  the  government. 

The  whole  number  of  Indian  schools  established  among  them,  partly  by 
charitable  associations,  of  the  different  religious  denominations,  and  partly 
by  pecuniary  aid  from  the  government,  is  forty-four.  The  government 
bestows  upon  the  maintenance  of  these  schools  about  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars annually.  The  whole  number  of  Indian  children  receiving  instruc- 
tion, amounts  to  1,500. 

Public  Lands.     The  greatest  portion  of  the  unoccupied  lands  of  the 


12  BRIEF   GEXERAL   VIEW 

United  States,  constitute  the  national  domain,  and  is  the  property  of  the 
United  States.  The  property  of  these  lands  has  been  acquired  by  the 
United  States,  by  cession  of  the  individual  states,  by  acknowledged  terri- 
torial jurisdiction,  by  purchase  or  cession  from  foreign  states,  and  by  the 
extinction  of  the  Indian  title  to  them.  The  officers  of  the  Land  Office  are 
a  Register,  and  Receiver  of  public  moneys. 

The  lands  are  surveyed  before  they  are  offered  for  sale,  and  are  divi- 
ded into  townships  six  miles  square,  which  are  subdivided  into  thirty-six 
sections,  each  a  mile  square,  and  containing  six  hundred  and  forty  acres. 
These  are  again  subdivided  into  half,  quarter,  and  half-quarter  sections, 
the  smallest  tracts  sold  by  the  government.  The  credit  system  is  abol- 
ished, and  the  terms  of  sale  are  cash  previous  to  the  entry,  or  govern- 
ment deed.  The  lands  are  first  exposed  to  sale  at  auction,  by  proclama- 
tion of  the  President.  The  highest  bidder  at  this  sale  failing  to  pay,  the 
tract  is  offered  again,  and  the  failing  bidder  is  declared  incapable  of  pur- 
chasing at  the  sales.  The  minimum  price  of  land  is  one  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  an  acre.  Lands  forfeited  for  non-payment  must  be  of- 
fered first  at  public  sale.  Choice  tracts  and  favorite  positions  command 
good  prices  at  the  public  sales.  But  the  greater  portion  of  the  lands  re- 
main unsold,  after  the  public  sales,  and  are  entered  at  private  sale. 
Those  lands  for  which  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  are  not  offered, 
remain  unsold,  and  the  property  of  the  United  States.  Salt  springs  and 
lead  mines  are  reserved  from  this  sale ;  but  may  be  leased  by  the  Presi- 
dent. One  section  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  is  reserved  in  every 
township  for  literary  purposes.  In  cases  of  different  applications,  at  pri- 
vate sale,  for  the  same  tract,  the  highest  bidder  is  to  have  the  preference. 
By  this  admirable  system,  all  the  townships  and  subdivisions  are  in  regu- 
lar mathematical  forms,  precluding  the  fruitful  source  of  litigation,  arising 
from  the  uncertainty  of  buts  and  bounds,  in  forms  with  curve,  meandering 
or  zigzag  lines.  Those  forms,  so  universal  in  the  farms  of  the  old  settle- 
ments, are  not  only  difficult  matters  of  adjustment  between  contiguous 
owners,  and  exceedingly  inconvenient  for  fencing,  but  are  unsightly  and 
offensive  to  the  eye.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the  beautiful  square  forms 
of  the  present  land  system  should  not  have  been  suggested  to  the  first 
settlers  of  the  United  States. 

The  land  sales  unite  three  essential  objects :  the  right  of  selection  by  the 
highest  bidder  at  the  public  sales,  extreme  cheapness  at  the  private  sales, 
and  a  title  of  a  clearness  and  unquestionable  surety,  commensurate  with 
the  stability  of  the  government.  The  convenience  and  excellence  of  this 
system  constitute  an  essential  element  in  the  rapid  population  of  tne  new 
states. 

Public  Debt.    In  1830,  the  unfunded  debt  amounted  to  $40,729,000; 


OF    THK    UNITED    STATES.  13 

and  the  whole  national  debt  to  48,566,406;  and  at  the  ratio  of  redemption, 
in  seven  preceding  years,  will  all  be  paid  in  1834. 

Appropriations.  The  whole  amount  of  the  appropriations,  in  the 
year  1830,  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  year,  was  $13,528,845. 
This,  of  course,  does  not  include  the  appropriations  of  former  years  for 
the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  and  various  instalments  due  from  the 
government,  amounting  to  $12,315,245 — making  the  total  estimated  ex- 
penditures of  the  year  $25,844,090. 

Manufactures.  Under  this  head  we  only  mention  in  this  place  the  two 
recent  establishments  of  the  cotton  and  woolen  manufactures.  There 
are  400  cotton  factories  in  New  England,  and  280  in  the  remaining  por- 
tions of  the  United  States;  680  in  all.  Of  these,  135  are  in  Massachu- 
setts; 1 10  in  Rhode  Island ;  SO  in  Connecticut;  and  50  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. It  is  calculated  that  32,000,000  lbs.  of  wool  were  manufactured 
in  the  United  States  in  1829,  giving  full  or  partial  employment  to  one 
hundred  thousand  persons. 

General  Remarks.  The  canal  and  rail  road  system  has  already 
presented  the  resources  of  our  great  country  in  an  entirely  new  aspect^ 
The  rich  and  the  poor  of  the  northern  cities,  instead  of  banishing  the 
inclemency  of  winter  by  fuel  from  the  forests  of  Maine,  rafted  down  the. 
rivers  and  shipped  over  a  stormy  sea,  are  warmed  by  coal  dug  from  the 
mountains  in  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania,  which,  a  few  years  since,4 
could  not  have  been  transported  to  New  York  or  Boston  for  four  times 
its  value.  It  is  now,  in  those  places,  a  cheaper  fuel  than  wood.  The 
cities  are  building  up  with  stone  and  marble  from  remote  points  of  the 
interior,  where,  according  to  the  former  modes  of  transport,  they  would 
have  remained  forever  unmoved.  The  wood  cutter  of  the  shores  of 
lake  Erie  finds  in  its  forests  cabinet  woods  for  the  city  of  London.  The 
northern  shores  of  Ohio  send  their  cherry,  black  walnut,  and  maple  tim- 
ber to  the  interior  of  Massachusetts.  The  rugged  mountains  of  the  Al- 
leghanies,  along  the  path  of  the  Pennsylvania  canal,  will  send  their  vast 
piles  of  nature-hewn  cubic  blocks  of  beautiful  white  sandstone  to  build 
up  the  streets  of  Philadelphia. 

Every  month  is  disclosing  discoveries  of  minerals,  the  precious  metals, 
the  important  and  useful  fossils,  pit  coal,  beautiful  marbles,  quarries  of 
building  stone,  clays  and  earths  for  porcelain,  and  an  exhaustless  abun- 
dance of  ores  of  iron  and  lead,  and  salt  springs,  evincing  that  a  country, 
originally  pronounced  destitute  in  these  respects,  compared  with  the 
mother  country,  is  singularly  rich  and  fortunate,  possessing,  in  great 
abundance,  those  materials,  hidden  in  the  earth,  which  are  essential  ele- 
ments in  developing  national  wealth  and  power. 

A  wide  belt,  commencing  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  mountainous 


14  BRIEF    GENERAL   VIEW 

country  in  Virginia,  and  running  thence  through  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  and  Georgia,  into  the  highlands  of  Alabama,  inhabited  by  the 
Creeks  and  Cherokees,  has  been  discovered  within  a  few  years,  to  be  rich 
in  ores  of  gold.  It  is  found,  too,  in  lumps  of  native  gold.  Some  of  the 
largest  masses  of  native  gold  that  have  ever  been  discovered,  have  been 
found  here.  This  extensive  belt  is  covered  with  thousands  of  miners 
and  adventurers.  Great  amounts  of  gold  are  already  furnished  to  the 
national  mint,  and  this  region  may  hereafter  vie  in  productiveness  with 
the  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  Whether  these  mines  will  be  a  nation- 
al resource  and  advantage,  is  an  experiment  that  remains  to  be  tested. 
In  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  the  new  territory  of  Huron,  are  as  rich  lead 
mines  as  the  world  can  offer.  The  northern  parts  of  the  latter  territory 
abound,  also,  in  copper.  The  great  proportion  of  the  American  people 
are  farmers,  comparing  with  the  total  of  those  engaged  in  all  other  pur- 
suits as  five  to  one.  The  number  of  merchants  at  present  engaged  in 
commerce  is  about  eighty  thousand.  Of  these,  in  proportion  to  the  whole 
population,  Michigan  territory  furnishes  the  largest  proportion,  from  the 
number  of  persons  engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  the  trade  on  the  lakes,  and 
as  trapping  woodsmen.  Massachusetts  has  the  greatest  proportion  of 
any  one  of  the  states,  and  Louisiana  the  next  largest  relative  proportion. 
The  number  of  manufacturers  amounts  to  nearly  five  hundred  thousand. 
The  number  of  farmers  exceed  two  millions. 

The  means  of  information  possessed  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  more  than  one  thousand  five 
hundred  periodicals,  chiefly  newspapers,  arc  circulated  in  every  town 
and  village  from  Maine  to  the  Sabine,  being  a  greater  number  of  periodi- 
cals than  circulates  in  any  other  country.  Of  the  character  of  these 
periodicals  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak.  In  a  perfectly  free  country,  it  is 
a  misfortune  inseparable  from  freedom,  that  ignorance  and  deception, 
and  the  passions,  will  speak  along  with  truth.  But  where  truth  is  left 
perfectly  free  to  combat  error,  the  balance  must  always  incline  to  the  aid 
of  the  diffusion  of  useful  information  and  truth.  From  this  immense 
number  of  papers  and  periodicals,  it  follows,  that  every  body  is,  or  as- 
sumes to  be,  a  politician  and  legislator.  The  despatch  of  the  mails  over 
more  than  one  thousand  miles  of  post  roads  is  rapid,-  and  the  best  proof 
of  the  security  of  mail  conveyance  is,  that  the  conveyance  of  money  is 
safe.  The  official  catalogue  of  the  post  offices  is  a  considerable  volume, 
showing  some  thousands  of  post  offices.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  ought  to  be  a  nation  of  orators.  From  the  session  of  congress  to 
that  of  each  state  legislature,  every  constituent  assembly,  every  one  oi 
the  almost  innumerable  meetings  of  the  people,  furnishes  a  call  for  pub- 
lic speaking.     More  voice  and  breath  are  expended  in  this  way  by  the 


OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  15 

people  of  the  Union,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  than  in  any  other 
country.  Tediousness,  prolixity,  and  an  unsparing  superfluity  of  words, 
are  evils  generated  by  this  order  of  things.  But  while  it  gives  birth  to 
multitudes  of  windy,  inane,  and  impudent  demagogues,  it  forms  at  tho 
same  time,  an  uncommon  proportion  of  the  community  to  fluent  and 
graceful  public  speaking. 

The  tendency  of  the  age  in  general,  and  of  our  country  in  particular, 
is  to  achieve  great  works  by  corporate  associations.  Men  have  learned 
that  their  individual  power  is  increased  by  making  a  part  of  corporate 
power.  It  is  an  age  of  associations  for  literary  and  charitable  purposes. 
The  vocabulary  of  terms  has  been  exhausted  to  find  names  for  the  nu- 
merous societies  that  have  sprung  up  within  the  few  past  years.  Among 
them  every  philanthropist  will  notice  with  pleasure  those  that  have  been 
formed  for  the  suppression  of  intemperance,  for  the  advancement  of  edu- 
cation, and  for  the  melioration  of  the  condition  of  the  poor.  A  more 
striking  illustration  of  the  tendency  of  such  societies,  and  which  is  worth 
a  volume  of  declamation  on  the  subject,  cannot  be  given,  than  is  furnish- 
ed by  the  fact,  that  in  the  single  city  of  Boston,  within  thirty  years  past, 
there  have  been  collected,  chiefly  by  these  associations,  for  charitable 
purposes,  $1,809,015. 

In  regard  to  the  general  appearance  of  the  United  States,  New  Eng- 
land is  dotted  in  every  direction  with  neat  and  populous  villages.  All  the 
great  manufacturing  establishments  collect  villages  round  them,  as  ef- 
fects of  course.  Lowell,  Waltham,  and  Pawtucket  may  serve  as  stri- 
king examples.  Every  hill  side  opens  to  view  those  noble  erections, 
and  gladdens  the  eye  with  the  spires  of  churches.  New  York,  in  its 
whole  extent,  especially  the  western  part,  offers  a  sample  of  this  order  of 
things,  particularly  to  those  who  can  remember  when  the  country  on  the 
line  of  the  canal,  and  the  beautiful  country  of  the  small  lakes,  was  all  a 
continuous  and  unbroken  forest.  Rochester  rises,  a  proud  index  of  the 
astonishing  changes  wrought  in  this  country  in  a  few  years. 

Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  have  not  fallen  behind,  in  this  march  of  im- 
provement. Many  neat,  new,  and  cheerful  looking  villages  are  won 
from  the  forest  every  two  or  three  years.  The  prodigious  extent  of 
travel,  for  business  or  pleasure,  establishing  an  intercourse  of  kindness 
between  the  remote  points  of  the  union,  have  more  than  kept  pace  with 
the  improvement  of  roads,  canals,  steam  boats,  hotels,  carriages,  and 
every  thing  connected  with  transport  and  travel.  This  order  of  things  is 
visibly  less  perceptible  in  the  slave  states,  than  the  free  states ;  and  least 
of  all  in  the  Atlantic  states  south  of  the  Potomac.  In  proceeding  in  this 
direction,  it  is  distinctly  seen  that  the  influence  of  slavery  is  adverse  to 
great  national  works,   to  neat  and  flourishing  villages,  and  compactness 


16  BRIEF   GENERAL    VIEW    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

of  an  industrious  and  intelligent  population.  Villages  and  church  spires 
become  rare  objects.  Isolated  mansions  arise  at  great  distances  from 
each  other,  surrounded  by  the  singular  contrast  of  negro  hovels.  These 
mansions,  it  is  true,  are  generally  the  abodes  of  the  most  sensitive  honor, 
intelligence,  and  hospitality.  But  the  contrast  of  the  hovels  and  the 
mansion  can  never  cease  to  be  a  painful  spectacle  to  the  eye. 

The  Colonization  society  is  calling  the  public  attention  to  the  gradual 
and  ultimate  removal  of  this  evil,  acknowledged  by  every  one  to  be  of 
portentous  aspect.  It  could  be  wished  that  writers  and  declaimers  upon 
the  subject  of  the  evils  of  slavery  had  been  in  all  cases  sensible  and  sober 
men,  of  temperate  minds  and  a  kind  spirit;  and  in  fact,  that  they  had 
been  always  honest  men.  Angry  and  unsparing  declamation  and  appeals 
to  the  vindictive  feelings  of  the  unthinking  in  the  free  states,  are  not  the 
true  remedies  for  an  order  of  things,  which  commenced  in  the  germ  of 
our  country's  growth,  and  has  grown  up  with  it  as  a  chronic  malady,  to 
be  cured  by  slow  and  gentle  remedies;  and  only  to  be  successfully 
treated  by  humane  and  temperate  minded  men,  who  see  things  as  they 
are.  The  grand  remedy,  as  it  seems  to  us,  is  to  be  expected  in  the  in- 
creasing light  and  humanity  of  the  age.  At  some  distant  period,  the  en- 
tire extinction  of  slavery  will  arrive,  as  a  certain  result  of  the  tendency 
of  the  age  towards  purer  reason  and  more  enlightened  views  of  liberty. 

The  voice  of  the  Peace  society  is  beginning  to  be  heard  in  the  land. 
It  is  making  great  and  laudable,  and  we  will  hope  ultimately  successful, 
exertions  to  inculcate  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  believed  that  no  country  contains  so  great  a  propor- 
tion of  educated,  well  housed,  fed  and  clothed  population,  living  in  so 
much  freedom  and  content,  as  the  people  of  the  United  States. 


ATLANTIC    STATES. 


MAINE. 


The  states  east  of  Hudson's  river  and  New  York  are  called  New 
England,  and  comprise  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut.  We  commence  with  Maine,  con- 
stituting the  north-east  extremity  of  tho  United  States.  It  lies  between 
43°  5'  and  48°  3'  N.  latitude,  and  6°  and  10°  S'  E.  longitude  from 
Washington.  It  embraces  an  area  of  32,000  square  miles.  It  is  boun- 
ded north  and  east  by  Lower  Canada  and  New  Brunswick ;  south  by  the 
Atlantic ;  west  by  New  Hampshire. 

The  soil  is  generally  level  and  clayey  along  the  sea  shore,  and  mod- 
erately fertile.  In  the  interior,  and  en  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  it  is  fine. 
The  face  of  the  country  gradually  becomes  elevated,  as  we  ascend  from 
the  coast.  Towards  the  Canada  frontier,  it  becomes  rugged  and  moun- 
tainous. Agamenticus,  an  isolated  mountain  of  considerable  height,  and 
a  noted  land  mark  for  mariners,  rises  in  York. 

Climate  is  severe,  with  five  months  of  decided  winter;  but  it  is  com- 
paratively uniform  and  very  salubrious. 

Productions  are  wheat,  Indian  corn,  rye,  barley,  grass,  pulse,  potatoes 
of  the  best  kind,  fine  pasturage,  and  the  products  of  pasturage,  immense 
amounts  of  timber,  masts  and  spars,  staves,  boards  and  plank,  wood  and 
lumber.  Most  of  the  sea  ports  of  Massachusetts  east  of  Cape  Cod,  are 
furnished  with  their  chief  fuel  from  this  state,  and  its  lumber  is  exported 
to  all  foreign  parts  that  admit  our  lumber.  The  climate,  though  severe, 
is  so  uniform  that  the  productions  are  of  a  class  that  could  not  be  ex- 
pected from  its  temperature.  Apple  trees,  for  example,  flourish  in  the 
interior;  and  there  are  fine  orchards  of  this  fruit,  and  more  especially  of 
pear  trees.  Among  the  wild  fruits  are  gooseberries,  currants,  wild  plums, 
Vol.  II.  3 


18  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

cherries,  and  grapes,  and  the  greatest  abundance  of  cranberries.  The 
extensive  strand  of  sea  coast  is  supplied  by  the  waves  with  vast  quanti- 
ties of  rock  weed,  which  is  an  excellent  manure.  The  alluvion  of  Ken- 
nebec is  both  fertile  and  delightful.  Noble  forests  of  the  terebinthines, 
evergreens,  spruces,  firs,  and  pines,  spread  over  the  state,  wherever  the 
lumberer's  or  the  cultivator's  axe  has  not  been  plied.  The  birch  and 
beech  forests  are  exceedingly  deep  and  heavy,  and  the  long  line  of  coast, 
the  numerous  bays,  and  navigable  waters,  give  these  forests  a  value 
which  they  have  in  no  other  portions  of  the  forest  country  of  the  United 
States. 

Harbors.  This  state  has  a  great  extent  of  sea  coast,  and  more  good 
harbors  than  any  other  in  the  Union,  and  in  point  of  amount  of  tonnage 
of  shipping  owned,  ranks  the  fourth  among  the  maritime  states. 

The  counties  are  as  follows.  York,  York;  Cumberland,  Portland; 
Lincoln,  Wiscassct;  Hancock,  Castine;  Washington,  Machias;  Oxford, 
Paris;  Kennebec,  Augusta;  Somerset,  Norridgewock ;  Waldo,  Belfast; 
Penobscot,  Bangor.     Population  in  1820,  298,335.     In  1830,  399,468. 

Bays,     Casco,  Penobscot,  Frenchman's,  and  Passamaquoddy. 

Rivers.  St.  Croix,  Penobscot,  Kennebec,  Androscoggin,  Saco,  Pis- 
cataqua,  and  many  smaller  streams. 

Lakes.  Umbagog  and  Moose-head  are  the  largest.  In  the  northern 
parts  of  the  state ;  which  are  almost  unexplored  forest,  there  are  a  great 
many  lakes  which  are  as  yet  but  partially  known.  Deep  clear  ponds, 
from  two  to  five  or  six  miles  in  circumference,  abound  in  the  interior,  and 
afford  the  finest  fresh  water  fish.  Immense  supplies  of  sea  fish  are  fur- 
nished by  the  numerous  bays  and  inlets  on  the  seashore.  The  salmon 
and  shad  of  the  larger  streams  are,  also,  in  their  season,  a  great  resource 
to  the  inhabitants. 

Manufactures.  The  avails  exceed  three  millions  of  dollars,  and  are 
increasing. 

Towns.  Portland,  the  capital,  is  a  neat  and  handsomely  built  town,  on 
a  peninsula  projecting  into  Casco  bay,  and  is  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
miles  north-cast  from  Boston.  Its  noble,  safe,  and  capacious  harbor  is 
seldom  frozen.  Its  public  buildings  are  ten  houses  for  public  worship,  a 
state  house,  court  house,  alms  house,  market  house,  town  house,  two 
banks,  an  insurance  office,  and  an  academy.  There  are  a  number  of 
fine  boarding  schools,  and  private  and  common  schools,  a  town  library, 
and  one  for  apprentices.  A  stone  light  house,  seventy  feet  high,  marks 
the  entrance  of  the  harbor.  It  is  defended  by  two  forts,  and  beautified 
by  a  conspicuous  observatory  on  the  pinnacle  of  Mount  Joy.  Its  rela- 
tive position  to  the  surrounding  country  is  fine.  A  canal  was  projected 
some  years  since,  which,  by  an  excavation  of  five  or  six  miles,  would 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  19 

give  this  town  a  command  of  water  communications  of  forty  or  fifty 
miles  with  the  interior.  The  principal  exports  arc  lumber,  fish,  beef, 
and  butter.  It  is  the  eighth  town  in  the  United  States  in  the  amount  of 
its  shipping,  owning  nearly  forty  thousand  tons.  It  is  a  wealthy,  hand- 
some, and  growing  place.  In  1820,  it  contained  8,520  inhabitants,  and 
in  1830,  12,601.  Bath,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Kennebec,  sixteen 
miles  from  the  sea,  owns  considerable  shipping,  and  is  a  place  of  im- 
portance. Brunswick,  Wiscasset,  Hallowell,  Augusta,  York,  Casco,  Ma- 
chias,  Bangor,  and  Waterville,  are  considerable  towns.  Brunswick  is  on 
the  Androscoggin;  Wiscasset,  on  the  Sheepscot;  and  both  Hallowell  and 
Augusta  on  the  Kennebec.  These  towns  are  favorably  situated  for 
.foreign  trade.  The  state  abounds  in  sea  ports.  A  number  of  fine  is- 
lands along  the  coast  give  the  inhabitants  the  advantage  of  an  interior 
and  protected  navigation. 

Population.  At  the  close  of  the  late  war,  the  advance  of  this  state 
was  at  a  pause.  Many  of  the  inhabitants,  in  discouragement,  either  em- 
igrated or  were  preparing  to  emigrate.  But,  possessing  the  essential 
elements  of  population,  fertile,  fresh,  and  cheap  lands;  and  beside,  hav- 
ing peculiar  advantages  for  maritime  trade,  and  easy  and  numerous  com- 
munications with  the  interior^  by  large  and  fine  rivers  and  bays,  possess 
ing  an  excellent  soil  for  hay  and  pasturage,  a  salubrious  climate,  and  an 
adventurous  and  hardy  population,  it  soon  resumed  its  advancing  pro- 
gress. The  natural  aptitude  of  the  American  people  for  communications 
with  the  sea,  impelled  settlers  to  this  region.  The  gain,  since  the  last 
census,  is  out  of  proportion  greater  than  any  other  JNew  England  state, 
being  101,133.  The  pursuits  of  a  great  portion  of  the  people  are  mar- 
itime, and  their  home  on  the  blue  water.  The  vessels  of  its  mariners  are 
in  every  sea.  The  sailors  are  noted  for  the  reckless  daring  with  which 
they  commit  themselves  to  small  sloops  of  thirty  or  forty  tons,  to  encoun- 
ter the  most  remote  and  stormy  seas.  They  have  a  habit  of  affirming 
that  they  have  learned  their  little  crafts  the  science  of  finding  their  own 
way  amidst  the  billows.  These  are  the  mariners,  who,  in  lumber  vessels 
manned  with  two  hands,  and  sometimes  with  a  single  one,  dash  away  to 
the  West  Indies,  before  they  are  profoundly  acquainted  with  the  occult 
science  of  trigonometry  and  logarithmic  tables,  and  of  whom  it  is  hu- 
morously said,  that  they  throw  shingles  overboard  at  intervals  as  they 
pass  out,  by  which  to  find  their  way  back  again.. 

Education.  Bowdoin  college  in  Brunswick,  is  a  flourishing  institution, 
rich  in  funds,  with  respectable  endowments  and  buildings,  and  a  library 
of  five  thousand  volumes.  Theological  seminaries  are  established  at 
Bangor,  and  Waterville;  and  lyceums  at  Hallowell  and  Gardiner. 
There  are  twenty-two  incorporated  academies;  and  town  schools  and 


20  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

common  schools  are  diffused,  with  the  New  England  spirit,  over  all  the 
towns,  villages,  and  settlements  of  the  state. 

Religion.     In  this  new  state,  as  happens  throughout  our  country  in 

similar  circumstances,  the  several  denominations   have  emulated  each 

other  in  efforts  to  impress  an  ascendant  influence  upon  the  community. 

There  are  nearly  four  hundred   established   religious  societies,  among 

which  the  Congregationalists  are  at  present  most  numerous. 

Government.  Maine  was  united  with  Massachusetts,  under  the  name 
of  the  District  of  Maine,  until  1820,  when  the  union  was  amicably  dis- 
solved, and  Maine  was  received  into  the  Union. 

General  Aspect.  A  panorama  of  this  extensive  state  would  show 
three  fourths  of  its  surface  covered  with  a  dark  and  deep  forest  of  birch, 
beech,  and  evergreens.  A  wide  belt  along  the  sea  shore,  and  the  navi- 
gable inlets  and  rivers,  and  waters  upon  which  rafts  can  float,  would  be 
seen  denuded  of  their  forests.  The  cleared  squares  cut  out  of  the  forest 
would  be  seen  diminishing,  as  we  advance  towards  the  north,  until  we 
reach  a  wide  and  unbroken  forest.  Numberless  transparent  ponds  would 
be  seen,  dotting  almost  every  township.  Far  in  the  interior  we  should 
see  the  peculiar  class  of  interior  New  England  husbandmen,  like  the 
people  of  the  west,  clearing  their  lands,  and  in  the  spring  making  maple 
sugar,  and  relying  solely  on  agriculture  for  subsistence.  We  should  see 
the  adventurous  mariners  spreading  their  sails  on  every  sea.  Innumera- 
ble wood  vessels  from  other  states  would  be  seen  approaching  her  shores, 
to  pay  their  tithe  for  the  privilege  of  carrying  her  fuel  over  the  stormy 
sea,  that  rolls  a  tide  upon  some  portion  of  her  shores  of  forty  ^feet  in 
height.  Her  lime,  the  most  beautiful  in  the  country,  would  be  seen  trans- 
ported to  the  shores  of  Maryland  and  Virginia.  Rich  and  productive 
lead  mines,  recently  discovered,  would  be  seen  increasing  her  commer- 
cial resources.  If  overhung,  for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year,  with 
a  leaden  and  inclement  sky,  the  inhabitants  the  while,  would  be  seen 
gaily  sliding  over  their  snowy  surface  in  sleighs,  breasting  the  keen  air 
with  a  spirit  that  finds  elasticity  and  vigor  in  triumphing  over  the  rigor  of 
nature. 


NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 

Bounded  by  Maine  east;  Lower  Canada  north;  Massachusetts  south ; 
and  south-east  for  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles  by  the  Atlantic.  Area, 
10,000  square  miles.  Between  42°  42'  and  45°  14'  N.  latitude,  and 
4°  29'  and  6°  10'  E.  longitude  from  Washington.  Its  shape  ia  an  open 
fan  with  the  handle  to  the  north. 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  21 

Divisions.  Rockingham,  Portsmouth ;  Merrimack,  Concord;  Strafford, 
Dover,  Gilmantown;  Hillsborough,  Amherst;  Cheshire,  Keene,  Charles- 
ton™, Walpolc;  Grafton,  Hanover;  Haverhill,  Plymouth;  Coos,  Lan- 
caster; Sullivan,  Newport.  Population  in  1820,  244,101.  In  1830, 
269,533. 

Aspect.  A  narrow,  sandy  plain,  indented  with  small  sea  inlets,  skirts 
the  line  of  coasts.  At  no  great  distance,  the  country  rises  into  hills  and 
mountains.  New  Hampshire  may  be  justly  designated  the  state  of  hills. 
The  highest  peaks  of  the  sublime  range  of  the  White  mountains  are  more 
elevated  than  any  other  mountains  in  the  United  States,  except  those  of 
the  Rocky  mountains.  Monadnock,  Moose-hillock,  Kearsarge,  Sunna- 
pee,  and  Ossipee,  are  high,  interior,  detached  mountains.  The  number 
of  mountains  and  hills  gives  the  state  a  harsh  and  rough  aspect;  and  the 
immense  masses  of  granite  rising  upon  all  sides,  have  procured  for  it  the 
appellation  of  the  granite  state.  But  many  of  the  valleys  are  beautifully 
green,  sheltered,  and  fertile.  The  rivers,  in  particular,  have  rich  alluvial 
bottoms.  Those  of  the  Connecticut  may  be  given  as  a  sample.  The 
soil,  though  often  encumbered  with  stones,  has  a  good  degree  of  fertility, 
and  is  particularly  fine  for  pasturage.  The  country  originally  was  hea- 
vily timbered,  and  in  the  interior  are  still  considerable  extents  of  forest 
country.  There  are  extensive  plains  of  a  warm,  light,  sandy,  and  pecu- 
liar soil,  resembling,  when  cleared,  the  poorer  of  the  high  western  prai- 
ries, covered  in  their  natural  state  with  white  pine,  and  called  pine  plains. 
The  climate  is  healthy.  The  lakes  and  rivers  are  ordinarily  frozen  four 
months  in  the  year.  Winter  commences  in  November,  and  terminates  in 
April.  It  is  chiefly  an  agricultural  state.  Of  late  years,  however,  the 
people  have  begun  to  appropriate  their  frequent  and  permanent  water 
power  to  manufacturing  purposes.  Beside  domestic  manufactures  to  a 
great  extent,  this  state  has  large  manufactures  of  iron,  woolen,  and  cotton. 
There  are  forty  establishments  of  cotton  and  woolen,  ten  of  paper,  and  a 
number  of  iron  in  Franconia,  and  other  places.  Glass  is  also  manufac- 
tured. Great  manufactuzing  establishments  have  arisen  at  Dover,  Exe- 
ter, Peterborough,  Franconia,  and  Durham.  New  Ipswich,  Keene,  Mil- 
ford,  and  Walpole,  are  also  towns  which  possess  manufacturing  establish- 
ments to  a  considerable  extent. 

The  manufactures  of  this  state,  in  1810,  exceeded  $5,000,000.  They 
must  have  more  than  doubled  in  value  since. 

Lakes.  Winnipissiogee  is  a  romantic  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  in 
the  centre  of  the  state,  23  miles  in  length.  It  is  sprinkled  with  numerous 
islands,  and  abounds  in  the  finest  kinds  of  fresh  water  fish.  Umbagog 
lake  lies  partly  in  this  state,  and  partly  in  Maine.  Squam,  Ossipee, 
Sunnapee,  and  Newfound  lakes,  are  considerable  collections  of  water. 


22  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

Rhcrs.  The  Connecticut  separates  the  western  shore  of  the  state 
from  Vermont.  Merrimac,  Piscataqua,  Androscoggin,  and  Saco,  all  con- 
siderable rivers,  rise  in  this  state.  Piscataqua  has  almost  its  whole  course 
in  the  state.  The  smaller  rivers  are  Upper  and  Lower  Ammonoosuc, 
Sugar,  Ashuelot,  Margallaway ,  and  Nashua.  The  smaller  mill  streams 
are  exceedingly  numerous  and  beautiful. 

Towns.  Portsmouth,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Piscataqua,  three  miles 
from  its  junction  with  the  sea,  has  one  of  the  safest  and  most  commodious 
harbors  in  the  United  States.  It  is  never  frozen,  is  strongly  defended  by 
two  forts,  and  might  easily  be  rendered  impregnable.  A  light  house  on 
Great  Island  indicates  the  entrance  to  it,  and  the  largest  ships  can  come 
to  the  wharves.  It  is  distant  fifty-six  miles  north-east  from  Boston.  It  is 
the  only  sea  port  in  the  state.  Its  position  is  pleasant  and  salubrious,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  town,  having  been  rebuilt  from  a  fire  some  years 
since,  is  very  handsomely  built.  It  contains  eight  houses  for  public  wor- 
ship, among  which  the  Episcopal  church  is  distinguished  for  its  size  and 
beauty.  The  other  public  buildings  are  a  court  house,  jail,  alms-house, 
academy,  athenaeum,  two  market  houses,  town  hall,  custom  house,  an  in- 
surance office,  and  five  banks.  A  very  handsome  bridge  across  the  Pis- 
cataqua, connects  it  with  Kittery,  in  Maine.  On  Navy  Island,  in  the 
river,  is  the  United  States  Ship  Yard,  with  all  the  requisite  appurtenances 
for  building  ships  of  war.  Two  74  gun  ships  have  already  been  built 
here.  The  town  possesses  over  25,000  tons  of  shipping.  Many  valua- 
ble prizes  were  brought  into  this  harbor  during  the  late  war.  It  has  a 
fine  market,  more  particularly  for  fish,  and  it  differs  from  any  other  New 
England  town  in  the  circumstance,  that  many  females  bring  articles  to 
market,  descending  the  Piscataqua  in  skiffs.  In  1820,  the  population 
was  7,327.     In  1830,  8,030. 

Exeter  is  a  handsome  village,  15  miles  south-west  of  Portsmouth. 
Small  sea  vessels  ascend  to  it,  it  being  at  the  head  of  tide  water  on  Exeter 
river.  It  contains  a  number  of  public  buildings,  and  three  churches,  and 
is  the  seat  of  very  considerable  manufactures.  Phillips'  Exeter  Academy, 
in  this  place,  is  one  of  the  most  ancient,  opulent,  and  useful  institutions  in 
the  United  States,  having  many  of  the  advantages  and  endowments  of  a 
college. 

Concord,  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  Merrimac,  central  to  the  state, 
and  sixty-three  miles  north  north-west  from  Boston,  is  the  political  me- 
tropolis, and  the  seat  of  government.  The  compact  part  of  the  village 
contains  one  neat  street,  two  miles  in  length,  in  which  are  a  magnificent 
state-house,  and  a  state  prison,  both  of  stone.  There  are  a  number  of 
other  public  buildings.  Two  bridges  connect  the  chief  village  with  the 
village  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river.     It  issues  three  gazettes,  and  is 


AT  LAN  TICS  TAXES.  23 

a  place  of  large  and  growing  business,  and  contains  about  3,000  inhabi- 
tants. It  has  a  boatable  communication  with  Boston  by  the  river,  and 
by  Middlesex  canal  connecting  with  it. 

Hanover,  Haverhill,  Charlestown,  and  Walpole,  are  large  and  neat 
villages  on  the  Connecticut;  as  arc  Keene  and  Amherst,  in  the  interior. 
Dover  is  a  large  manufacturing  village,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Piscata- 
qua.  The  river  Cocheco  flows  through  it,  having  great  falls,  affording 
admirable  water  privileges.  It  is  the  seat  of  extensive  cotton  factories, 
and  of  some  iron  works.  It  has  grown  to  rapid  consequence  since  it 
has  become  the  seat  of  such  extensive  manufactories.  It  has  a  number 
of  public  buildings,  and  is  a  place  of  increasing  importance. 

Literary  Institutions.  Dartmouth  College  ranks  as  the  third  literary 
institution  in  New  England.  Its  endowments,  library,  and  philosophical 
apparatus  are  respectable,  and  it  has  a  medical  school  of  deserved  repu- 
tation attached  to  it.  Phillips' Exeter  Academy,  of  which  we  have  spo- 
ken, has  funds  to  the  amount  of  eighty  thousand  dollars.  There  are  a 
great  number  of  less  considerably  endowed  academies,  and  the  primary 
and  other  schools  are  on  the  general  footing  of  the  New  England  system. 

Character  of  the  Population.  The  inhabitants  are  a  healthy,  tall, 
robust,  industrious,  well  informed,  and  enterprising  people;  frugal,  reli- 
gious, and  jealous  of  their  rights.  The  prevailing  religious  denomina- 
tions are  Congrogationalists  and  Baptists. 

Commerce.  Cheese,  butter,  beef  and  pork,  lumber,  linen,  beside  man- 
ufactures, are  the  chief  articles  of  export.  Much  of  the  agricultural 
products  go  by  the  Middlesex  canal  to  Boston. 

Natural  Curiosities.  The  White  mountains  afford  scenery  inexpressi- 
bly grand,  being  of  Alpine  elevation,  and  deriving  their  name  from  being 
generally  white  with  snow.  The  lovers  of  nature  come  to  these  wild 
retreats  from  great  distances,  to  contemplate  the  varied  aspects  of  these 
sublime  peaks,  to  hear  the  roar  of  the  mountain  winds,  and  the  tumble  of 
the  ice-formed  torrents.  The  Notch,  or  Gap,  is  a  strikiug  object  of  curi- 
osity. The  river  Saco  sweeps  by  it,  forming  splendid  cascades.  An 
affecting  moral  interest  has  been  associated  with  this  wild  spot.  In  1825 
a  slide,  or  earth  avalanche,  in  a  night  of  storms,  buried  a  whole  family 
residing  here,  that  had  been  alarmed  by  the  crashing  of  its  first  disrup- 
tion, and  who,  in  attempting  to  fly  from  its  path,  were  arrested,  and  buried 
under  the  superincumbent  mass. 

The  panorama  of  New  Hampshire  would  exhibit  many  mountain  peaks, 
innumerable  granite-covered  hills,  much  grand  scenery,  and  not  a  little, 
especially  on  the  shores  of  the  Connecticut,  of  surpassing  fertility,  amen- 
ity, and  beauty.  The  living  part  of  the  picture  would  show  as  hardy  a 
race  of  agriculturists  as  the  world  can  offer,  breasting  with  the  same  spi- 


24  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

rit  of  defiance  the  storms  and  sleets  of  winter,  and  the  fervors  of  the  dog- 
day  sun.  The  winter  Sabbath  would  present  the  sleighs  gliding  over  the 
snow,  bearing  the  families  to  the  village  church.  During  the  long  win- 
ter evenings,  when  the  wind  howls,  and  the  snow  storm  pours  along,  we 
should  see  these  families  around  the  blazing  hearth,  the  mother  and 
daughters  occupied  in  the  quiet  domestic  occupations,  and  the  favorite 
reader  of  the  family,  in  a  tone  between  recitation  and  harangue,  reading 
aloud  from  the  hard  earned  book  or  gazette. 


VERMONT. 

Bounded  north  by  Lower  Canada ;  east  by  New  Hampshire ;  south  by 
Massachusetts ;  west  by  New  York.  Between  42°  42'  and  45°  N.  lati- 
tude, and  3°  39'  and  5°  31'  E.  longitude.  It  contains  ten  thousand  two 
hundred  square  miles.  It  resembles  a  fan,  with  its  handle  towards  the 
south. 

Civil  Divisions.  Bennington,  Bennington;  Windham,  Brattleboro'' ; 
Rutland,  Rutland;  Windsor,  Windsor;  Addison,  Middlcbury;  Chitten- 
den, Burlington;  Franklin,  St.  Albans;  Orange,  Newbury;  Caledonia, 
Danville;  Essex,  Guildhall;  Orleans,  Derby;  Washington,  Monteplier; 
Grand  Isle,  Alburgh.    Population,  in  1820,  235,764.    In  1830,  280,679. 

Physical  Aspect.  Charmingly  picturesque,  no  country  showing  great- 
er variety  of  hill,  dale,  declivity,  green,  wooded  mountain  peaks,  roaring 
torrents,  subsiding  into  cool,  mountain,  trout  streams,  than  the  Green 
mountains,  which  run  in  a  broad  mountain  belt  through  the  whole  state 
from  north  to  south.  The  highest  peaks  of  this  chain  are  Killington  Peak, 
Camel's  Rump,  and  Mansfield  mountain.  Ascutney  is  a  detached  moun- 
tain, showing  to  great  advantage  from  Windsor.  These  peaks  have  an 
elevation  of  from  three  to  four  thousand  feet.  This  chain,  stretching 
north  and  south,  in  a  line  interminable  to  the  eye,  makes  a  majestic  ap- 
pearance, seen  in  the  distance,  as  we  approach  the  mountains  either  from 
the  east  or  the  west  side.  The  western  declivities  are  the  most  precipi- 
tous, and  are  clothed  with  a  dark  forest  of  evergreens.  From  the  peren- 
nial verdure  of  the  tcrcbinthine  forest,  the  range  and  the  state  have  ob- 
tained their  name. 

Forests — Are  heavily  timbered  with  pine,  hemlock,  larch,  birch,  beach, 
maple,  ash,  elm,  and  white  walnut,  here  known  by  the  name  of  butternut. 

Productions.     Maize,  barley,  rye,  oats,  potatoes,  pulse,  grass,  and 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  25 

fruits  prosper  here ;  and  wheat  on  the  west  side  of  the  mountains,  the  soil 
being  fine,  with  small  extents  excepted,  even  on  the  mountain  sides  and 
summits.  Dark,  rich,  and  loamy,  and  admirably  calculated  to  sustain 
drought,  it  affords  the  finest  pasturage  of  any  state  in  the  Union.  The 
world  cannot  offer  finer  beef,  than  is  fed  on  the  rich  white  clover  pastures 
of  Vermont,  and  the  butter  and  cheese  are  universally  known  for  their 
excellence. 

Climate.  The  winter  is  shorter  than  in  New  Hampshire,  though  it  is 
more  exposed  to  sudden  alternations  and  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  The 
snow  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountains  falls  deep  and  lies  long.  The 
winter  commences  with  December,  and  ends  with  March. 

Character  of  the  Population.  The  Green  mountaineers,  the  Scotch 
of  the  United  States,  are  remarkable  for  their  strength  and  robustness  of 
body,  and  acuteness  of  mind.  They  are  a  determined,  adventurous,  wan- 
dering people,  little  afflicted  with  the  malady  of  bashfulness,  and  are 
found  in  all  the  other  states  as  immigrants.  The  uneducated  are  distin- 
guished by  a  peculiar  dialect,  and  mode  of  pronouncing  particular  words. 
Their  first  remove  is  ordinarily  to  the  north  parts  of  New  York,  whence 
they  pass,  after  a  short  stay,  to  the  states  south  and  west. 

Rivers.  The  Connecticut  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  state.  It 
has  been  recently  ascended  to  the  shores  of  this  state  by  steam  boats. 
Onion  river  passes  through  Montpelier,  the  capital,  into  lake  Champlain, 
at  Burlington.  Otter  creek  is  a  considerable  branch  of  Onion  river. 
Lamoile  and  Missique  are  considerable  streams  north  of  Onion  river. 
Many  smaller  rivers  rise  in  the  Green  mountains,  and  assuming  in  their 
course  a  charmingly  romantic  character,  discharge  east  into  the  Connec- 
ticut, or  west  into  lake  Champlain.  The  whole  state  abounds  in  streams 
of  a  size  to  drive  mills  and  manufactories. 

Lakes.  Lake  Champlain,  between  the  west  shore  of  this  state  and 
New  York,  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
miles  long,  and  from  one  to  twenty  wide.  It  discharges,  at  its  northern 
extremity,  by  the  river  Sorel  into  the  St.  Lawrence.  It  contains  upwards 
of  sixty  islands,  of  which  Motte,  and  North  and  South  Hero,  are  of  con- 
siderable size.  Beside  the  rivers  which  flow  into  it  from  the  Green 
mountains,  it  receives  the  Chazy,  Saranac,  Sable,  Bouquet,  and  Wood 
rivers  from  New  York,  on  the  western  shore.  Burlington,  Plattsburg, 
St.  Albans,  and  Whitehall,  are  the  most  considerable  towns  on  its  shores. 
The  Champlain  canal  connects  it  with  Hudson  river,  and  the  New  York 
and  Erie  canal.  It  is  navigated  by  a  number  of  steam  boats  and  lake 
vessels,  lying  extremely  convenient  to  facilitate  the  commerce  of  the  state 
both  with  New  York  and  Montreal. 

Memphremagog  is  a  considerable  lake,  twenty-five  miles  long, and  three 
Vol.  n  4 


26  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

broad,  lying  partly  in  Vermont  and  partly  in  Canada,  receiving  a  number 
of  streams  from  this  state,  and  communicating  by  the  St.  Francis  with  the 
St.  Lawrence. 

Towns.  This  state  is  entirely  interior.  Yet  the  system  of  internal 
improvements,  the  Champlain  canal,  and  the  lake  vessels  and  steam  boats 
have  in  some  sense  brought  it  in  contiguity  with  the  sea.  Montpelier, 
on  Onion  river,  in  a  position  nearly  central  to  the  state,  is  the  political 
metropolis.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  S.  E.  from  Montreal, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  N.  W.  from  Boston,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  N. 
E.  from  Albany.  It  contains,  beside  the  state  house,  a  number  of  public 
buildings,  and  respectable  manufacturing  establishments.  The  popula- 
tion is  about  3,000. 

Bennington,  beautifully  situated  in  the  south-west  angle  of  the  state, 
is  a  neat  village,  containing  about  the  same  number  of  inhabitants  with 
the  preceding,  and  is  rendered  memorable  as  the  site  of  the  glorious  victo- 
ry of  General  Stark,  over  a  detachment  of  British  and  Hessians,  from  the 
army  of  General  Burgoyne,  1777.  Windsor  is  a  large  and  handsomely 
built  village  on  Connecticut  river,  containing  a  number  of  respectable 
public  buildings,  and  private  edifices,  and  about  the  same  number  of  in- 
habitants with  the  two  preceding  towns.  Middlebury,  on  Onion  river,  is 
a  thriving  town,  the  seat  of  various  important  manufactures,  especially  of 
marble.  Here  is  Middlebury  College,  the  most  considerable  seminary  of 
learning  in  the  state.  Burlington  is  a  handsome  town  on  the  shore  of 
lake  Champlain,  at  the  mouth  of  Onion  river,  and  is  a  port  of  entry. 
It  is  100  miles  S.  of  Montreal,  and  198  N.  W.  of  Boston.  It  contains  a 
number  of  public  buildings,  of  which  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  college 
edifice  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  a  building  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
by  seventy-five,  and  four  stories  high.  The  falls  of  Onion  river  at  tins 
place  furnish  power  for  a  number  of  flourishing  manufactories.  Nothing 
can  exceed  the  romantic  beauty  of  the  position  of  the  college,  elevated 
two  hundred  and  forty-five  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  lake.  Two 
beautiful  churches  ornament  the  place.  A  number  of  lake  vessels  are 
owned  here,  and  steam  boats  are  frequently  arriving  and  departing. 
This  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  flourishing  towns  in  the  state. 
Population  not  far  from  3,000. 

St.  Albans,  in  the  north-west  angle  of  the  state,  is  also  a  considerable 
village  on  lake  Champlain,  containing  about  2,000  inhabitants.  There 
are  many  other  neat  villages,  dispersed  over  this  state;  and  great  num- 
bers of  handsome  private  dwellings  in  all  directions  indicate  the  opulence 
and  taste  of  the  possessors. 

Religious  Character.  Similar  to  that  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire 
The  Congregationalists  arc  the  prevalent  denominations. 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  27 

Literature.  There  are  two  colleges,  one  at  Middlebury,  the  other  at 
Burlington.  There  are  also  twenty  incorporated  academies.  Free 
schools  and  social  libraries  are  dispersed  over  the  state.  The  people  pos- 
sess the  traits  of  independence  and  inquisitiveness,  that  generally  char- 
acterize mountaineers.  A  child  arrived  at  the  age  for  those  acquirements, 
who  could  not  read  and  write,  would  be  regarded,  as  we  look  upon  the 
misfortune  of  an  insane  person  or  an  idiot. 

Exports — Are  beef,  butter,  cheese,  and  pork,  of  the  first  quality,  pot 
and  pearl  ashes,  lumber  and  marble.  Part  of  the  lumber  goes  by  canal 
to  Albany,  and  part  down  the  lake  to  Montreal.  Much  of  the  trade  that 
used  to  go  to  Boston  and  Hartford,  is  now  drawn  by  the  Champlain  canal 
to  New  York.  This  canal  has  been  of  incalculable  advantage  to  the 
state. 

Among  the  natural  curiosities  of  this  state  are  many  of  those  caves, 
which  are  common  in  all  mountainous  regions  of  limestone  formation. 
The  state  abounds  in  beautiful  cascades  of  streams  rushing  down  the  de- 
clivities of  the  mountains.  A  panorama  of  Vermont  would  show,  in  sum- 
mer, the  most  picturesque  state  in  the  Union,  presenting  countless  moun- 
tain, glen,  and  valley  prospects  of  indescribable  beauty,  Nine-tenths  of 
the  active  and  robust  mountaineers  would  be  seen  engaged  in  the  health- 
ful and  satisfying  pursuits  of  husbandry.  Many  delightful  dwellings 
would  be  seen  perched  on  the  hills,  or  sheltered  in  the  valleys.  In  point 
oftheentirenessof  its  democratic  character,  it  would  compare  with  Ohio, 
showing  as  much  of  the  sensitive  and  proud  claims  of  a  pure  democracy 
as  any  other  state  in  the  Union. 

Population  no  where  advances  with  greater  rapidity.  But  the  state, 
not  being  large,  and  much  of  its  surface  occupied  by  mountains,  the  ara- 
ble lands  have  long  since  been  chiefly  taken  up.  Hence  the  enterprising 
descendants  of  the  mountaineers  feel  an  early  propensity  for  range,  and 
wander  away  to  furnish  tithes  of  immigration  to  western  New  York,  and 
all  the  states  of  the  west. 


MASSACHUSETTS, 

Is  bounded  north  by  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire;  east  by  the  Atlan- 
tic, Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut;  west  by  New  York;  between  41°  23' 
and  43°  52'  N.  latitude,  and  3°  33'  and  7°  10'  E.  longitude,  from  Wash- 
ington. It  is  one  hundred  and  ninety  miles  long,  by  ninety  broad,  and 
contains  seven  thousand  five  hundred  square  miles. 


28  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

Civil  Divisions.  Barnstable,  Barnstable;  Berkshire,  Lenox;  Bristol, 
Taunton;  Dukes,  Edgartown;  Essex,  Salem,  Newburyport,  Ipswich; 
Franklin,  Greenfield;  Hampden,  Springfield;  Hampshire,  Northampton; 
Middlesex,  Cambridge,  Concord;  Nantucket,  Nantucket;  Norfolk,  Ded- 
ham;  Plymouth,  Plymouth;  Suffolk,  Boston;  Worcester,  Worcester. 
Population  in  1S20,  523,287.     In  1830,  610,014. 

Aspect.  A  surface  pleasantly  undulating  with  hills  and  valleys.  To- 
wards its  western  front  it  is  crossed  in  its  whole  width,  by  the  chain  of  the 
Green  mountains.  The  south-eastern  parts  of  the  state,  from  Cape  Cod, 
along  the  southern  front  to  Connecticut,  are  sandy.  A  belt  from  the  sea 
shore,  extending  twenty  miles  into  the  interior,  is  naturally  fertile  only  at 
intervals;  but  has  been  rendered  so  by  industry  and  a  careful  agriculture. 
But  in  the  interior  of  the  state,  the  soil,  for  the  most  part,  is  strong,  and 
adapted  either  to  grazing  or  tillage.  The  agriculture  is  generally  more 
scientific  than  in  any  other  state.  The  average  produce  is  thirty  bushels 
of  maize,  thirty  of  barley,  fifteen  of  rye,  and  two  hundred  of  potatoes  to  an 
acre.  Oxen  are  chiefly  used  for  the  plough  and  draught.  The  breeds 
of  domestic  animals  have  been  much  improved  by  agricultural  societies. 
This  state  is  the  most  densely  peopled,  and  the  most  opulent,  in  propor- 
tion to  its  numbers,  and  its  inhabitants  most  amply  supplied  with  the 
means  of  a  common  and  finished  education  of  any  state  in  the  Union. 
Common  schools  are  established  by  law  over  the  whole  state.  Every  town 
containing  150  families,  is  compelled  by  law  to  support  a  grammar  school, 
and  it  is  deemed  a  moral  offence  in  a  parent  not  to  send  Ins  children  to 
school.  In  no  other  known  community  is  the  education  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple considered  so  entirely  a  matter  within  the  purview  of  the  law,  as  in 
this.  Great  attention  is  paid  to  the  character  and  capability  of  the  instruc- 
tors, among  whom  a  high  and  noble  spirit  of  emulation  exists,  descending 
in  double  measures  to  the  pupils.  The  number  of  academies,  high  schools, 
seminaries,  and  lyceums,  established  by  incorporation,  is  too  great  to  be 
particularized.  In  no  other  existing  community  is  education  more  uni- 
versally diffused. 

Harvard  University  is  the  oldest  and  most  amply  endowed  literary  in- 
stitution in  the  United  States.  It  is  situated  in  Cambridge,  three  miles 
from  the  centre  of  Boston,  on  an  extensive  and  beautiful  plain.  The  en- 
closure of  the  square  is  with  great  taste  surrounded  with  young  trees. 
Among  the  spacious  buildings  enclosed  in  the  square,  one  is  singular  for 
its  extent  and  noble  simplicity  of  structure,  being  built  of  massive  granite. 
The  buildings,  library,  and  philosophical  apparatus,  are  of  the  most  re- 
spectable class,  the  library  containing  about  30,000  volumes.  A  botani- 
cal garden  is  attached  to  the  establishment.  Twenty  professors  are 
connected  with  the  institution.      A  law,  medical,  and  theological  school 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  29 

are  appended  to  its  academical  advantages.  Taken  tegether,  this  univer- 
sity must  be  classed  at  the  head  of  the  literary  institutions  of  the  new 
world.  The  average  of  the  students,  in  all  the  departments,  is  between 
three  and  four  hundred.  It  is  a  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of  this 
institution,  that  it  was  founded  in  twenty  years  from  the  first  settlement 
of  New  England.  William's  college,  and  Amherst  college  in  the  interior 
of  the  state ,  are  both  important  institutions,  called  for  by  the  rapid  im- 
provement of  the  western  part  of  the  state.  The  Andover  Theological 
seminary  is  richly  endowed,  and,  in  point  of  buildings  and  professor- 
ships, takes  rank  of  all  others  in  the  country.  Philip's  Academy  is  the 
most  distinguished  among  the  academies. 

Religion.  The  prevalent  denomination  is  that  of  Congregationalists, 
divided  into  Trinitarians  and  Unitarians.  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Epis- 
copalians are  also  numerous.  There  are  are  about  seven  hundred  fixed 
congregations  in  the  state. 

Mountains.  The  Green  mountains  range  through  the  central  parts  of 
the  state  from  north  to  south.  These  mountains,  in  their  whole  extent, 
abound  in  noble  elevations,  dark  green  forests,  pleasant  and  sheltered 
valleys,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  impressive  scenery.  The  mountains 
show  in  great  beauty  from  Northampton.  Wachuset,  in  Princeton,  a 
detached  mountain,  is  a  striking  feature  in  the  scenery  of  the  adjacent 
country.  The  principal  range  of  the  Green  mountains  bears  the  name 
of  Hoosac.  The  highest  peaks  are  Saddle,  Takonnac,  Mount  Tom, 
Mount  Holyoke,  and  Toby. 

Rivers.  Massachusetts  has  no  large  rivers,  wholly  within  her  bounds. 
The  Merrimac  passes  out  of  New  Hampshire  in  the  northern  division  of 
the  state,  emtying  into  the  sea  at  Newburyport.  The  Connecticut,  in 
traversing  it  from  north  to  south,  nearly  bisects  the  state.  The  Housa- 
tonic,  Charles  and  Ipswich,  Neponset  and  Taunton,  though  they  have 
short  courses,  are  pleasant  streams.  Indeed,  no  country  of  the  same  ex- 
tent can  show  a  greater  number  of  clear,  quick,  sandstone  streams,  than 
this  state. 

Bays.  The  deep  bay  between  Cape  Ann  and  Cape  Cod,  which  has 
given  name  to  the  state,  has  caused  it  to  have  been  formerly  known  in  the 
other  states  by  the  name  of  the  Bay  State.  Cape  Ann  bounds  it  on  the 
north,  and  Cape  Cod,  a  very  long,  sandy,  narrow  elbow,  running  a  great 
distance  into  the  sea,  on  the  south.  The  adventurous  mariners  of  this 
long  sand  bar  may,  with  as  much  propriety  as  the  people  of  any  other 
district,  be  said  to  have  their  home  upon  the  sea. 

Chief  Toicns.  Boston,  the  metropolis  of  the  state  and  of  New  England, 
is  an  ancient,  opulent  and  beautiful  city,  built  at  the  head  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  on  a  peninsula  connected  with  the  main  land  by  a  narrow 


30  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

neck,  joining  it  at  Roxbury.  Being  chiefly  built  on  a  hill  swelling  from 
the  surrounding  water,  it  presents  an  imposing  aspect  to  the  beholder, 
from  whatever  quarter  it  is  appi-oached.  It  has  a  capacious,  safe,  and 
commodious  harbor,  in  which  five  hundred  vessels  may  ride  at  anchor, 
while  the  entrance  is  so  narrow,  as  scarcely  to  admit  two  ships  abreast. 
It  is  strongly  defended  by  fort  Independence  and  Warren;  and  is  dotted 
with  a  great  number  of  islands,  affording  in  summer  beautiful  verdure, 
pasturage,  and  retreats  for  parties  of  pleasure.  In  regard  to  the  extent  of 
its  shipping,  and  the  amount  of  its  tonnage,  it  is  the  second  city  in  the 
United  States.  It  contains  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  streets,  and  eighty 
wharves  and  quays.  The  number  of  public  buildings  amounts  to  forty; 
and  the  churches,  many  of  them  noble  edifices  of  stone,  to  about  the  same 
number.  No  aspect  of  the  city  is  more  striking  than  the  numerous  and 
tall  spires  of  the  churches.  Among. the  conspicuous  buildings,  is  the 
state  house,  built  on  the  most  elevated  ground  in  the  city,  with  a  front  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet,  and  a  depth  of  sixty-one.  The  build- 
ing is  surmounted  with  a  circular  dome  and  lantern,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  from  the  foundation.  Our  country  offers  no  city  scenery  to 
equal  that  from  this  elevation.  Foreigners  have  compared  it  to  the  view 
of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  the  most  splendid  city  scenery  in  Europe. 
The  new  market,  five  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet  in  length,  is  the  most 
noble  building  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States.  The  Massachusetts 
General  Hospital  is  a  beautiful  building.  Both  of  these  are  of  Chelms- 
ford granite ;  as  is  the  Tremont  House,  containing  one  hundred  and 
eighty  apartments,  and  being  the  most  sumptuous  hotel  in  the  United 
States.  Most  of  the  new  churches,  and  noble  streets,  and  more  opu- 
lent mansions  of  this  city,  are  of  the  same  material.  The  long,  high, 
and  massive  ranges  of  buildings  of  this  enduring  and  beautiful  stone, 
give  the  handsomer  parts  of  the  city  a  most  imposing  appearance.  Tre- 
mont theatre,  the  new  court  house,  and  Trinity  church,  are  among  the 
noble  granite  erections.  A  number  of  the  private  mansions  are  sump- 
tuous ;  and  the  internal  finishing  and  furnishing,  in  a  style  of  great  rich- 
ness and  splendor. 

We  have  not  space  to  enlarge  even  upon  that  feature  of  the  city  which 
constitutes  its  richest  and  proudest  ornament — its  literary  and  charitable 
institutions.  Its  schools,  in  which  seven  thousand  five  hundred  children 
are  instructed,  perhaps,  deserve  to  take  rank  of  all  others.  The  Bos- 
ton Athenveum  is  a  noble  monument  of  the  literary  munificence  of  this 
place.  Its  .select  library  contains  about  twenty-five  thousand  volumes. 
Beside  this,  there  aro  other  libi-aries,  the  largest  of  which  is  the  Boston 
library,  containing  about  ten  thousand  volumes.  The  lyceum  of  this 
city  was  among  the  first  establishments  of  the  kind  in  the  country.     The 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  31 

periodicals  amount  to  about  forty;  among  which,  some  have  an  establish- 
ed and  well  earned  reputation.  The  numerous,  long,  and  magnificent 
bridges,  connecting  the  city  with  the  mainland,  one  of  which  is  between 
three  and  four  thousand  feet  in  length,  are  appendages  that  give  this  town 
an  appearance  unlike  any  other  in  the  Union.  Nothing  can  be  more 
beautiful  in  a  dark  night,  than  these  numerous,  long,  straight  parallel 
lines  of  illu  mination,  furnished  by  the  lamps^over  the  water.  More  capi- 
tal is  concentred  in  this  opulent  city,  than  in  any  other  American  town 
of  its  size.  Its  money  transactions  are  carried  on  by  eighteen  banks. 
Chantrey's  noble  statue  of  Washington  is  placed  in  an  apartment  pre- 
pared for  this  purpose,  in  the  state  house.  The  common,  fronted  on  one 
side  by  a  double  row  of  noble  trees,  called  the  mall,  contains  forty-four 
acres,  and  presents  on  one  side  splendid  water  views,  and  on  the  other 
sumptuous  and  magnificent  dwellings;  among  which,  Collonade  Row 
makes  a  conspicuous  figure. 

Beautiful  villages  surround  this  city  in  all  directions,  and  are  seen  in 
the  distance  from  the  summit  of  the  state  house,  like  a  continued  city. 
More  than  twenty  spires,  beside  those  of  the  city,  can  be  counted.  Though 
the  size  of  the  city  proper  does  not  compare  with  New  York  or  Philadel- 
phia, the  environs  of  no  other  American  town  will  vie  with  it  in  point  of 
numerous  and  compact  villages,  high  cultivation,  display  of  taste  and 
opulence,  and  especially  in  the  show  of  the  numerous  and  magnificent 
country  villas  belonging  to  the  citizens.  The  eye  wanders  over  the 
bay,  dotted  with  green  islands,  and  whitened  with  sails,  takes  in  the 
city  array  of  public  buildings  and  spires,  and  the  sumptuous  massive 
granite  establishments,  and  the  white  villages  beyond,  surmounted  widi 
their  spires;  and  is  lost  in  the  distant  show  of  towns,  cultivation,  and 
embellishments. 

Among  the  most  interesting  points  of  view  beyond  the  city,  is  Charles- 
town,  itself  showing  as  a  city;  its  consecrated  heights,  associated  with 
all  that  is  affecting  in  revolutionary  remembrances,  the  rising  granite 
column  that  crowns  Bunker  hill,  the  noble  navy  yard,  the  dark  moral 
shading  cast  upon  the  picture  by  the  penitentiary ;  and  beyond,  the  unos- 
tentatious canal,  with  its  slow  moving  boats,  opening  to  the  mind  more 
than  meets  the  eye.  As  a  contrast  to  the  business,  life,  and  bustle  in  this 
direction,  the  spacious  halls  of  the  university  show  among  their  trees,  still 
further  in  the  distance,  in  that  repose  and  stillness  that  belong  to  literary 
leisure,  and  the  quiet  efforts  of  thought. 

The  mdl-dam  bridge  and  basins  constitutes  a  magnificent  work,  and 
contributes,  with  the  genius  af  the  people,  to  render  Boston  a  manufactur- 
ing place.  It  is  distinguished  among  others  for  the  beauty  and  excel- 
lence of  its  manufactures  in  glass.     Wool  and  cotton  cards,  and  paper 


32  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

hangings, are  important  items  in  her  manufactures;  and  as  a  publishing 
place,  in  the  number  and  beauty  of  the  books  printed  here,  this  city  stands 
deservedly  preeminent.  In  another  place  we  have  touched  upon  the 
results  of  her  charitable  and  humane  institutions.  For  the  beauty  of  her 
mansions,  for  her  monuments  of  taste  and  literature,  for  her  religious 
and  humane  institutions,  for  the  munificence  of  her  charities,  and  for  the 
ample  hospitality  of  her  enlightened  citizens,  the  metropolis  of  New 
England  will  be  the  city  admired  and  gratefully  remembered  by  the 
stranger.  It  is  distant  300  miles  S.  E.  from  Montreal,  and  300  N.  E. 
from  Philadelphia.  42°  22'  N.  L.  Population  in  1820,  43,298.  In 
1830,   61,392. 

Charlestown  is  connected  with  Boston  by  Charlestown  bridge;  and 
seen  at  a  little  distance,  to  the  eye  makes  part  of  Boston,  as  it  does  in 
fact,  to  all  other  than  municipal  purposes .  Among  its  public  buildings,  is 
the  United  States  navy  yard,  in  its  dry  dock  and  general  appurtenances, 
a  noble  national  monument;  the  state  prison,  a  structure  of  massive 
granite;  the  marine  hospital;  a  hospital  for  the  insane;  some  handsome 
churches,  and  the  Bunker  hill  Monument,  on  which  six  courses  of  stone, 
amounting  to  fourteen  thousand  tons,  are  laid.  Into  the  harbor  enters 
the  Middlesex  canal,  connecting  it  with  the  interior  of  New  Hampshire 
by  the  Merrimac.  Bunker,  Breed,  and  Cobble  hills,  identified  with  the 
most  affecting  recollections  of  the  incipient  revolutionary  struggle,  are  in 
this  town.  It  is  a  port  of  entry  in  connection  with  Boston,  and  has  con- 
siderable shipping  and  trade.  Population  in  1820,  6,591.  In  1830, 
8,783.  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  Milton,  Cambridge,  Watertown,  Medford, 
Chelsea  and  Lynn,  are  villages,  some  of  them  large  enough  to  be  classed 
as  towns,  in  the  younger  and  less  settled  states,  all  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Boston. 

Salem,  thirteen  miles  N.  E.  from  Boston,  is  built  on  a  projection  of 
land  between  two  arms  of  the  sea,  called  North  and  South  rivers.  The 
site  is  a  level  and  handsome  plain.  Providence  has  recently  outstripped 
it  in  population.  But  in  point  of  commercial  wealth  and  importance  it 
continues  to  be  the  second  town,  as  it  is,  next  to  Plymouth,  the  oldest  town 
in  New  England.  A  bridge,  one  thousand  five  hundred  feet  long,  con- 
nects it  with  the  populous  town  of  Beverly,  and  a  shorter  one  with  South 
Salem.  It  has  sixteen  public  buildings,  among  which  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  museums  in  the  United  States,  amply  stored  with  foreign 
curiosities;  and  an  athenaeum  containing  five  thousand  volumes.  It  has 
twelve  or  thirteen  churches,  some  of  them  are  spacious  buildings,  and 
most  of  them  are  ornamented  with  spires.  From  Gallows  hill,  in  this 
town — an  effecting  monument  of  the  horrible  delusion  of  witchcraft — six- 
teen or  seventeen  spires  rise  upon  the  eye.     This  prevalence  of  spires 


ATLANTIC    STATKS.  33 

imparts  a  beauty,  and  a  host  of  associations  to  a  northern  town,  that  we 
regret  to  say,  grow  rarer  objects  in  the  towns  farther  south.  The  town 
is  handsomely  built,  and  some  of  the  residences  indicate  taste  and  opu- 
lence. In  1821,  this  town  owned  twenty-three  thousand  and  forty-six 
tons  of  shipping.  It  was  for  many  years  the  centre  of  the  East  India 
trade  of  New  England.  There  are  living  here  one  hundred  and  sixty 
persons,  who,  as  masters  and  supercargoes  of  ships,  have  doubled  the 
Capes  of  Good  Hope  and  Horn.  These  persons  are  known  by  the  cant 
appellation  of  Old  Salts.  Most  of  the  adult  males  of  this  town  have  en- 
countered the  gales  of  all  seas,  and  consider  the  deep  as  their  harvest 
and  home.  A  simple  and  noble  hospitality  characterize  this  interesting 
town;  and  there  are  merchants  here,  who,  in  enterprise,  opulence,  and 
the  noble  use  of  riches,  might  claim  kindred  with  the  princely  Antonia  of 
Rialto.  A  beautiful  common  of  ten  acres,  surrounded  with  trees,  consti- 
tuting a  public  walk,  ornaments  the  town.  The  entrance  to  its  harbor  is 
indicated  by  a  light-house,  and  defended  by  two  forts.  It  contains  eigh- 
teen public,  and  fifty-eight  private  schools;  and  in  its  humane,  charitable, 
and  literary  institutions,  sustains  an  honorable  competition  with  the  capi 
tal.  A  Mill  Dam  Company,  on  the  plan  of  that  o£  Boston  and  Roxbury, 
has  been  incorporated  in  this  town,  which  will  contain,  it  is  contempla- 
ted, power  for  forty  mills;  and  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  give  a  new  im- 
pulse to  the  energies  of  this  ancient  and  opulent  town. 

Marblehead,  four  and  a  half  miles  south-east  of  this  place,  on  a  rocky 
point  projecting  into  the  sea,  is,  like  Salem,  a  town  subsisting  exclusively 
by  maritime  pursuits,  being  the  most  largely  engaged  in  the  fishing  busi- 
ness of  any  other  town  in  the  United  States.  In  1818,  it  employed  in 
the  fisheries  one  hundred  and  three  vessels.  It  suffered  as  severely  in 
the  revolutionary  war  as  any  other  town  in  the  Union ;  and  at  the  close 
of  the  late  war,  five  hundred  of  its  mariners  were  in  foreign  prisons.  It 
contains  five  places  of  public  worship.  The  inhabitants  are  noted  for 
their  generous  and  reckless  readiness  to  jeopard  their  lives  at  the  call 
of  war  or  the  dangers  of  the  sea.  The  population  in  1S20,  was  5,630. 
In  1830,  5,182,  being  one  of  the  very  few  towns  that  shows  a  diminution 
of  its  numbers  since  the  preceding  census.  Being  equally  remarkable 
for  its  salubrity,  and  the  prolific  increase  of  its  inhabitants,  this  circum- 
stance must  be  accounted  for  by  its  losses  from  emigration. 

Beverly,  north-east  of  Salem,  and  connected  with  it  by  a  long  bridge, 
is  a  populous,  wealthy,  and  mercantile  town,  containing  four  churches, 
and  being,  like  Marblehead,  largely  engaged  in  the  fisheries.  The  popu- 
lation is  between  4  and  5,000. 

Newburyport  is  a  handsomely  built  town,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Mer- 
riraac,  three  miles  from  the  mouth,  and  thirty-two  north-east  from  Boston. 
Vol.  II.  5 


34  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

It  contains  six  public  buildings,  and  seven  bouses  for  public  worship.  It 
has  a  respectable  amount  of  shipping  and  foreign  commerce,  and  is  large- 
ly engaged  in  the  fisheries.  Ship  building  is  carried  on  here  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  Its  churches,  adorned  with  tall  and  handsome  spires, 
give  it  a  striking  appearance  as  it  is  approached.  Population  in  1820, 
6,852.  In  1830,  6,275,  showing  a  diminution  of  its  numbers  since  the 
preceding  census.  Gloucester,  sixteen  miles  north-cast  from  Salem,  is  a 
sea  port,  with  considerable  shipping,  six  churches,  and  between  6  and 
7,000  inhabitants.  New  Bedford,  situated  on  the  estuary  of  Accushnet 
river  emptying  into  Buzzard's  Bay,  has  a  safe  and  convenient  harbor,  and 
a  large  amount  of  shipping.  Besides  considerable  foreign  commerce, 
this  town  is  largely  concerned  in  the  whale  fishery,  and  the  fisheries  of 
codon  the  Grand  Banks.  It  contains  five  or  six  houses  of  public  wor- 
ship, and  is  a  wealthy  and  thriving  town.  Population  in  1830,  7,592. 
It  is  situated  fifty-two  miles  south  of  Boston.  Nantucket  is,  in  many  re- 
spects, the  most  striking  and  singular  town  in  America.  It  is  situated  on 
an  island,  twenty-four  miles  from  the  main  land,  fifteen  miles  long,  and 
on  an  average  of  eight  miles  broad.  The  island  is  occupied  in  common 
by  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  who  pasture  three  or  four  hundred  cows, 
and  feed  one  thousand  four  hundred  sheep  upon  it.  But  their  grand  pas- 
turage is  in  the  south  seas,  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  globe;  and  the 
instrument  with  which  they  despatch  the  unwieldy  animals,  that  have 
been  fattening  for  them  in  the'pathless  depths,  is  the'Jiarpoon.  Though 
they  have  some  respectable  manufactories,  the  whaling  business  is  the 
grand  occupation  of  the  inhabitants.  They  have  not  far  from  fifty  ships 
employed  in  this  business.  Most  of  these  vessels,  in  their  fearful  pursuit, 
double  Cape  Horn.  The  crews  are  trained  to  be  become  a  sort  of  men 
fish;  and  in  killing  the  huge  sea-monsters,  they  encounter  perils,  and  ac- 
custom themselves  to  enterprises,  that  arc  hardly  dreamed  of  by  the 
peaceful  agriculturist  of  the  interior. 

The  town  contains  two  banks,  two  insurance  offices,  a  woolen  factory, 
thirty  spermaceti  works,  and  five  houses  for  public  worship.  The  Friends 
constitute  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  population.  Population  in 
1820,  7,206.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  south-east  from 
Boston. 

Plymouth,  the  hive  of  the  puritan  pilgrims,  and  the  oldest  town  in 
New  England,  is  situated  on  the  sea,  thirty-six  miles  south-cast  from 
Boston.  It  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  shipping,  employed  in  for- 
eign trade  and  the  fisheries.  Beside  the  public  buildings,  it  contains  four 
churches,  and  not  far  from  5,000  inhabitants. 

Lowell,  near  the  Merrimac,  twelve  miles  north  of  Boston,  is  next  to 
Pittsburgh,  the  largest  manufacturing  town  in  the  United  States.     We 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  35 

can  well  remember  coming  over  the  site  when  it  was  an  uninhabited  and 
sterile  plain.  The  first  erection  was  in  1813.  In  1818  it  began  to 
flourish.  The  water  power  is  convenient,  immense,  and  unfailing.  In 
1828,  two  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars  were  invested  in  new  factories. 
The  number  of  persons  employed  was  one  thousand  six  hundred.  The 
factories  were  built  in  compact  streets.  About  that  time,  this,  in  com- 
mon with  other  similar  establishments,  experienced  great  depression, 
from  which  it  has  since  entirely  recovered.  It  contains  a  number  of 
churches  and  public  buildings,  and  has  had  the  most  rapid  growth  of  any 
town  in  the  state.     In  1830  it  contained  0,178  inhabitants. 

Worcester  is  a  beautiful  interior  town,  ibrty  miles  south-west  from  Bos- 
ton. It  contains  a  number  of  spacious  public  buildings,  three  churches, 
and  one  street  more  than  a  mile  in  length,  handsomely  built;  some  of  the 
houses  having  an  appearance  of  splendor.  It  contains  a  number  of  con- 
siderable manufacturing  establishments ;  and  since  the  Blackstone  canal 
has  connected  it  with  Providence  and  the  sea,  it  has  shown  the  rapid 
advance  which  has  resulted  from  similar  causes  elsewhere.  As  a  fact, 
illustrating  the  results  of  the  canal  system,  it  is  stated,  that  cabinet  work 
was  manufactured  here  from  timber  which  grew  on  the  lake  shore  of 
Ohio. 

Springfield  is  a  large  and  handsome  village,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Con- 
necticut, twenty-eight  miles  north  of  Hartford,  and  eighty-eight  south-west 
from  Boston,  containing  a  number  of  public  buildings  and  manufactories, 
two  public  libraries,  and  a  great  number  of  elegant  houses.  The  United 
States'  arsenal,  a  little  east  of  the  village,  makes  an  imposing  show.  A 
capital  United  States'  manufactory  of  small  arms  is  situated  about  a  mile 
from  the  arsenal,  employing  a  number  of  mills  and  work  shops,  and  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  hands,  who  manufacture  about  eighteen  thousand 
muskets  a  year. 

Northampton  is  a  charmingly  situated  village  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Connecticut,  ninety-five  miles  west  of  Boston.  It  contains  a  number  of 
handsome  public  buildings,  and  is  noted  for  two  fine  hotels,  and  for  being 
a  place  of  great  resort  for  travellers,  from  the  romantic  beauty  of  the 
country  in  the  vicinity.  A  charming  stream  passes  through  the  centre 
of  the  town,  on  which  are  manufactoi  ies.  Round  Hill  school  in  this  town, 
under  the  care  of  Messrs.  Bancroft  and  Cogswell,  has  gained  great 
reputation. 

There  is  a  noted  lead  mine,  visited  as  a  curiosity,  near  this  town. 

Waltham  is  known  as  the  seat  of  a  great  manufacturing  establishment, 
like  that  of  Lowell.  Cambridge,  the  seat  of  Harvard  University,  is  a 
quiet  and  beautiful  village.  Lynn,  famous  for  its  charming  resort  for  sea 
air  and  scenery  in  the  peninsula  of  Nahant,  and  its  immense  manufac- 


36  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

ture  of  shoes,  contains  6,130  inhabitants,  chiefly  occupied  in  that  pursuit, 
Taunton,  a  large  and  beautiful  manufacturing  village  on  Taunton  river, 
near  Rhode  Island,  contains  5,798  inhabitants.     Andover  is  an  opulent 
agricultural  town,  twenty  miles  north  of  Boston,  and  contains  two  large 
parishes.     The  south  parish  has  a  numher  of  manufacturing  establish- 
ments.    The  Theological  Seminary  in  this  place  is  richly  endowed.    Its 
buildings  comprise  four  dwelling  houses  for  the  officers,  and  three  spa- 
cious public  edifices.     The  library  contains  over  five  thousand  volumes, 
and  there  are  four  theological  professors.     The  number  of  students  ranges 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty.     Philips'  Acade- 
my we  have  already  noted  as  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  endowed  acade- 
mies in  the  United  States.      Thirty  beautiful  villages  more  might  be 
named,  containing  their  white  streets,  their  spires,  and  their  literary  in- 
stitutions, and  at  least  twenty  towns  more,  in  which  there  are  large  manu- 
facturing establishments.    Among  the  handsome  villages  are  a  number  not 
here  specified,  on  Connecticut  river,  a  stream  which,  in  its  whole  course, 
from  its  sources  to  its  estuary,  flows  by  more  handsome  towns  than  any 
other  in  the  United  States.     Among  those  in  Massachusetts,  we  mention 
Northfield,  Deerfield,  Hatfield,  and  Hadley,  as  samples  of  many  more. 
Concord,  sixteen  miles  north-west  from  Boston,  is  a  large  and  neat  vil- 
lage, and  noted  for  being  the  place  where  the  British  were  first  attacked 
on  the  day  of  Lexington  battle.     Among  the  considerable  manufacturing 
towns  not  before  mentioned,  are  Fitchburg  and  Milbury,  in  the  coun- 
ty of  Worcester;  Bridgewatcr  and  Middleborough,  famous  for  their  manu- 
factures of  iron;  Leominister,  Mendon,   Troy,  Leicester,  and  various 
other  places  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Islands.  We  have  mentioned  Nantucket.  Martha's  Vineyard  is  a 
considerable  island  west  of  Nantucket,  which,  along  with  the  Elizabeth 
island,  constitutes  Duke's  county. 

Roads  and  Canals.  Turnpikes,  too  numerous  to  mention,  intersect 
the  country  in  every  direction.  Middlesex  canal,  connecting  the  Merri- 
mac  with  Boston  harbor,  is  twenty-eight  miles  in  length,  and  is  noted  for 
having  been  the  first  work  of  the  kind  of  any  consequence  attempted  in 
the  country.  The  canal  round  South  Hadley  Falls  is  seven  hundred  and 
twelve  rods  long;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  cut  being  through  the  solid 
rock,  in  some  places  forty  feet  in  thickness,  it  is  a  work  of  great  magni- 
tude. Blackstone  canal,  connecting  Worcester  with  Providence,  is  forty 
miles  long.  It  is  in  contemplation  to  continue  this  through  the  interior 
to  Fitchburgh.  A  rail  road  is  in  contemplation  from  Boston  to  Hudson 
river.  Various  other  public  works,  both  canals  and  rail  roads,  have  been 
discussed,  and  some  have  passed  to  the  more  definite  shape  of  having  the 
etock  taken. 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  37 

Productions.  Every  thing  that  the  northern  states  furnish,  and  much 
that  is  not  indigenous  to  the  climate,  has  been  naturalized  by  horti- 
cultural care  and  skill.  It  is  particularly  noted  for  producing  great 
quantities  of  the  finest  fruit.  It  shares  the  greater  portion  of  the  Bank 
and  whale  fisheries  in  the  United  States.  This  pursuit  employs  many 
thousands  of  hands,  furnishes  one  of  the  most  important  items  in  these 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  trains  vast  numbers  of  the  most  experi- 
enced and  intrepid  mariners  in  the  world.  The  ships  of  this  great  mari- 
time state  spread  their  sails  in  every  sea.  Her  manufacturing  establish- 
ments are  too  numerous  to  specify.  Her  cotton  factories  employ  a  vast 
number  of  hands  and  a  great  amount  of  capital.  A  proof  of  the  result  of 
these  great  establishments  may  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  twenty  years 
since,  the  cheap  cottons  of  the  United  States  were  imported  from  India. 
This  state  now  sends  her  manufactured  cottons  there,  and  finds  the  trade 
lucrative.  Since  the  manufacturing  system  has  prevailed,  this  state  has 
rapidly  increased  in  population ;  and  the  increase  of  the  bustle  of  business 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  the  number  of  stage  coaches,  that  pass 
to  and  from  Boston,  has  tripled.  As  an  example  of  its  industry,  more  than 
a  million  pairs  of  shoes  have  been  manufactured  in  Lynn  in  a  single  year. 

History.  This  state  and  Virginia  are  the  nursing  mothers  of  the  Atlan- 
tic states.  The  English  people,  who  emigrated  in  1620  to  the  dreary  and 
snowy  wilderness  of  Plymouth  strands,  were  called  puritans.  The  contest 
for  our  independence  began  at  Lexington,  eleven  miles  north-west  of 
Boston.  On  a  plain  stone  column,  near  the  church  on  the  public  square, 
is  the  simple  and  affecting  inscription  of  the  names  of  the  first  victims  of 
the  struggles.  No  state  in  the  Union  has  left  a  more  indelible  impress  of 
her  enterprise,  education,  institutions,  and  character,  on  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  on  all  countries,  where  the  American  flag  is  unfurled,  than 
Massachusetts. 


RHODE   ISLAND. 

Length,  40  miles.  Breadth,  29.  Contains  1350  square  miles. 
Bounded  north  and  east  by  Massachusetts ;  south  by  the  Atlantic ;  west 
by  Connecticut.  Between  41°  22'  and  42°  3'  north  latitude;  and  5°  7' 
and  5°  54'  east  longitude  from  Washington. 

Counties.  Bristol,  Bristol;  Kent,  E.  Greenwich;  Newport,  Newport; 
Providence,  Providence;  Washington,  S.  Kingston.    Population  in  1820, 


38  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

83,059.     In  1830,97,210.     In  point  of  area,  this  is  by  far  the  smallest 
state  in  the  Union. 

Physical  Aspect.  Along  the  sea  shore  of  the  main  land,  much  of  the 
M3oil  is  sterile.  Rhode  Island,  which  gives  name  to  the  state,  has  a  fine 
soil,  is  all  under  high  cultivation,  and  in  the  warm  months  presents  a 
anost  delightful  verdure.  The  climate,  especially  of  this  beautiful  island, 
lis  highly  salubrious. 

Rivers,  Bays,  and  Islands,  The  courses  of  the  rivers  are  short. 
They  are  Pawtucket,  Providence,  Pawtuxet,  Paw  cat  uc,  and  Wood  river. 
Narraganset  bay  stretches  from  Point  Seaconnet,  on  the  main  land,  to 
Point  Judith,  on  the  west;  being  thirty-five  miles  long,  and  embosoming 
many  islands.  Rhode  Island,  the  chief  of  them,  is  fifteen  miles  long  by  an 
ayerage  of  three  and  a  half  wide.  Cannonicut,  Prudence,  Patience,  Hope, 
Dyer's,  Hog,  and  Block  islands,  lie  farther  west  in  the  bay.  There  are 
few  finer  sheets  of  water  in  the  world,  furnishing  richer  and  more  inter- 
esting views  of  sea  scenery,  and  of  towns  and  spires  along  the  curving 
shore,  than  the  steam-boat  passage  from  Providence  up  Long  Island 
Sound  to  New  York. 

Productions.  The  same  as  in  Massachusetts  j  except,  that  being  far- 
ther south,  parts  of  the  state,  particularly  the  insular  portions,  would  yield 
fruits  and  productions  that  require  a  milder  climate.  The  islands  and 
the  Narraganset  country  are  celebrated  for  their  fertility  and  their  fine 
sheep,  cattle,  butter,  and  cheese.  The  remainder  of  the  state  has  a  thin 
soil,  in  some  parts  rocky  and  sterile.  Iron  and  copper  ores  are  found  in 
the  state;  and  it  abounds  in  limestone.  Anthracite  coal  has  been  discov- 
ered in  the  island,  that  gives  the  state  its  name.  The  shores,  bay,  and 
harbors  abound  in  the  finest  fish. 

Chief  Towns.  Providence  is  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Pawtucket,  on  both  sides  of  it,  and  connected  by  a  bridge  over  it.  Its 
position  is  a  pleasant  one,  though  on  the  sharp  acclivities  of  hills.  It  pos- 
sesses a  fine  harbor  for  ships  of  almost  any  burden ;  and  its  commerce  is 
extensive  and  rapidly  increasing, — its  shipping  amounting  to  25,000  tons. 
It  contains  fifteen  or  sixteen  public  buildings,  among  which  the  buildings 
of  Brown  University,  and  the  Arcade,  a  magnificent  structure,  are  the 
most  conspicuous.  It  has  twelve  churches  for  the  different  denomina- 
tions. Two  of  the  Congregational  churches,  and  a  Baptist  and  Episco- 
palian church,  are  remarkable  for  their  beauty.  The  numerous  and  re- 
spectable manufactories  of  the  city  and  Pawtucket,  are  what  has  given 
.this  city  its  impulse  towards  prosperity.  Few  towns  have  increased  more 
rapidly  within  the  last  ten  years.  Another  element  of  this  increase  has 
been  its  connection  with  the  interior  of  Massachusetts  by  the  Blackatone 
canal.    Brown  University  is  a  respectable  and  flourishing  institution- 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  39 

There  are  two  college  edifices;  one,  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  forty-six 
feet, and  four  stories  high,  with  wings;  and  the  other  one  hundred  and 
twenty  by  forty  feet.  The  position  of  these  buildings,  on  a  noble  eleva- 
tion, is  charming.  The  government  of  the  University  is  composed  of 
thirty-six  trustees,  of  whom  the  president  and  twenty-one  others  must  be 
Baptist.  The  other  members  of  the  board  arc  shared  among  the  differ- 
ent denominations,  of  whom  five  must  be  Friends.  This  is  a  most  impres- 
sive example  of  the  real  liberality  of  the  age!  Such,  according  to  this 
charter,  must  be  the  components  of  this  corporation,  be  the  spirit  of  the 
age  what  it  may!  This  notwithstanding,  it  is  well  provided  with  the  cus- 
tomary appurtenances  of  such  seminaries,  and  has  proved  an  efficient 
and  useful  institution.  The  Friend's  boarding  school  in  this  city  is  a  no- 
ble establishment.  Every  aspect  of  this  thriving  and  beautiful  town  indi- 
cates cheerful  activity.  It  is  a  noted  town  of  steam  boat  embarkation  up 
the  sound  for  New  York,  for  the  numerous  travellers  from  the  maritime 
country  north  of  it.  It  is  40  miles  south-west  of  Boston.  Its  population 
in  1820,  was  11,767.  In  1830,  17,832,  showing  a  more  rapid  growth 
than  any  other  town  in  New  England,  with  the  exception  of  Lowell,  and 
constituting  it  in  population  the  second  town  in  that  division  of  the 
country. 

The  flourishing  town  of  Pawtuckct  lies  partly  in  this  state,  in  what  is 
called  North  Providence,  and  partly  in  Massachusetts.  It  is  noted  for 
the  number  and  extent  of  its  manufactories,  and  the  thriving  village  that 
has  grown  up  about  them.  These  factories  are  at  the  charming  cascade 
of  Pawtucket  river.  Five  or  six  public  buildings,  two  banks,  ten  or 
twelve  cotton  factories,  and  as  many  other  factories,  have  here  been  the 
growth  of  a  few  years.  The  whirling  of  the  mills,  the  dashing  of  the  wa- 
ter, and  the  activity  of  the  village,  altogether  constitute  a  spectacle  of  great 
interest.     Population  about  4,000. 

Newport,  which  shares  the  seat  of  government  alternately  with  Provi- 
dence, is  situated  on  the  southern  extremity  of  Rhode  Island,  thirty  miles 
south  of  Providence.  Its  harbor  for  spaciousness,  depth,  safety,  and  ease  of 
access,  has  few  superior  to  it  in  the  United  States.  The  town  is  large  and 
pleasant,  and  delightfully  situated  on  a  lovely  island,  with  a  fine  climate; 
a  favorite,  accustomed,  and  almost  prescribed  resort  for  strangers  from 
the  West  Indies,  and  the  south  of  the  United  States,  for  spending  the  sum- 
mer months.  Yet  it  has  an  air  of  antiquity  and  decay.  It  is  strongly  defen- 
ded by  three  forts  on  the  seaboard,  and  is  the  seat  of  a  military  hospital  of 
the  United  States.  Fort  Adams  is  one  of  the  most  important  fortresses  in 
the  United  States  coast  line  of  defence.  The  poor-house  of  this  city  is 
remarkable  for  the  cheapness,  efficiency,  and  humanity  of  the  establish- 
ment.    Rent  is  uncommonly  cheap,  and  the  fish  market  is  the  most  cheap, 


40  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

luxurious,  and  abundant,  perhaps  in  the  world.  It  has  nine  or  ten  public 
buildings,  eleven  churches ,  and  in  1820,  contained  7,319  inhabitants. 
In  1830,  8,010. 

Bristol  is  a  neat  commercial  town,  with  a  good  harbor,  and  owning 
considerable  shipping,  thirty-six  miles  south-west  of  Boston,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  of  Providence.  It  has  a  number  of  public  buildings, 
four  churches,  and  about  3,000  inhabitants.  Warren,  South  Kingston, 
East  Greenwich,  Smithfield,  Pawtucket,  and  Warwich,  are  the  other  con- 
siderable villages.     The  last  named  town  contains  5,529  inhabitants. 

The  state  has  ten  incorporated  academies,  and  not  far  from  three  hun- 
dred primary  schools.  This  is  the  more  honorable  to  it,  as  public  schools 
are  not  supported  by  law  as  in  the  other  New  England  states.  Baptists 
are  the  most  numerous  religious  denomination,  and  next  to  them,  Friends. 
There  are  one  hundred  fixed  congregations  in  the  state. 

The  exports  of  this  state  in  1829,  were  $722,106.  The  tonnage  was 
43,406  tons.  By  the  census  of  1820,  0,091  persons  were  engaged  in 
manufactures,  chiefly  of  cotton.  The  value  of  manufactured  goods  was 
$4,329,000.    It  must  now  amount  to  10,000,000. 


CONNECTICUT, 

Is  bounded  north  by  Massachusetts;  east  by  Rhode  Island;  south  by 
Long  Island  Sound ;  west  by  New  York.  Between  41°  and  41°  2'  north 
latitude,  and  3°  16'  and  5°  11'  east  longitude  from  Washington.  Length, 
88  miles;  average  breadth,  53  miles.  Contains  4,664  square  miles. 
The  counties  are  Fairfield,  Fairfield,  Danbury;  Hartford,  Hartford; 
Litchfield,  Litchfield;  Middlesex,  Middletown;  New  Haven,  New  Haven; 
New  London,  New  London,  Norwich;  Tolland,  Tolland;  Windham, 
Windham.     Population  in  1820,  275,248.     In  1830,  297,711. 

Physical  Aspect.  There  are  some  beautiful  narrow  plains  along  the 
rivers.  The  general  surface  is  strongly  undulating.  Some  portions  of 
the  surface  are  rugged.  The  Green  mountain  range  passing  through 
this  state  into  the  sea,  it  has  a  number  of  mountains,  though  none  of  but 
moderate  elevation.  The  soil  is  generally  rich.  Almost  the  whole  sur- 
face is  under  small  stone  enclosures,  an  index,  we  may  remark  in  pass- 
ing, of  New  England  husbandry  in  general.  The  face  of  the  country  is 
chequered  by  a  vast  number  of  roads. 

Productions.    Every  thing  indicates  a  numerous  and  industrious  pop- 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  41 

ulation,  and  a  great  effort  to  extract  all  that  is  practicable  from  the  soil. 
The  point,  in  which  the  productions  of  this  state  differ  from  those  of  the 
other  New  England  states,  is  in  more  abundant  orchards,  and  in  greater 
care  and  skill  in  the  preparation  of  what  is  known  abroad  by  the  name 
of  Goshen  butter  and  cheese.  The  exports  are  chiefly  to  the  West  In- 
dies ;  and  among  the  products  common  to  the  other  New  England  states, 
the  industrious  people  have  gained  a  reputation  abroad  for  the  great 
amount  of  onions  raised  for  exportation.  The  state  owns  60,859  tons  of 
shipping  engaged  in  foreign  trade;  and  the  value  of  the  exports,  in  1829, 
was  $521,545. 

Rivers.  This  state  receives  its  name  from  the  Connecticut,  which  runs 
through  the  state  from  north  to  south.  This  river  rises  near  Canada,  in 
New  Hampshire,  and  after  a  course  of  four  hundred  and  ten  miles,  through 
a  most  charming  alluvial  border,  in  its  whole  length  rendered  cheerful  by 
a  succession  of  beautiful  villages,  it  empties  into  Long  Island  Sound,  be- 
tween Saybrook  and  Lime.  It  is  navigable  for  considerable  vessels  to 
Middletown ;  for  vessels  of  eight  feet  draft  to  Hartford,  fifty  miles  from  its 
mouth;  and  for  steam  boats  to  Bath,  New  Hampshire,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  higher.  There  are  six  considerable  falls  in  the  river,  of  which 
the  most  remarkable  are  Bellows  Falls,  at  Walpole.  These  falls  have 
been  overcome  by  means  of  locks  and  dams.  The  elevation  overcome 
by  these  artificial  means  is  two  hundred  feet.  The  other  considerable 
streams  are  Housatonic,  Thames,  and  Naugatuck. 

Religion.  There  are  four  hundred  and  sixty  fixed  religious  societies, 
of  which  about  half  are  Congregationalists,  inclining  in  their  church  gov- 
ernment more  to  the  forms  of  Presbyterianism  than  the  same  churches 
in  the  other  New  England  states. 

Literature.  Yale  College  ranks  as  the  second  literary  institution  in 
the  United  States.  It  is  situated  on  a  level  square,  in  the  centre  of  the 
charming  city  of  New  Haven.  The  centre  of  this  square  is  occupied  by 
public  buildings;  and  the  college  buildings,  eight  in  number,  range  on 
one  of  the  sides.  The  square  is  shaded  with  rows  of  elms;  and,  though 
in  the  midst  of  a  busy  and  bustling  town,  wears  the  aspect  of  a  repose, 
that  befits  the  meditative  retreats  of  students.  The  united  resources  of 
the  libraries  furnish  about  10,000  volumes.  The  philosophical  and 
chemical  apparatus  is  excellent  and  complete.  The  faculty  consists  of  a 
president,  ten  professors,  and  five  tutors.  The  whole  number  of  students 
ih  1829,  divided  among  the  departments  of  law,  medicine,  theology,  and 
the  academic  course,  was  four  hundred  and  ninety-six.  Of  this  number, 
the  college  students  made  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine. 

Of  high  schools,  seminaries,  and  academies,  there  are  thirty-four;  of 
which  a  school  in  New  Haven,  under  the  care  of  Messrs.  Dvvight,  on  the 
Vol.  II.  6 


42  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

plan  of  the  Round  Hill  School  at  Northampton,  has  much  reputation. 
There  is  an  asylum  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  at  Hartford,  which,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Mr.  Gallaudet,  and  Mr.  Le  Clerc,  a  pupil  of  the  fa- 
mous Abbe  Sicard,  as  assistant,  has  gained  high  estimation  among  the 
lovers  of  humanity.  The  system  of  general  education  and  free  schools, 
is  here  carried  to  its  utmost  extent;  and  what  gives  it  efficiency,  is  a  fund 
of  nearly  two  millions  of  dolk  -%  t  the  interest  of  which,  appropriated  exclu- 
sively to  the  support  of  schools,  enables  parents  to  give  their  children  a 
gratuitous  education. 

Manufactures.  The  ingenuity  and  industry  of  the  people  of  this  state 
in  this  line,  has  a  reputation  co-extensive  with  the  Union.  From  the 
number  of  articles  which  they  send  abroad,  known  in  the  south  and  west 
by  the  name  of  Yankee  notions,  especially  tin-ware,  wooden  clocks,  and 
a  certain  species  of  books,  made  especially  to  sell  in  particular  regions  of 
the  country,  many  a  pleasant  knavery  has  been  ascribed  to  them,  of 
which  the  enterprising  and  respectable  travelling  merchants  were  wholly 
harmless.  Their  manufactures  consist  of  cotton  and  woolen  goods,  tin- 
ware ,  glass,  paper,  shoes,  clocks,  buttons,  fire  arms,  and  many  other 
products  of  their  ingenuity.  In  many  of  the  squares  of  the  villages,  are 
heaps  of  the  cuttings  of  tin,  not  unlike  the  parings  of  leather  in  the  town 
of  Lynn. 

Towns.  New  Haven  and  Hartford  are  alternately  the  seats  of  the  state 
government.  But  New  Haven  is  the  largest  city  in  the  state.  Its  position 
is  on  the  head  of  a  bay  of  Long  Island  Sound.  The  area  is  an  extensive 
plain,  bounded  on  the  north  by  magnificent  stone  bluffs,  three  or  four  hun- 
dred feet  high.  Two  streams  of  water  mark  its  eastern  and  western 
extremities.  A  square  in  the  centre  is  laid  out  as  a  public  ground.  It 
is  shaded  with  trees,  kept  neat,  and  is  of  a  dry  and  absorbing  soil,  so  as 
to  be  generally  free  from  the  inconveniences  of  muddiness.  On  this 
square  are  the  public  buildings,  the  college  edifices,  and  four  churches. 
Taken  all  together,  there  is  no  square  in  the  Union  to  compare  with  the 
beauty  of  this.  Three  of  these  churches  are  very  handsome  buildings, 
particularly  the  Episcopal  church.  The  streets  are  regular,  the  squares 
rectangular,  and  the  town,  though  the  houses  are  not  lofty,  and  many  of 
them  of  wood,  presents  a  singularly  pleasant  and  cheerful  aspect.  The 
burial  ground  in  the  north-west  part  of  the  city,  particularly  elicits  the 
interest  of  strangers.  The  quiet  and  narrow  city  of  remembrances,  in 
the  midst  of  the  city  of  the  living,  is  laid  out  with  exquisite  taste,  and  has 
often  been  compared  to  the  famous  cemetery  of  the  Pere  la  Chaise,  in 
Paris.  It  would  be  to  the  credit  of  our  country,  if  such  regard  to  the  mon- 
umental abodes  of  the  remains  of  our  fathers  was  more  common.  The 
long  wharf  is  longer  than  the  famous  one  so  called,  in  Boston.     It  is  the 


ATLANTIC     STATES. 


43 


largest  maritime  port  in  the  state,  and  owns  considerable  shipping.  The 
city  contains  eighteen  public  buildings  in  all.  Among  the  singular  ones, 
is  an  observatory,  after  the  model  of  the  tower  of  the  winds  at  Athens. 
The  old  state-house,  which  was  an  indifferent  building,  has  given  place 
to  a  new  and  handsome  one.  Many  of  the  recent  erections  are  hand- 
some structures  of  brick  and  stone.  It  is  thirty-four  miles  south-west  of 
Hartford,  and  seventy-six  north-east  from  New  York.  Its  population  in 
1820,  was  8,327.     In  1830,  10,180. 

Hartford  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut,  fifty  miles 
from  its  estuary.  Small  vessels  ascend  the  river  to  this  city.  It  is  cen- 
tral to  a  rich  and  populous  country.  It  contains  nine  public  buildings, 
among  which  the  state  house  makes  the  most  conspicuous  figure,  and 
nine  churches.  One  of  the  Congregational  churches  is  a  spacious  and 
elegant  building.  The  asylum  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  a  mile  west  of 
the  town,  on  Tower  Hill,  is  a  building  creating  striking  interest.  The 
retreat  for  the  insane,  a  little  south  of  the  town,  is  a  spacious  stone  build- 
ing, one  hundred  and  fifty  by  fifty  feet,  with  extensive  grounds  for  the  un- 
fortunate patients.  Washington  Episcopal  College  has  two  spacious  stone 
buildings.  Montevideo,  the  seat  of  Daniel  Wadsworth,  Esq.,  perched  on 
a  mountain  nine  miles  distant,  adds  to  the  beauty  of  the  panorama  of  this 
city.  Hartford  has  a  respectable  amount  of  commerce,  and  numerous 
manufactures.  Considerable  of  printing  and  publishing  is  done  here.  It 
is  one  hundred  miles  south-west  of  Boston.  Population  in  1820,6,901. 
In  1830,  9,789,  New  London,  a  port  of  entry  on  the  Thames,  three 
miles  from  its  mouth,  owns  considerable  shipping,  contains  five  public 
buildings,  four  churches,  and  about  4,000  inhabitants. 

Middletown,  fifteen  miles  south  of  Hartford,  and  on  the  same  side  of 
the  Connecticut,  is  a  charmingly  situated  place,  with  considerable  trade 
and  manufactures.  It  shows  a  large  amount  of  the  shipping  of  the  state, 
as  the  shipping  of  Hartford  is  registered  here.  It  has  a  number  of  public 
buildings,  four  churches  in  tin  town,  and  three  others  in  the  vicinity. 
Population  in  1830,  0,892.  Norwich  is  a  considerable  place,  at  the  head 
of  the  navigation  on  the  Thames,  with  a  number  of  public  buildings,  and 
six  houses  of  public  worship.  It  consists  of  three  distinct  villages,  embo- 
somed in  a  romantic  vale.  Population  about  4,000.  All  the  foremen- 
tioned  neat  and  flourishing  towns  in  this  state,  by  a  strange  and  rather 
ludicrous  perversion  of  language,  are  written  cities.  What  might  be  fairly 
called  a  town,  dwindles  in  the  thought  to  a  village,  when  the  name  city 
is  applied  to  it.  The  United  States  have  but  five  towns,  that  can  with 
any  propriety  be  called  cities. 

Beside  the  cities,  East  Hartford,  opposite  that  city,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Connecticut,  has  respectable  manufactures.     The  other  considerable 


44  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

towns'  are  Bridgeport,  Stonington,  Litchfield,  Fairfield,  Danbury,  Wind- 
ham, Wethersfield,  Stonington,  Windsor,  East  Windsor,  Sufiield,  Enfield, 
Hadham,  Derby,  Milford,  Stamford,  and  Tolland. 

Roads,  Canals,  tfyc.  In  this  industrious  and  populous  state,  the  roads 
are  numerous  and  fine,  and  many  of  them  turnpikes.  The  Hampshire 
and  Hampden  canal  extends  from  Northampton,  on  the  Connecticut,  to 
the  southern  limits  of  Massachusetts,  where  it  takes  the  name  of  Farm- 
ington  canal,  and  passes  through  Connecticut  to  New  Haven.  The  en- 
tire length  is  fifty-six  miles. 

Manners.  The  people  are  generally  tall,  muscular,  and  robust,  and 
noted  for  their  strong  attachment  to  their  native  state,  their  ancient  puri- 
tanical customs,  and  a  religious  faith  and  observance  of  the  strictest  sort. 
Though  they  emigrate  extensively,  they  longer  remain  in  their  foreign 
abode  a  peculiar  people,  than  the  emigrants  from  any  other  of  the  New 
England  states.  The  heir  loom  of  the  puritans  has  descended  rather  to 
Connecticut,  than  Massachusetts.  To  New  Connecticut,  in  Ohio,  a  tract 
in  the  north-east  extremity  of  that  state,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
by  fifty-two  in  extent,  they  have  transferred  Connecticut  strictness,  in- 
dustry, and  the  church-building  and  church-going  spirit.  No  person,  in 
becoming  acquainted  with  that  country,  can  fail  to  observe  what  a  fair 
transcript  it  is  of  the  original  copy. 

Minerals,  Fossils,  S$c.  Iron  ore  is  smelted  and  wrought  to  a  consid- 
erable extent.  Copper  mines  have  been  discovered  in  different  places. 
There  is  a  lead  mine  near  Mlddletown.  Marble  is  wrought  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  Porcelain  clay  and  black  lead  are  found,  and  cobalt  is 
discovered  in  Chatham.  The  dark  red  Connecticut  freestone  is  found  in 
abundance  indifferent  places.  It  is  quarried  with  great  ease,  and  hard- 
ens in  the  air,  and  has  an  imposing,  though  rather  gloomy  aspect,  when 
constituting  a  large  building. 


NEW    YORK, 

Is  the  most  northern  of  the  middle  states,  and  the  most  populous  state 
in  the  Union.  It  is  bounded  north  by  lake  Ontario,  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  Lower  Canada;  east  by  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut; 
south  by  the  Atlantic,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania;  west  by  Pennsyl- 
vania, Lake  Eric,  and  the  Niagara.  Between  39°  45'  and  45°  north 
latitude  j  and  2°  51'  west,  and  5°  east  longitude  from  Washington. 

Length,  316  miles.     Breadth,  304.     Containing  47,000  square  miles  • 


ATLANTIC     STATES. 


45 


Counties.     Chief  Toxcns. 

Albany,  Albany. 
Alleghany,  Angelica. 
Broome,  Binghampton. 
Cattaraugus,  Ellicottsville. 
Cayuga,  Auburn. 
Chautauque,  Mayville. 
Chenango,  Norwich. 
Clinton,  Plattsburgh. 
Columbia,  Hudson. 
Cortlandt,  Cortlandtville. 
Delaware,  Delhi. 
Dutchess,  Poughkeepsie. 
Erie,  Buffalo. 
Essex,  Elizabethtown. 
Franklin,  Malone. 
Genessee,  Batavia. 
Greene,  Cattskill. 
Hamilton,  Wells. 
Herkimer,  Herkimer. 
Jefferson,  Watertown. 
Kings,  Flatbush. 
Lewis,  Martinsburgh. 
Livingston,  Genesee. 
Madison,  Morrisville. 
Monroe,  Rochester. 
Montgomery,  Johnstown. 
New  York,  New  York. 
Niagara,  Lockport. 

Population  in  1820,  1,372,812. 


Counties.     Chief  Towns. 

Oneida,  Rome. 
Onandago,  Onandago. 
Ontario,  Canandaigua. 
Orange,  Newburgh  and  Goshen. 
Orleans,  Gaines. 
Oswego,  Oswego. 
Otsego,  Cooperstown. 
Putnam,  Carmel. 
Queen's,  N.  Hempsted. 
Rensellaer,  Troy. 
Richmond,  Richmond. 
Rockland,  Clarkstown. 
St.  Lawrence,  Ogdensburgh. 
Saratoga,  Ballston. 
Schenectady,  Schenectady. 
Schoharie,  Schoharie. 
Seneca,  Ovid,  Waterloo. 
Steuben,  Bath. 
Suffolk,  Suffolk  C.  H. 
Sullivan,  Monticello. 
Tioga,  Elmira,  Owego. 
Tompkins,  Ithaca. 
Ulster,  Kingston. 
Warren,  Caldwell. 
Washington,  Salem,  Sandy  Hill. 
Wayne,  Lyons,  Palmyra. 
Westchester,  Bedford. 
Yates,  Penn  Yann. 
In  1830,  1,913,505. 


Physical  Aspect.  This  state  takes  rank  in  the  confederacy  of  the 
Union,  not  only  in  population,  but  extent,  wealth,  great  public  works, 
and  its  interesting  physical  configuration.  It  spreads  through  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  republic,  and  while  one  extremity  feels,  along  the  great 
length  of  Long  Island,  the  sea  breeze,  and  boasts  the  bustle,  opulence 
and  splendor  of  the  American  Tyre,  the  other  extremity  sees  towns 
rising  among  Indian  wigwams,  along  the  shores  of  the  vast  lakes,  and 
on  one  of  the  noblest,  and  at  the  same  time  wildest,  streams  of  the  globe. 
New  York  is  an  epitome  of  all  configurations  of  surface,  all  varieties  of 
lake  and  river  scenery,  and  all  conditions  of  man,  from  the  sumptuous 
dwellers  of  Pearl  street,  to  the  emigrant  daubing  his  log  cabin  with 


46  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

clay.  Granite,  slate,  and  limestone  hills,  charming  valleys,  extensive 
plains  of  gently  rolling  surface,  rugged  elevations,  and  lofty  mountains, 
alternate  with  streams,  cascades,  ponds,  and  beautiful  lakes  of  all  dimen- 
sions, from  the  calm  and  transparent  amenity  of  Skeneateles,  to  the 
inland  seas  of  Erie  and  Ontario. 

Islands.  Long  Island  is,  as  its  name  imports,  a  long  but  narrow 
island,  extending  east  from  the  city  of  New  Nork  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  forming  a  curve  parallel  to  the  mainland  shore,  and  leaving  a 
broad  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  not  unlike  a  wide  river  between,  call- 
ed Long  Island  Sound.  It  contains  three  counties.  The  south  border  is 
a  long  belt  of  sand.  The  northern  has  a  good  soil.  Its  chief  towns 
are  Brooklyn,  Jamaica,  Sagharbor,  and  Flatbush.  Staten  Island  is  eigh- 
teen miles  long,  and  from  five  to  eight  broad,  and  is  separated  from  Long 
Island  by  the  Narrows,  and  from  New  Jersey  by  a  strait,  called  Staten 
Island  Sound.  Manhattan  Island,  on  which  the  city  of  New  York  stands, 
has  already  been  described. 

In  the  maritime  belt  of  the  state,  the  soil  is  sandy ;  in  the  middle,  char- 
mingly undulating;  and  in  the  western  and  southern  divisions,  remarka- 
ble level,  rich,  and  inclining  to  alluvial  formation.  The  state  has  a  great 
proportion  of  first  rate  land.  The  richest  lands  are  on  the  Mohawk,  the 
Chenango,  Genessee,  and  Black  rivers;  between  Seneca  and  Cayuga 
lakes,  and  generally  the  western  parts  of  the  state. 

Mountains.  Cattskill  and  Cattsberg  mountains,  belong  to  the  con- 
formation of  the  Green  mountains,  and  may  be  considered  the  connect- 
ing ridges  between  them  and  the  Alleghanies. 

Rivers  and  Lakes.  The  Delaware  rises  in  this  state  among  the  Catts- 
kill mountains,  and  pursues  a  southern  course  to  Pennsylvania.  The 
Hudson  is  a  noble  river,  whose  whole  course  is  in  this  state.  It  rises  in 
the  heights  between  lake  Champlain  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  pursuing  a 
generally  southern  course  between  three  and  four  hundred  miles,  meets 
the  tide  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth.  It 
empties  into  New  York  Bay,  and  is  navigable  for  ships  as  high  as  Hud- 
son, one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  above  New  York;  and  for  sloops  to 
Albany  and  Troy,  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  farther.  Niagara  river, 
which  has  already  been  described,  as  one  of  the  largest  and  most  in- 
teresting rivers  in  the  world,  forms  a  part  of  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  state. 

The  Mohawk,  a  principal  branch  of  the  Hudson,  rises  north  of  Utica, 
and  after  a  course  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles  in  a  rich  alluvial  val- 
ley, joins  the  Hudson  near  Lansingburg.  Genessee,  Oswego,  and  Black, 
are  important  rivers,  that,  rise  in  the  interior  of  the  state,  and  fall  into 
lake  Ontario.     Seneca  is  the  outlet  of  the  small  beautiful  lakes  which 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  47 

t 

we  meet  in  advancing  towards  the  great  northern  chain.  Oswcgatchie, 
Grass,  Racket,  and  St.  Regis,  discharge  into  the  St.  Lawrence.  Cata- 
raugus  creek  is  a  river  of  lake  Champlain.  The  Susquehannah  rises  in 
this  state,  and  passes  into  Pennsylvania.  The  Alleghany  of  the  Ohio 
collects  its  head  waters  in  the  south-west  angle  of  this. state,  and  passes 
through  its  noble  pine  forests  into  Pennsylvania.  The  Tioga  and  Che- 
nango fall  into  the  Susquehannah.  The  Tonnewanta  is  a  stream  made 
subsidiary  to  the  great  northern  canal.  Beside  these,  there  are  fifty 
streams  that  would  be  conspicuous  in  a  state  of  smaller  dimensions,  and 
where  the  configuration  was  on  a  less  gigantic  scale. 

We  have  mentioned  Champlain,  Ontario,  and  Erie,  the  great  lakes  that 
bound  this  state  on  the  north.  Lake  George  is  a  most  romantic  and 
beautiful  sheet  of  water,  thirty-seven  miles  long,  and  from  one  to  seven 
broad — pure,  transparent,  full  of  fish,  and  dotted  with  islands,  having  for 
the  outer  rim  of  its  basin  a  line  of  lofty  mountains,  bounding  its  whole 
extent.  Lake  Canandagua  is  fifteen  miles  long  by  one  broad.  Seneca 
is  thirty-five  miles  long,  by  an  average  of  one  and  a  half  to  three  broad. 
Crooked  lake  is  twenty  miles  by  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  Cayuga  lake  is 
thirty-six  miles  long  by  one  and  a  half  broad.  Owasco  lake  is  eleven 
miles  long  and  one  broad.  Skeneateles,  affording  scenery  of  exquisite 
beauty,  is  fourteen  miles  long  by  one  broad.  Onondaga  is  nine  miles 
Jong  by  one  broad.  There  are  great  numbers  of  smaller  ones.  These 
charming  sheets  of  water  spread  in  a  general  direction  from  north  to 
south.  They  abound  in  fine  fish,  and  no  summer  scenery  can  surpass 
that  of  this  lake  country  in  beauty.  The  ancients  would  have  peopled 
every  one  of  them  with  Naiads  and  Nymphs.  Still  more,  they  are  navi- 
gable, and  already  connected  by  lateral  cuts,  some  of  many  miles  in 
length,  with  the  great  New  York  canal. 

Canals  This  state  has  taken  precedence  of  all  others  in  the  number 
and  extent  of  its  canals,  and  the  immense  distances  brought  by  them  into 
water  communication.  The  Champlain  and  Hudson  canal  connects 
lake  Champlain  with  Hudson  river,  and  is  sixty -four  miles  in  length . 
The  Hudson  and  Erie  canal  connects  lake  Erie  with  Hudson  river,  and 
is  three  hundred  and  sixty-two  miles  in  length.  The  Hudson  and  Dela- 
ware canal  leaves  the  Hudson  at  Kingston,  and  is  continued  to  the  Dela- 
ware, in  Pennsylvania,  and  along  that  river  seventeen  miles  up  the 
Lackawaxen,  to  the  coal  mines  in  Wayne  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  is 
sixty-four  miles  in  length.  Morris  canal  commences  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Hudson,  opposite  New  York,  passes  through  the  state  of  New  Jersey  to 
the  Delaware,  opposite  Easton,  in  Pennsylvania,  where  in  connects  with 
the  Lehigh,  and  opens  a  passage  for  the  Lehigh  coal  to  New  York.  The 
Oswego  canal  leaves  the  Grand  canal  at  Syracuse,  and  connects  that 


48  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

canal  with  lake  Ontario,  by  a  side  cut,  thirty -eight  miles  in  length.  The 
whole  interior  chain  of  the  smaller  lakes  that  have  been  mentioned,  is 
by  different  contrivances  connected  by  water  communication  with  the 
Grand  canal. 

Watering  Places — Mineral  Waters.  Those  of  Saratoga  and  Ballston 
are  most  visited  of  any  in  the  United  States.  The  Ballston  Springs 
are  situated  in  a  valley  formed  by  a  small  creek.  There  are  a  great 
number  of  springs,  the  strongest  and  most  sparkling  waters  of  which 
were  obtained*  in  1827,  by  boring  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet 
deep.  The  principal  efficacy  of  the  water  consists  in  a  chemical  union 
of  chalybeate  and  saline  properties,  held  in  solution,  and  rendered  brisk 
and  pungent  by  uncommon  quantities  of  carbonic  acid  gas. 

Saratoga  Springs  are  seven  miles  from  Ballston.  The  most  frequented 
springs  here,  are  called  Congress  Spring  and  Flat  Rock  Spring.  A  large 
and  compact  village  has  grown  up  at  Saratoga  in  consequence  of  the 
immense  summer  resort  to  these  places  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  the  West  Indies,  and  Canada.  There  are  many  noble  hotels  and 
boarding  houses  at  both  places.  The  opulent,  the  young,  beautiful,  and 
gay,  repair  to  them  in  the  summer,-  because  fashion  has  prescribed  the 
indispensable  necessity  of  frequently  making  summer  excursions  to 
these  waters.  Fifty  coaches  often  arrive,  during  the  season  of  the  waters, 
in  a  day.  Balls,  parties,  concerts,  and  excursions,  are  the  modes  of  pass- 
ing the  time.  During  the  same  period,  the  feeble,  nervous,  exhausted 
subjects  of  violation  of  the  laws  of  our  nature,  the  sick  and  the  dying, 
come  here,  and  are  seen  about  the  springs,  exhibiting  one  of  the  most 
affecting  contrasts  of  young,  gay,  and  unthinking  fashionables,  with  the 
decaying  remnants  of  humanity,  that  can  any  where  be  seen.  Saratoga 
Springs  are  thirty-two  miles  north  of  Albany,  and  Ballston  twenty- 
eight  miles  north  of  the  same  place.  New  Lebanon  Springs,  twenty- 
nine  miles  east  of  Albany,  are  visited  for  bathing,  for  their  cool  and 
elevated  position,  and  the  grand  and  romantic  scenery  of  the  Green 
mountains,  on  the  western  declivity  of  which  they  are  situated.  Here 
also  crowds  of  fashionables  resort,  during  the  sultry  months;  and  there 
are  excellent  arrangements  for  their  accommodation  and  comfort. 

Curiosities.  Would  our  limits  allow,  a  volume  might  be  given  under 
this  head.  From  New  York  to  Niagara,  the  whole  distance  along  North 
River,  up  the  canal,  and  thence  to  the  lakes,  is  the  land  of  mountains, 
lakes,  caverns,  cascades,  and  scenes  of  moral  interest,  as  consecrated  to 
memory,  and  identified  with  impressive  events  in  history.  Niagara 
Falls,  the  noblest  cascade  in  the  world,  we  have  already  described. 
Cohoes  is  a  fine  fall  in  the  Mohawk,  of  seventy  feet  perpendicular  descent. 
The  cascade  is  situated  near  the  stage  route  from  Albany  to  Schenectady. 


ATLANTIC    STATES.  49 

The  Little  Falls  of  the  Mohawk,  in  view  of  which  the  great  canal  runs, 
present  most  beautiful  scenery.  Glen's  Falls  of  the  Hudson,  and  the 
falls  on  Genessee  and  Salmon  river,  furnish  a  very  impressive  cascade. 
These,  and  many  other  cascades  in  this  country  of  great  rivers  and  fre- 
quent lakes,  would  be  grand  spectacles,  had  not  most  of  the  spectators 
witnessed  Niagara  Falls,  a  scene  to  efface  the  interest  of  all  minor  spec- 
tacles. A  limestone  cavern  of  vast  dimensions,  with  its  falls,  columns, 
and  stalactites,  exists  on  the  banks  of  Black  river,  opposite  Watertown. 

Productions.  The  forest  trees  that  love  an  alluvial  soil,  are  common 
in  the  western  divisions  of  the  state,  and  attain  a  great  size.  Beside  the 
grains  cultivated  in  the  states  east  of  this,  wheat  is  the  staple  of  New 
York.  Genessee  flour,  unknown  before  the  existence  of  the  great  canal 
in  New  England,  is  now  the  flour  of  general  consumption  there.  It  is  a 
fine  country  for  grass,  pasture,  fruits,  maize,  and  all  the  productions  of 
the  northern  states.  Among  the  mineral  products,  are  iron  and  lead  ores 
in  different  places;  gypsum,  limestone,  marble,  slate,  porcelain  clay,  and 
most  of  the  fossils.  The  richest  salt  springs  existing  in  any  country,  are 
found  in  various  places,  particularly  at  Salina.  Petroleum  is  found  in 
different  places,  and  springs  of  hydrogen  gas. 

Exports — Of  articles  too  numerous  to  particularize,  amounted,  in  1828, 
to  $22,777,649. 

Climate.  In  a  country  of  such  extent,  no  general  view  can  be  given. 
The  northern  division  has  a  severe  climate.  The  lake  division  has  a 
more  uniform  temperature,  with  deep  snows.  The  maritime  part  has  a 
milder  air  than  New  England.  The  south-west  division  of  the  state  is 
also  comparatively  mild. 

Natives.  Onondaga  was  the  central  region,  round  which,  in  the  forest 
periods,  the  famous  Five  Nations  were  congregated.  A  remnant  of 
these  races  still  exists,  possessing  extensive  reservations  of  land.  The 
spectacle  of  the  red  people  in  their  forest  costume,  is  even  yet  not  an  un- 
common one  in  Albany,  and  still  less  so  in  Rochester. 

Chief  Town*.  But  a  sketch  only  of  this  extensive  article  can  be  given. 
New  York,  the  most  populous  city  in  the  Union,  and  the  mercantile  capi- 
tal of  the  United  States,  is  situated  on  Manhattan  Island,  fourteen  and  a 
half  miles  long,  and  from  two  miles  to  a  half  a  mile  broad,  at  the  conflu- 
ence of  Hudson  and  East  rivers,  on  a  bay  of  unrivalled  beauty.  The 
harbor  is  extensive,  deep,  safe,  not  subject  to  be  frozen,  and  has  every 
requisite  for  commercial  facility  and  advantages  that  could  be  desired. 
It  embosoms  several  islands,  among  which  the  conspicuous  ones,  Gov- 
ernor's, Bedlow'.s,  and  Ellis',  are  fortified,  and  bristled  with  numerous 
cannon.  On  the  east,  it  is  defended  from  storms  by  Long  Island,  and  on 
the  west,  by  Staten  Island  and  New  Jersey  shore.  The  ship  passage 
Vol.  II.  7 


50  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

from  the  harbor  to  Newark  Bay,  on  the  New  Jersey  side,  is  by  the  Kills; 
to  the  Atlantic  by  the  Narrows,  and  by  Long  Island  Sound.  The  ship- 
ping owned  here,  in  1816,  amounted  to  nearly  three  hundred  thousand 
tons.  In  1829,  it  was  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  five  hundred 
and  thirty-four  tons.  The  duties  on  goods  imported  here,  have  ranged  in 
common  years  from  seven  to  eight  millions  of  dollars. 

The  appearance  of  the  city  of  New  York  is  unique.  There  is  a  visi- 
ble cast  of  mercantile  opulence,  and  an  aspect  rather  more  sombre 
than  in  the  gay  and  uniform  streets  of  Philadelphia.  There  is,  however, 
nothing  in  the  United  States  to  compare  with  the  imposing  effect  of 
Broadway,  a  street  nearly  bisecting  the  city,  and  extending  to  the  cen- 
tral and  higher  parts  of  it  from  one  extremity  to  the  other;  being  three 
miles  in  length,  eighty  feet  wide,  and  generally  built  up  with  massive 
and  noble  buildings.  Next  to  this  in  beauty  and  importance,  are  Wall 
street,  Pearl  street,  Greenwich  street,  Water  street,  and  the  Bowery. 

The  public,  buildings  exceed  fifty  in  number,  and  in  magnificence  those 
of  any  other  American  city.  The  mercantile  public  buildings  are  chiefly 
on  Wall  street,  the  centre  of  banking  and  brokerage  business.  Pearl 
street  contains  the  most  important  mercantile  establishments.  Broadway 
is  the  chief  street  for  retail  business.  Mean  wooden  habitations,  former- 
ly common  in  the  city,  have  almost  disappeared,  giving  place  to  spacious 
and  massive  brick  buildings.  The  Battery  is  an  extensive  public  ground 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  island.  Castle  Garden  is  a  much  frequented 
public  resort.  The  Park  is  a  beautiful  common  in  front  of  the  City  Hall, 
containing  six  acres,  and  is  finely  shaded  with  trees.  We  have  space 
only  to  glance  at  some  of  the  most  conspicuous  public  buildings  and 
objects  of  interest.  The  most  striking  of  these,  in  the  most  showy  part 
of  the  city,  is  City  Hall,  of  white  marble,  two  hundred  and  sixteen  feet 
in  length,  by  one  hundred  and  five  in  breadth.  It  is  in  an  open  square, 
detached,  and  in  a  position  to  give  its  imposing  aspect  full  effect.  It  con- 
tains the  police  office  and  municipal  court  rooms,  and  the  common  council 
chamber,  ornamented  with  portraits  of  distinguished  revolutionary  char- 
acters. The  New  York  Exchange,  fronting  Wall  street,  between  Wil- 
liam and  Pearl  streets,  is  also  of  white  marble.  It  is  adorned  with  mar- 
ble columns  in  front,  of  a  single  block,  and  contains  the  exchange,  post- 
office,  commercial  reading  rooms,  insurance  offices,  and  offices  of  daily 
papers.  The  cupola  commands  a  noble  view  of  the  city,  and  is  sur- 
mounted with  a  telegraph,  by  which,  arrivals  are  announced  at  the  dis- 
tance of  more  than  thirty  miles  from  the  city. 

The  New  York  Institution  is  of  brick,  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  by  for- 
ty-four, and  is  appropriated  to  associations  of  literature  and  the  fine  arts, 
such  as  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  the  Historical  Society, 


ATLANTIC      STATES.  51 

with  its  library,  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  with  its  paintings, 
the  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  with  its  collections,  and  the 
American  Musuem,  with  its  curiosities.     The  University  is  in  a  central 
point.     The  building  is  of  stone,  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  three 
stories  high.     The  state  prison,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  is  two  hun- 
dred and  four  feet  in  length,  by  two  hundred  in  depth,  and  is  built  of  free 
stone.     The  alms  house  is  still  farther  east.     It  is  an  inclosure  contain- 
ing the  work-house  and  penitentiary.     The  dimensions  of  the  first,  are 
three  hundred  and  twenty  by  fifty  feet;  the  next,  two  hundred  by  twenty- 
five;  and  the  third,  two  hundred  and  fifty  by  fifty.     Chatham  theatre 
and  the  Bowery  theatre  are  conspicuous  buildings.     St.  Paul's  church, 
containing  the  monument  and  remains  of  General  Montgomery,  and 
Trinity  church,  are  spacious  Episcopalian  churches,  both  in  conspicuous 
points  on  Broadway.     St.  John's  church,  in  Hudson  Square,  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  city,  has  the  tallest  spire  in  New  York.     The  Medical  col- 
lege is  a  large  and  conspicuous  edifice.     The  establishment  is  amply  en- 
dowed, and  generally  contains  from  two  to  three  hundred  medical  stu- 
dents.    The  following  are  all  spacious  public  buildings:  Clinton  Hall, 
the  Bible  Society's  Depository,  the  American  Tract  Society's  buildings, 
both  in  Nassau  street,  the  Arcade,  and  the  Arcade  Baths,  the  New  York 
Baths,  the  Public  Marine  Baths,  the  Manhattan  Water  Works,  the  exhi- 
bition room  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  arts  of  Design,  Rutger's  Med- 
ical College  and  Public  School,  Masonic  Hall,  Orphan  Asylum,  Fever 
Hospital,  House  of  Refuge  for  juvenile  delinquents,  Lunatic  Asylum, 
the  City  Hotel,  the  Mansion  House,  the  National  Hotel,  the  Franklin 
House,  Tammany  Hall,  and  many  other  spacious  hotels.     The  city  has 
ten  market  houses,  fourteen  or  fifteen  banks,  between  twenty  and  thirty 
insurance  otfices,  over  one  hundred  houses  of  public  worship,  of  which 
those  of  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Dutch  Reformed,  and  Methodists, 
are  the  most  numerous.     There  are  eight  spacious  buildings  appropria- 
ted to  public  schools,  valued  with  their  furniture,  at  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.     The  High  School  of  this  city  is  an  interesting  institu- 
tion, and  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States. 
There  are  a  number  of  public  libraries.     The  Sunday  schools  and  in- 
fant schools  are  efficient  and  useful  establishments. 

As  this  is  by  far  the  largest  importing  town  in  the  United  States,  the 
stores  of  course  display  the  greatest  show  of  splendid  foreign  and  domes- 
tic goods  of  every  description.  Fashion,  and  splendor,  and  sumptuous- 
ness,  and  all  the  inventions  of  luxury,  and  all  the  enticements  to  specta- 
cles, and  all  the  temptations  to  dissipation,  naturally  concentrate  where 
there  is  most  commerce  and  wealth,  and  the  most  numerous  concourse 
of  people.     The  fair  and  the  fashionable  promenade  Broadway,  to  see 


52  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

and  be  seen;  and  here  fashion  may  be  noted  in  its  broadest  visible  as- 
sumption, its  most  hideous  distortions,  and  its  most  painful  imprisonment; 
and  by  watching  the  passing  current  of  life  on  fine  days  for  promenading, 
quiet,  sensible,  and  reflecting  young  persons  cannot  fail  to  receive  les- 
sons adverse  to  affectation,  grimace,  and  the  extremes  of  the  prevalent 
mode  of  the  week. 

Such  successive  masses  of  immigrants  are  constantly  arriving  from 
foreign  countries,  and  such  multitudes  of  adventurers  of  all  descriptions 
consort  here — and  great  cities  always  congregate  such  numbers  of  poor 
and  abandoned  people — that  it  cannot  but  be  understood,  that  there  must 
be  much  immorality  and  dissipation.  Commensurate  efforts  are  made 
to  neutralize  and  heal  the  evil.  The  religious,  moral,  and  humane  insti- 
tutions are  numerous,  and  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  charactei*. 
It  issues  a  great  number  of  respectable  periodical  publications.  New 
York  is  situated  two  hundred  and  ten  miles  south-west  of  Boston,  ninety 
north-east  of  Philadelphia,  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  north-east 
of  Washington— 40°  43'  north  latitude.  Population  in  1820,  123,706. 
In  1830,  213,470. 

Albany,  the  political  metropolis,  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Hudson,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  New  York,  and  has  a  position 
equally  convenient  for  communication  with  that  city,  and  a  vast  interior 
country.  Most  of  the  ancient  Dutch  buildings,  which  formerly  gave  it 
such  a  grotesque  aspect,  have  disappeared.  It  is  now  neatly,  and  in 
some  parts,  handsomely  built.  It  contains  ten  public  buildings.  The 
capitol,  built  upon  the  upper  portion  of  the  city,  has  an  elevated  position. 
It  is  one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  in  length,  and  ninety  in  breadth.  The 
academy,  directly  north  of  it,  is  a  spacious  and  showy  building.  The 
Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank,  and  the  Albany  Bank,  at  the  bottom  of 
State  street,  arc  of  white  marble.  The  Museum  is  a  handsome  building, 
in  South  Market  street.  State  street,  in  its  whole  length,  is  remarkably 
wide,  and  shows  to  great  advantage.  The  number  of  churches  is  six- 
teen, of  which  six  are  of  stone,  seven  of  brick,  and  three  of  wood. 
Three  of  them  are  very  handsome,  and  others  are  spacious.  Canal 
wharf  and  quay  are  of  great  length,  and  striking  show  of  business  and 
bustle.  Few  cities  present  a  more  beautiful  prospect  than  Albany,  when 
seen  from  the  public  square,  or  the  summit  of  the  capitol.  The  city 
slopes  from  the  public  square  to  the  river,  like  the  sides  of  an  amphithe- 
atre. Two  or  three  of  its  noble  mansions  embowered  in  trees,  give  it 
the  appearance  of  having  forests  in  its  limits.  Sloops  and  steam  boats 
arrive  here  from  New  York  in  great  numbers,  and  there  is  seldom  a  day  in 
which  three  or  four  passages  do  not  offer,  in  steam  boats  departing  to  and 
from  New  York.      Its  canal  communications  with  lake   Champlain,  the 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  53 

northern  lakes,  and  the  Ohio  valley,  give  it  unrivalled  advantages  of  this 
sort.  More  stages  daily  arrive  and  depart  from  this  city,  than  any  other 
of  the  size  in  the  Union.  Its  literary,  humane,  and  religious  institutions 
are  of  a  very  respectable  class,  and  it  issues  six  or  seven  periodical  pub- 
lications. It  is  situated  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  miles  west  of  Boston, 
and  two  hundred  and  thirty  south  of  Montreal.  Its  population  in  1820, 
was  12,630.  In  1830,  24,210,  having  nearly  doubled  its  population  in 
ten  years.  A  more  emphatic  illustration  of  the  tendency  of  the  canal 
system  could  not  be  given. 

Rochester,  at  the  falls  of  Genessee,  seven  miles  from  lake  Ontario,  is 
the  third  town  in  point  of  population  in  this  state,  and  has  had  the  most 
sudden  growth  of  any  town  in  America.  In  1812,  it  was  one  wide  and 
deep  forest.  In  1818,  it  contained  1,049.  In  1820,  1,502.  In  1S25, 
5,271.  In  1827,  10,818.  In  1830, 13,836.  Parts  of  the  town  are  very 
handsomely  built.  There  are  seven  respectable  public  buildings,  and 
twelve  churches.  Thirteen  large  flour  mills,  with  fifty-two  run  of  stones, 
can  annually  make  342,000  barrels  of  flour.  Fifteen  million  feet  of  lum- 
ber are  sawed  or  rafted  here.  There  are  a  number  of  factories  and  me- 
chanical establishments,  some  on  a  large  scale.  The  water  power  is 
almost  inexhaustible.  The  acqueduct  over  the  Genessee,  at  this  place, 
is  one  of  the  most  gigantic  works  on  the  canal  line.  At  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  the  town,  the  Genessee  falls  ninety  feet.  At  Carthage,  two 
miles  distant,  it  falls  seventy  feet.  Still  another  noble  cascade  of  the  Gen- 
essee, close  by  this  town,  will  be  long  remembered  as  the  place  where 
the  famous  Patch  made  his  last  leap.  Merchandise  to  and  from  lake  On- 
tario, forwarded  from  this  town,  is  raised  or  lowered  down  this  great  and 
steep  descent  of  the  Genessee  by  means  of  an  inclined  plane,  the  de- 
scending weight  raising  a  lighter  one.  It  is  in  contemplation  to  cut  a 
canal  from  this  town  to  Olean  on  the  Alleghany,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles,  which  would  bring  this  place  in  direct  water  commu- 
nication with  Pittsburgh  and  the  Ohio. 

Troy,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  six  miles  north  of  Albany,  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty-six  north  of  New  York,  is  the  next  largest  city  in 
the  state  to  Rochester.  Sloops  and  steam  boats  navigate  the  Hudson  to 
this  place.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  are  many  fine  mill  seats,  on  which 
are  erected  extensive  manufactories.  It  contains  seven  public  buildings, 
and  six  houses  for  public  worship.  The  state  of  Massachusetts  has  sur- 
veyed a  canal  route  to  this  place.  A  rail  road  over  the  same  route  has 
also  been  in  contemplation.  The  Van  Renssellaer  school  in  this  city  has 
acquired  a  high  reputation.  The  students  deliver  mutual  lectures,  and 
make  extensive  excursions,  with  a  view  to  personal  inspection  of  the  ob- 
jects of  their  studies  in  the  natural  sciences.     Any  person  over  eighteen, 


54  ATLANTIC      STATES. 

certifying  that  his  acquisitions  are  of  a  certain  extent,  and  that  he  is  of 
good  moral  character,  can  obtain  a  gratuitous  education.  An  academy 
for  young  ladies,  conducted  by  Mrs.  Willard,  has  also  obtained  advan- 
tageous notoriety.  Mount  Ida,  a  romantic  hill  near  this  place,  gives  rise 
to  the  water  falls  of  Poesten's  Kill  and  Wynant's  Kill,  where  the  chief 
manufacturing  establishments  are  erected.  Population  in  1820,  5,294. 
In  1830,  11,405.  This  shows  a  gain  of  considerable  more  than  double 
the  population  of  the  preceding  census. 

Schenectady  is  situated  on  the  south-east  bank  of  the  Mohawk,  fifteen 
miles  north-west  of  Albany.  It  contains  a  number  of  public  buildings, 
and  five  or  six  churches.  It  is  an  ancient  and  respectable  town,  and  is 
united  to  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Mohawk,  by  an  elegant  bridge,  nearly 
one  thousand  feet  in  length.  Union  College,  in  this  place,  is  one  of  the 
most  respectable  seminaries  in  the  state.  The  building  consists  of  two 
college  edifices  and  two  boarding  houses.  The  college  is  opulent  in  en- 
dowments, and  in  1828,  seventy-nine  students  graduated  from  this  insti- 
tution.    Population  supposed  to  be  about  5,000. 

Utica  is  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Mohawk,  ninety-three  miles 
north-west  from  Albany,  and  nearly  bisected  by  the  great  canal.  It  is  a 
large  and  showy  town,  with  the  usual  number  of  public  buildings,  and 
eight  churches.  It  is  on  the  position  of  the  once  celebrated  Fort  Schuyler, 
and  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  and  charming  country.  It  is  a  noted  point  of 
union  for  arriving  and  departing  stages.  This  town  has  gained  its  im- 
portance by  being  favorably  situated,  in  regard  to  commerce  and  agricul- 
tural wealth.  Population  in  1820,  2,972.  In  1830,  8,323,  having 
almost  tripled  its  population  since  the  last  census. 

Buffalo  is  situated  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  lake  Erie,  on  Buffalo 
creek.  The  harbor  would  be  fine,  but  for  a  shoal  at  the  mouth,  which 
the  United  States'  government  are  in  progress  of  removing.  This  obsta- 
cle overcome,  it  has  fourteen  feet  water,  and  is  secure  from  storms.  From 
sixty  to  seventy  vessels,  including  steam  boats,  trade  with  this  place.  It 
is  the  grand  point  of  communication  between  the  Altantic  and  the  lakes. 
By  the  great  canal  it  communicates  with  New  York;  by  the  Welland  and 
Rideau  canals,  with  lake  Ontario  and  Montreal;  and  by  lake  Erie  and  the 
Erie  and  Ohio  canal,  with  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  valley.  Its  business 
is  direct  with  all  the  vast  extent  of  the  upper  lakes,  and  no  inland  town  in 
America  has  greater  advantages.  It  is  situated  on  a  beautiful  terrace 
plain,  affording  charming  views  of  the  lake;  and  is  in  the  vicinity  of  a 
pleasant  and  fertile  country.  Atlantic  strangers,  who  have  connected 
associations  of  savage  nature,  and  a  remote  interior  wilderness,  with  their 
notions  of  this  place,  will  be  sufficiently  astonished  on  arriving  here,  to 
see  sumptuous  houses,  massive  blocks  of  brick  buildings,  one  of  the  most 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  65 

beautiful  hotels  in  the  country,  a  number  of  handsome  churches,  and  two 
or  three  of  imposing  appearance  and  magnitude.  It  was  destroyed  by  the 
British  in  the  late  war  so  completely,  that  but  one  house  was  left  standing 
in  1814.  One  of  the  stores  is  ninety  by  seventy  feet,  and  three  stories 
high.  In  a  word,  Buffalo  is  one  of  the  handsomest  towns  in  the  state.  It 
has  the  customary  public  buildings,  and  six  or  seven  churches.  Popula- 
tion in  1820,  2,095.  In  1830,  8,668;  having  more  than  quadrupled  its 
population  since  the  last  census. 

Manlius,  an  interior  town  of  Onondaga  county,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  miles  west  of  Albany,  is  an  agricultural,  but  very  flourishing  place. 
Population  in  1820,  5,372.  In  1830,  7,375.  Seneca  is  on  the  west  side 
of  Seneca  Lake,  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  miles  west  of  Albany.  The 
flourishing  village  of  Geneva  is  in  this  township.  The  shore  of  the  lake 
abounds  in  beautifully  variegated  marble.  The  lake  is  of  uncommon 
depth  and  transparency,  and  the  waters  exceedingly  cold.  It  is  affirmed 
that  the  lake  has  a  regular  rise  and  fall  every  seven  years.  This  flour- 
ishing town  contains  6,161  inhabitants. 

Returning  to  the  maritime  shore  of  the  state,  Brooklyn,  on  Long  Island, 
is  separated  from  New  York  by  East  river.  It  is  a  large  and  flourishing 
place,  being  in  fact  no  other  than  a  suburb  of  the  cily.  It  contains  some 
public  buildings,  and  four  houses  of  public  worship;  and  near  it  is  the 
United  States  navy  yard.  Population  in  1830,  12,403.  Hudson  is  a 
considerable  mercantile  place,  with  growing  manufacturing  establish- 
ments, on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  twenty-eight  miles  below  Albany 
Population  about  4,000.  Newburg,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  fifty- 
nine  miles  above  New  York,  and  just  above  the  highlands,  is  a  great  tho- 
roughfare of  travel  to  the  western  country,  and  a  large  and  handsome  town. 
Poughkeepsie,  Kingston, and  Cattskill,  are  also  considerable  towns.  Lan- 
singburg,  four  miles  above  Troy,  and  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk, 
is  a  thriving  place.  Waterford  is  immediately  opposite,  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Hudson.  It  has  wide,  regular,  and  handsome  streets.  Gibbonville, 
opposite  Troy,  is  the  seat  of  the  United  States  arsenal.  The  arms  are  in 
fine  order,  and  the  grounds  of  great  neatness  and  beauty. 

Auburn,  not  far  from  the  northern  extremity  of  Owasco  lake,  and  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles  west  of  Albany,  is  a  romantic  and  beautiful 
town.  It  contains  a  number  of  public  buildings,  and  four  or  five  houses 
of  public  worship.  It  is  the  seat  of  a  respectable  theological  seminary, 
and  is  best  known,  as  being  the  position  of  the  most  extensive  penitentiary 
in  the  United  States.  The  two  great  buildings  are  enclosed  in  a  hollow 
square,  2,000  feet  in  circuit,  surrounded  with  a  stone  wall  of  great 
strength,  thirty-five  feet  high.  The  work  shops  form  a  continued  range 
of  nine  hundred  and  forty  feet.      The  construction  and  plan  of  discipline 


56  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

are  of  a  new  and  generally  approved  character.  Every  conceivable 
regard  is  had  to  the  moral  improvement,  as  well  as  the  comfort  and  secu- 
rity of  the  convicts.  It  is  calculated  to  contain  1,100  convicts.  In  1829, 
it  contained  639.  Population  in  1820,  2,025.  In  1830,  7,103.  Ithaca 
contains  5,270  inhabitants;  Canandaigua,  in  the  whole  township,  5,162; 
Schoharie,  5,146.  Salina,  Syracuse,  and  Lockport,  are  large  and  flour- 
ishing villages.  Plattsburgh,  Ogdensburg,  Sackett's  Harbor,  Browns- 
ville, Le  Roy,  Watertown,  and  Batavia,  are  flourishing  places.  This 
article  might  be  extended  to  the  mention  of  fifty  other  considerable  villa- 
ges, of  which  the  forementioned  may  stand  as  indexes,  in  point  of  neat- 
ness and  importance. 

Scenery.  The  great  thoroughfare  of  travellers  for  business  or  pleas- 
ure from  New  York  to  Niagara  and  the  lakes,  abounds  at  every  stage  with 
interesting  scenery.  Scarcely  has  the  traveller  been  wafted  out  of  New 
York  bay,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world,  before  he  has  in  view 
the  noble  elevation  of  the  highlands.  Every  point  along  this  sublime 
passage,  has  its  tradition  attached  to  it,  or  its  connection  in  memory  with 
revolutionary  events.  At  one  place,  the  traveller  is  shown  where  Andre 
was  taken;  at  another,  where  he  was  executed.  Still  further  up,  perch- 
ed on  the  declivity  of  a  mountain,  are  the  numerous  buildings  belonging 
to  the  establishment  of  West  Point.  Higher  still  arc  the  Cattskill  moun- 
tains, rising  into  the  blue  of  the  sky.  The  Pine  Orchard  is  between  two 
and  three  thousand  feet  above  the  river,  at  some  miles  distance  from  it, 
and  is  provided  with  a  house  of  entertainment.  The  round  top  is  the 
highest  elevation  of  the  Cattskill,  being  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighteen  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

In  passing  from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  we  are  presented  with  one  of 
those  works  of  art,  which  is  still  a  rare  object  in  our  country,  the  Albany 
and  Schenectady  rail  road,  upon  which  a  locomotive  steam  engine  is  in 
operation.  Passing  through  the  villages  of  Balls  ton  and  Saratoga,  at 
some  miles  distant  from  Saratoga,  and  near  Hudson  river,  we  find  our- 
selves on  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots  identified  with  the  history  of 
the  American  revolution,  the  place  where  Burgoyne  surrendered  his  army. 
Crossing  over  to  lake  Champlain  we  are  arrested  by  the  remains  of  the 
fortress  of  Ticonderoga,  where  General  Abercrombie  was  defeated  in 
1758;  a  spot  as  famous  in  the  history  of  the  former  French  war,  as  Sara- 
toga is  in  that  of  the  revolution.  Plattsburgh  and  lake  Champlain  are 
both  famous  in  the  history  of  the  late  war.  In  fact,  the  whole  distance 
from  lake  Champlain  to  lake  Erie,  along  the  line  of  the  canal,  is  consecra- 
ted to  remembrances  in  the  history  of  the  Indian,  French,  revolutionary, 
and  late  wars.  As  we  ascend  toward  the  lakes,  we  pass  the  Cohocs,  the 
Little  Falls,  Glen's  Falls,  and  the  very  extensive  salt  works  at  Salina. 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  57 

At  Lockport,  we  stand  astonished,  as  we  contemplate  one  of  the  noblest 
works  of  art  on  the  canal,  and  look  up  the  prodigious  height,  to  which 
boats  are  raised  by  the  double  line  of  locks;  and  are  scaicely  less  im- 
pressed with  the  sight  of  the  town  itself,  which  but  a  few  years  since  was 
a  solid  wilderness,  and  now  is  a  handsome  town,  containing  four  or  five 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  locks  at  this  place,  and  the  deep  cut  through 
the  solid  limestone,  strike  the  observer  as  a  more  stupendous  work  than 
either  the  canal  aqueduct  across  the  Mohawk  or  the  Genessee. 

Trenton  Falls  are  in  the  town  of  Trenton,  Oneida  county,  one  hundred 
and  eight  miles  north-west  of  Albany,  and  twelve  miles  north  of  Utica. 
The  cascade  is  two  miles  from  the  village.  The  surrounding  scenery  is 
remarkable  for  its  romantic  beauty  and  grandeur.  Petrifactions  and 
organic  remains,  are  abundantly  imbedded  in  the  limestone  bluffs.  West 
Canada  creek  has  here  cut  itself  a  prodigious  chasm  through  the  rocks, 
in  many  places  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep,  and  for  a  distance  of 
four  miles;  the  whole  extent  of  which  is  a  succession  of  striking  cata- 
racts. This  interesting  chasm  is  much  visited,  and  presents  a  spectacle 
not  unlike  that  of  many  of  the  rivers  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  in  their 
passage  through  their  deep  beds  of  limestone. 

Whether  the  traveller  contemplate  the  prodigious  work  of  art  presented 
in  this  long  canal,  or  the  astonishing  growth  of  the  new  and  beautiful 
towns  along  its  banks,  that  have  replaced  the  recent  solid  wilderness; 
whether  he  yield  his  eye  and  his  mind  to  the  sublime  in  the  Falls  of  Nia- 
gara, or  to  the  green,  beautiful,  and  romantic,  in  the  charming  country  of 
the  lesser  lakes,  or  the  grand  and  solitary  in  the  seas  of  fresh  water,  that 
spread  from  Ontario  to  the  interminable  deserts  of  the  north,  there  is 
nothing  of  grand  or  beautiful  in  nature  or  art,  but  what  may  be  found  be- 
tween the  splendid  bay  of  New  York,  and  the  view  of  lake  Erie,  from  the 
square  in  Buffalo. 

Education.  This  state  has  a  school  fund  of  .92,012,113,  exclusive  of 
the  local  school  fund,  and  the  literary  fund,  the  avails  of  which  are  an- 
nually appropriated  towards  the  support  of  colleges  and  academies.  In 
1829,  the  whole  amount  of  money  disbursed  for  the  support  of  common 
schools,  arising  from  all  these  sources,  was  two  hundred  and  fourteen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty  dollars.  The  number  of  school  districts 
is  8,994.  In  the  year  1829,  four  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-five  children  were  taught  in  the  common  schools. 
There  is  a  college  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Union  College  in  Schenec- 
tady, has  already  been  described.  Hamilton  College  is  situated  in  Clin- 
ton, not  far  from  Utica.  It  is  a  respectably  endowed  institution,  with  two 
large  college  edifices,  and  has  an  average  number  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  students.  Geneva  College,  is  at  Geneva,  and  there  is  a  medical 
Vol.  II.  8 


58  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

college  at  Fairfield.  There  is  a  theological  seminary  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  in  Auburn,  Hartwick,  and  Hamilton.  The  number  of  acade- 
mies in  this  state  is  fifty-five,  with  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-five pupils.  The  high  school  of  the  city  of  New  York  has  four  hun- 
dred and  forty-four;  Albany  Lancaster  school  five  hundred ;  Mrs.  Wil- 
lard's  Troy  seminary  two  hundred  and  thirty-six.  These  views,  more 
clearly  than  any  general  remarks,  indicate  the  municipal  patronage  be- 
stowed by  this  great  state  upon  literature  and  common  schools. 

West  Point  is  a  military  school,  the  position  of  which  we  have  already 
noticed.  It  is  an  establishment  under  the  control  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, for  the  education  of  young  men  destined  for  the  army.  The  num- 
ber of  pupils  is  limited  to  two  hundred  and  fifty.  The  annual  expense  of 
the  institution  to  the  United  States,  is  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand 
dollars.  The  sum  paid  for  the  education  of  a  cadet  is  ,$330  per  annum. 
There  are  thirty  professors,  instructors,  and  assistants.  The  course  of 
education,  especially  in  the  exact  sciences,  is  thorough  and  complete. 

General  Statistics  for  1830,  Population,  1,934,496.  Yards  of  woolen, 
cotton,  and  linen  cloths,  manufactured  in  1830,  14,466,226.  Number 
of  grist  mills,  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-four.  Saw  mills,  five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-five.  Oil  mills,  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-one. Fulling  mills,  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two.  Card- 
ing machines,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-four.  Iron  works, 
one  hundred  and  seventy.  Trip  hammers,  one  hundred  and  sixty-four. 
Distilleries,  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine.  Asheries,  two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  five.  There  are  two  hundred  and  thirty -seven 
newspapers,  publishing  annually,  as  is  estimated,  14,536,000  printed 
sheets. 

Manufactures.  There  are  eighty-eight  cotton  manufactories,  two  hun- 
dred and  eight  woolen,  two  hundred  iron.  The  cotton  manufactories  em- 
ploy about  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  spindles.  About  twenty- 
two  thousand  bales  of  cotton  goods  manufactured,  exceeds  three  millions 
dollars.  The  value  of  woolen  goods  annually  manufactured,  exclusive  of 
those  made  in  families,  is  considerably  upwards  of  three  million  dollars. 
The  value  of  the  annual  manufacture  of  iron,  is  four  million  dollars.  There 
are  about  fifty  paper  mills,  and  the  value  of  annual  manufactures  in  this 
article  is  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  annual  value  of  the  manu- 
facture of  hats,  is  three  million  dollars.  That  of  boots  and  shoes,  amount 
to  five  million  dollars.  Leather  is  manufactured  to  the  amount  of  two  mil- 
lion nine  hundred  and  five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The 
value  of  window  glass,  made,  is  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Manu- 
factured in  families,  as  per  state  census  returns,  two  million  nine  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  yards  fulled 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  59 

cloths,  valued  at  two  million  nine  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twenty -three  dollars.  Flannels  and  other  woolens,  not  fulled, 
three  million  four  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  and  one  yards,  value, 
six  hundred  and  ninety-three  thousand  six  hundred  dollars.  Linen,  cot- 
ton, and  other  cloths,  eight  million  seventy -nine  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-two  yards,  value,  one  million  two  hundred  and  eleven  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-eight  dollars.  The  sales  of  domestic  manufac- 
tures in  the  city  of  New  York,  during  the  year  1830,  are  estimated  to 
amount  to  twenty -five  million  dollars.  There  are  twenty -nine  million 
four  hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land  in  the  state.  The  number  of  acres  of  improved  land  is  seven 
million  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-seven, 
valued  atone  hundred  and  seventy-nine  million  twenty-four  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars.  Value  of  neat  cattle,  horses,  sheep, 
and  hogs,  forty-two  million  two  hundred  and  sixty -four  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven.  The  amount  of  salt,  inspected,  on  which  duties 
have  been  paid  to  the  state  for  1830,  is  one  million  four  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  bushels.  The  tolls  of  the  canals  for  1830,  were  one  mil- 
lion five  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
dollars,  being  an  increase  of  two  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand  six 
hundred  and  sixty-two  dollars  over  those  of  the  preceding  year.  There 
are  fifty  two  banks  in  the  state,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  twenty-six  mil- 
lion two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  eight  hundred  dollars.  There 
are  seventy  five  steam  boats,  (including  six  British  boats  on  lake  Ontario,) 
exclusive  of  steam  ferry  boats,  &c,  with  an  aggregate  of  four  thousand 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  horse  power.  The  number  of  clergy  in  the 
state,  is  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-two.  That  of  attorneys 
and  counselors  at  law,  is  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-one. 
That  of  physicians  and  surgeons,  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty- 
nine.  The  number  of  militia,  is  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand 
five  hundred  and  twentv-six. 


NEW    JERSEY, 

Is  one  hundred  and  thirty -eight  miles  long,  and  fifty  broad;  containing 
eight  thousand  six  hundred  square  miles.  Between  38°  57'  and  41°  21' 
north  latitude,  and   1°  26'  and  3°  9'  east  longitude  from  Washington. 


60  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

Bounded  north  by  New  York ;  east  by  New  York  and  the  Atlantic ;  south- 
west by  Delaware  bay,  which  divides  it  from  Delaware;  west  by 
Pennsylvania. 

Physical  Aspect.  The  maritime  belt  along  the  south-east  part  of  the 
state,  is  low  and  rather  sterile.  The  central  parts  of  it  between  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  undulate  with  hill  and  dale,  giving  rise  to  clear 
and  beautiful  streams.  At  a  considerable  distance  from  the  sea,  is  a 
chain  of  mountains  east  of  the  Delaware.  South  mountain  traverses  the 
state  from  north  to  south,  and  parallel,  and  at  a  little  distance  farther 
north,  the  Kittatinny.  The  country  between  and  beyond  these  mountains 
is  loamy,  with  a  fine  verdant  turf,  possessing  a  rich  soil,  well  adapted  to 
grazing.  Lead,  copper,  and  silver,  are  among  the  mineral  productions; 
and  in  various  points  it  abounds  with  extensive  beds  of  iron  ore. 

Rivers.  The  Hudson,  separating  the  state  from  New  York,  bounds  it 
on  the  north;  and  the  Delaware,  separating  it  from  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
south.  It  has  no  other  rivers  of  any  great  length,  though  every  part  of 
the  state  abounds  in  quick  mill  streams.  The  names  of  the  most  consid- 
erable rivers,  are  Passaic,  Hackinsac,  Raritan,  Great  Egg  Harbor,  and 
Musconecunk. 

Divisions — Counties.  Bergen,  Hackinsac;  Burlington,  Mount  Holly, 
Burlington;  Cape  May,  Cape  May  C.  H.;  Cumberland,  Bridgetown; 
Essex,  Newark,  Elizabethtown,  Gloucester,  Woodbury;  Hunterdon, 
Trenton;  Middlesex,  New  Brunswick,  Amboy;  Monmouth,  Freehold; 
Morris,  Morristoicn;  Salem,  Salem;  Somerset,  Boundbrook;  Sussex, 
Newton;  Warren,  Belvidere.  Population  in  1820,  277,575.  In  1830, 
320,779. 

Climate.  The  mountainous  part  of  New  Jersey  has  a  climate  not 
unlike  the  central  parts  of  New  York  and  New  England.  In  the  mari- 
time and  southern  portions,  it  is  milder  than  would  be  indicated  by  its 
latitude,  and  as  mild  as  the  adjacent  state  of  Pennsylvania. 

Products.  The  maritime  people  find  great  advantage  in  their  exten- 
sive oyster  beds,  and  in  feeding  cattle  on  the  salt  meadows  that  skirt  tho 
sea  shores.  The  central  parts  of  the  state  abound  in  the  common  pro- 
ductions of  the  middle  and  northern  states.  In  the  mountainous  regions, 
the  productions  compare  with  those  of  Vermont;  and  the  inhabitants  are 
noted  for  their  excellent  butter  and  cheese.  The  cider  and  fruit,  of  the 
fine  orchards  of  New  Jersey,  have  gained  an  universal  reputation. 

Manufactures.  Those  of  iron  are  prosecuted  to  a  very  great  extent. 
Among  other  common  articles  of  American  manufacturevleather  forms 
a  very  considerable  item.  Patterson  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  flour- 
ishing manufacturing  villages  west  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  situated  just 
below  the  romantic  falls  of  the  Passaic,  which  supplies  water  power  to 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  Gl 

any  extent.  The  numerous  establishments  have  recently  created  a  very 
considerable  town.  It  contains  seventeen  cotton  factories,  a  clock  facto- 
ry, an  iron  factory,  manufacturing  900,000  lbs.  iron,  and  850,000  lbs. 
nails.  The  cotton  factories  annually  manufacture  2,000,000  lbs.  The 
flax  factory,  600,000  lbs.  of  flax.  There  is  one  machine  shop  employ- 
ing one  hundred  and  fifty  hands.  Connected  with  it,  is  an  iron  and  brass 
foundry,  working  annually  000,000  lbs.  of  iron,  and  10,500  of  brass. 
Shoes  are  made  extensively  at  Newark.  Cotton  is  manufactured  at 
Trenton.  The  industrious  people  of  this  state  are  rapidly  following  the 
example  of  New  England  in  the  extension  of  their  manufactures. 

Religious  Denominations.  About  three  hundred  fixed  societies,  be- 
side the  numerous  societies  of  the  Methodists.  Of  the  fixed  societies,  the 
Presbyterians  are  the  most  numerous;  and  after  them,  the  Dutch  Reform- 
ed Church.  But  all  the  christian  denominations  are  represented  in  this 
state. 

Literature.  There  are  two  colleges,  one  at  Princeton,  and  the  other 
at  New  Brunswick.  Princeton  College  is  one  of  the  most  respectable 
seminaries  in  the  United  States.  The  position  is  high,  airy,  and  com- 
manding, in  the  centre  of  a  neat  and  flourishing  village.  The  college 
edifice,  called  Nassau  Hall,  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  by  fifty  feet, 
and  four  stories  high.  There  are  two  other  considerable  buildings  be- 
longing to  the  college,  all  of  stone,  and  a  number  of  houses  belonging  to 
the  officers  of  the  government.  At  some  distance  from  this  group,  is  the 
spacious  building  belonging  to  the  Theological  School.  This  building  is 
also  of  stone,  and  its  dimensions  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  fifty  feet,  and 
four  stories  high.  The  college  library  amounts  to  nearly  ten  thousand 
volumes;  and  the  theological  library,  to  six  thousand.  The  course  of 
academical  studies  is  thorough  and  complete.  The  Theological  Semi- 
nary is  under  the  care  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  the  United  States.  The  number  of  students  in  the  college 
averages  about  one  hundred  and  ten,  and  the  theological  students  about 
one  hundred. 

The  Rutger's  College  at  New  Brunswick,  is  under  the  care  of  the 
Dutch  Reformed  church.  It  has  a  spacious  edifice,  and  respectable 
endowments,  and  promises,  as  well  as  the  Theological  Seminary,  to  be 
a  very  useful  institution.  There  are  over  twenty  incorporated  academies, 
and  some  seminaries  on  the  manual  labor  system.  The  state  has  a  fund 
of  $245,404  for  the  support  of  free  schools.  But  the  system  of  gene- 
ral education  wants  the  efficiency  of  those  of  New  England  and  New 
York. 

Chief  Towns.  Trenton  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Delaware, 
opposite  the  falls,  on  the  great  route  between  New  York  and  Philadel- 


C>2  ATLANTIC      STATES. 

phia,  sixty  miles  south-west  of  the  former,  and  thirty-three  miles  north 
east  of  the  latter.  The  Delaware  is  navigable  for  sloops  and  steam 
boats  to  this  place.  It  is  a  neat  town ;  and  contains  eight  public  build- 
ings, among  which  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  state  house.  In  the  town 
and  vicinity  are  six  houses  of  public  worship.  The  bridge  across  the 
Delaware  has  five  arches,  and  makes  a  handsome  appearance.  The  town 
has  some  respectable  manufactories  of  cotton.  This  place  is  memora- 
ble as  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  splendid  exploits  of  General  Washing- 
ton, in  crossing  the  Delaware,  and  capturing  a  large  detachment  of  Hes- 
sians. It  contained  in  1820,  3,942  inhabitants.  In  1830,  it  is  supposed 
to  contain  over  6,000.  Newark  is  charmingly  situated  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Passaic,  seven  miles  from  its  mouth,  by  the  curves  of  the  river. 
Very  few  towns  of  the  size  make  a  more  showy  appearance,  being  deci- 
dedly the  handsomest  town  in  the  state.  It  contains  six  or  seven  public 
buildings,  six  houses  for  public  worship,  and  extensive  manufactories  of 
different  kinds.  In  Orange,  near  this  place,  is  made  the  famous  Newark 
cider.  It  is  nine  miles  west  of  New  York.  Population  in  1820,  G,507. 
In  1830,  10,705. 

Patterson,  of  the  manufactures  of  which  we  have  already  spoken,  is 
situated  on  the  Passaic,  near  the  great  falls,  in  a  position  much  admired 
for  its  romantic  surrounding  scenery.  It  is  the  chief  manufacturing 
town  in  the  state ;  and  beside  the  extensive  manufactories  already  men- 
tioned, contains  five  or  six  houses  of  public  worship.  The  manufacto- 
ries are  massive  buildings  of  stone.  The  falls  of  the  Passaic  are  seven- 
ty-two feet  in  perpendicular  descent,  and  constitute  a  splendid  cascade, 
much  visited  by  travellers. 

New  Brunswick  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Raritan,  at  the 
head  of  sloop  and  steam  boat  navigation,  thirty-three  miles  south-west  of 
New  York,  and  sixty  north-east  of  Philadelphia.  The  buildings  in  this 
town,  which  has  a  city  incorporation,  are  sparsely  diffused  over  a  consid- 
erable extent.  It  contains  seven  public  buildings,  and  five  churches. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  college  and  Theological  Seminary  here. 
There  are  some  handsome  houses  on  the  hill  above  the  landing.  The 
steam  boats  from  New  York  with  passengers  for  Philadelphia,  land  here, 
who  take  passage  in  stages  from  this  point  to  Trenton,  on  the  Delaware, 
where  they  embark  on  steam  boats  for  Philadelphia. 

Princeton  is  a  pleasant  village,  the  college  of  which  has  already  been 
mentioned.  It  is  situated  ten  miles  north-east  from  Trenton,  on  the 
great  route  between  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  It  contains  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  houses,  and  is  consecrated  in  history  by  one  of  the  glori- 
ous exploits  of  Washington,  in  which  he  defeated  a  British  regiment 
marching  to  the  relief  of  Trenton.     Elizabethtown,  fifteen  miles  from 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  63 

New  York,  is  an  agreeable  village,  containing  over  two  hundred  houses 
and  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  towns  in  the  state.  Bordentown,  seven 
miles  below  Trenton,  and  twenty-eight  above  Philadelphia,  is  a  neat  vil- 
lage, a  little  north  of  which  the  mansion  of  Joseph  Bonaparte,  ex-king  of 
Spain,  is  pointed  out,  as  an  illustration  of  the  mutability  of  fortune.  Bur- 
lington, on  the  south  shore  of  the  Delaware,  twenty  miles  above  Phila- 
delphia, is  a  considerable  village,  showing  to  advantage  to  the  passen- 
gers on  the  steam  boats,  as  they  round  to,  to  take  in  and  put  out  passen- 
gers. Camden,  Salem,  Morristown,  Amboy,  and  Newton,  are  the 
other  considerable  towns  in  the  state. 

Roads  and  Canals.  New  Jersey,  from  its  position,  is  a  great  tho- 
roughfare. The  chief  roads  of  public  travel  are  turnpikes.  The  chief 
canal  is  the  Morris  canal,  which  leaves  the  Hudson  opposite  New  York, 
at  Powle's  Hook.  The  ascents  of  this  canal,  instead  of  being  overcome 
by  locks,  are  surmounted  by  inclined  planes.  At  Bloomfield,  boats  are 
drawn  up  an  inclined  plane  of  six  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet,  in  which 
distance  they  overcome  fifty-two  feet  of  perpendicular  height.  To  sus- 
pend a  boat  loaded  with  forty  or  fifty  tons  in  this  way  in  the  air,  is  one  of 
the  triumphs  of  the  modern  gigantic  application  of  power.  This  canal 
overcomes  eight  hundred  and  ninety  feet  in  this  way,  and  opens  a  direct 
route  from  the  city  of  New  York  to  the  celebrated  coal  mines  at  Mauch 
Chunk,  in  Pennsylvania.  It  is  eighty  miles  in  length.  The  Delaware 
and  Hudson  canal  may  be  considered  as  partly  belonging  to  this  state. 
The  scenery  of  the  country  through  which  it  passes  is  of  a  singularly 
romantic  character.  It  is  sixty-five  miles  long,  and  brings  the  Lacka- 
wana  coal  to  New  York.  A  rail-way,  with  locomotive  cars,  brings  the 
coal  to  the  canal.  The  Trenton  and  Raritan  canal  is  not  yet  completed. 
It  will  open  a  direct  sloop  and  steam  boat  communication  from  Baltimore 
to  New  York.  A  rail  road  from  Camden  to  Amboy  is  in  progress.  It 
it  supposed  that,  with  the  other  improvements  contemplated,  it  will  enable 
the  traveller  to  pass  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  in  four  hours  1 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

Length,  300  miles;  breadth,  160.  Containing 44,000  square  miles. 
Between  39°  43'  and  42°  16'  north  latitude,  and  3°  31'  west  longitude, 
and  2°  18'  east  longitude,  from  Washington.     Bounded  north  by  New 


64 


ATLANTIC    STATES. 


York;  north-east  by  the  Delaware,  which  separates  it  from  New  Jersey; 
south  by  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia;  west  by  Virginia  and  Ohio. 

Counties.     Chief  Towns.  Counties.     Chief  Towns. 


Adams,  Gettysburgh. 
Alleghany,  Pittsburgh. 
Armstrong,  Kittanning. 
Beaver,  Beaver. 
Bedford,  Bedford. 
Berks,  Reading. 
Bradford,  Athens. 
Bucks,  Bristol. 
Butler,  Butler. 
Cambria,  Ebensburgh. 
Centre,  Bellefonte. 
Chester,  West  Chester. 
Clearfield,  Clearfield. 
Columbia,  Catawissa. 
Crawford,  Meadville. 
Cumberland,  Carlisle. 
Dauphin,  Harrisburgh. 
Delaware,  Chester. 
Erie,  Erie, 
Fayette,  Uniontown. 
Franklin,  Chambersburgh. 
Greene,  Waynesburgh. 
Huntingdon,  Huntingdon. 
Indiana,  Armagh. 
Jefferson,  Brookville. 
Lancaster,  Lancaster. 


Lebanon,  Lebanon. 
Lehigh,  Allentown. 
Luzerne,  Wilkesbarre. 
Lycoming,  Williamsport. 
M'Kean,  Cerestown. 
Mercer,  Mercer. 
Mifflin,  Lewistown. 
Montgomery,  Norristown. 
Northampton,  Easton. 
Northumberland,  Sunbury. 
Perry,  Landisburgh. 
Philadelphia,  Philadelphia. 
Pike,  Milford. 
Potter,  Cowdersport. 
Schuylkill,  Orwigsburgh. 
Somerset,  Somerset. 
Susquehannah,  Montrose. 
Tioga,  Wellsborourgh. 
Union,  MifBinburgh. 
Venango,  Franklin. 
Warren,  Warren. 
Washington,  Washington. 
Wayne,  Bethany. 
Westmoreland,  Greensburgh. 
York,  York. 


Population  in  1820,  1,049,393.     In  1830,  1,347,072. 

Physical  Aspect.  A  considerable  belt  along  the  south-east  section  of 
the  state  is  level,  gradually  rising  to  an  uneven,  and  from  that  to  an  un- 
dulating surface.  Between  the  first  line  of  the  Allcghanies,  called  South 
Mountain,  and  the  second  chain,  the  Blue  Ridge,  is  a  broad,  fertile,  lime- 
stone valley.  The  last  western  chain  of  the  Alleghanies  passes  through 
the  state  from  north-east  to  south-west.  It  is  broad,  and  composed  of 
many  detached  mountains.  West  of  these  mountains,  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania is  hill,  dale,  and  plain,  with  a  surface  not  unlike  that  of  New  Eng- 
land. The  soil  of  the  valleys  is  almost  invariably  fertile.  The  south- 
east division  of  the  state,  along  the  Susquehannah,  embraces  a  great  body 


ATIANTIC    STATES.  65 

of  excellent  land.  The  basin  between  Alleghany  river  and  lake  Erie, 
is  a  fine  country.  A  broad  belt  of  the  finest  country  stretches  east  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  and  spreads  with  the  same  extent  into  Maryland. 
This  midland  of  Pennsylvania  includes  as  rich  and  highly  cultivated  a 
tract  of  country  as  is  in  America,  and  is  chiefly  settled  with  Germans. 
The  highest  peaks  of  the  Alleghanies  are  elevated  from  two  to  three  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  from  one  to  two  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  their  bases.  This  region  in  its  mountains,  valleys, 
and  cascades,  presents  all  varieties  of  the  grand,  rugged,  sheltered, 
and  romantic  in  scenery.  Iron  in  vast  quantities,  lead,  copper,  many  of 
the  useful  fossils,  particularly  the  greatest  abundance  and  variety  of  coal, 
marble,  free  stone,  and  all  the  useful  earths  for  building  and  the  arts, 
abound  in  this  state,  so  variegated  in  surface,  and  of  geological  forma- 
tions so  different  from  each  other. 

Soil  and  Productions.  No  state  in  the  Union  shows  to  the  passing 
traveller  a  richer  agriculture  than  this.  It  is  emphatically  a  grain  coun- 
try, raising  the  greatest  abundance  of  fine  wheat.  It  produces  all  the 
fruits  and  productions  of  the  northern  and  middle  states,  and  is  better 
adapted  for  the  cultivation  of  the  mulberry  and  the  grape  than  most  of 
them.  Pennsylvania  is  famous  for  the  great  size,  and  the  strength  and 
excellence  of  its  breed  of  draft  horses.  The  largest  kinds  show  a 
prodigious  bulk,  when  compared  with  the  common  dimensions  of  the 
northern  horses.  Among  the  other  grains,  this  state  is  famous,  in  some 
parts,  for  the  cultivation  of  buckwheat  and  spelts.  Most  of  the  finer 
fruits  of  the  temperate  climates  flourish.  The  cider  is  particularly  ex- 
cellent. Wheat  is  the  staple  article,  though  parts  of  the  state  abound  in 
the  finest  products  of  the  dairy. 

Religion.  There  are  about  seven  hundred  fixed  societies  in  this  state. 
Of  these,  the  most  numerous  denomination  is  the  Presbyterian.  The 
German  Calvinists  and  Lutherans,  constitute  the  next  most  numerous 
denomination.  The  Friends  have  between  sixty  and  seventy  congre- 
gations. The  inhabitants  are  descended  from  all  the  European  nations. 
The  Germans,  however,  are  the  most  numerous  race,  and  next  to  them, 
perhaps,  the  Irish,  and  the  Scotch  Irish.  In  no  state  in  the  Union  is  the 
dialect  so  compounded  of  all  idioms,  accents,  tones,  and  modes  of  framing 
sentences.  Yet,  perhaps,  there  is  no  state  in  which  tne  varieties  of 
origin,  opinions,  faith,  fashion,  and  modes  of  life,  have  amalgamated 
into  a  more  marked  and  distinct  nationality,  than  m  the  people  of  this 
state. 

Rivers.     We  have  already  dwelt  upon  those  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 
The  principal  Atlantic  rivers  of  the  state,  are  the  Delaware,  Schuylkill, 
Lehigh,  Susquehannah,  and  Juniata.     The  Susquehannah  is  the  largest 
Vol.  II.  9 


66  ATLANTIC    6TATES. 

Atlantic  river  of  the  United  States.  It  rises  in  New  York,  near  the 
sources  of  the  Mohawk,  and  meandering  south-west,  it  enters  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  by  a  sweeping  bend,  returns  upon  its  course,  in  the  state  of 
New  York.  Still  searching  a  westward  course,  it  again  enters  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  receives  Tioga  river,  West  Branch,  and  the  Juniata.  These 
accumulated  waters  having  swollen  it  to  a  broad  stream,  it  passes  Har- 
risburgh,  enters  Maryland,  and  finds  its  estuary  in  Chesapeake  Bay  at 
Havre  de  Grace,  after  a  course,  measuring  its  curves,  of  more  than  five 
hundred  miles.  Its  principal  branches  are  Tunkhannoc,  Lackawannoc, 
Fishing  Creek,  Anderson's  Creek,  Clearfield  Creek,  Mushannon,  Sene- 
mahoning,  Kettle,  Pine,  Lycoming,  Lowalsock,  and  Muncy  creeks. 
These  streams  have  courses  from  thirty  to  seventy  miles  in  length.  Ju- 
niata is  the  largest  tributary.  This  stream  rises  in  the  Alleghanies  from 
two  large  branches,  which  rise  a  little  above  Huntingdon.  The  united 
stream  divides  again,  and  by  two  mouths  fall  into  the  Susquehannah, 
fourteen  miles  above  Harrisburg.  Below  this  junction,  the  principal 
tributaries  are  Sherman's,  Conedoguinnet,  Yeliow  Breeches,  Conewago, ; 
and  Codorus  creeks,  from  the  west ;  and  Swatara,  Conestoga,  and  Pe- 
quea  creeks,  on  the  east.  No  stream  in  the  United  States  passes  through 
more  grand  and  romantic  scenery  than  the  Juniata. 

Lehigh  is  an  important  branch  of  the  Delaware.  It  has  cut  its  way 
through  several  hills,  and  among  others  the  Blue  Ridge.  After  passing 
through  the  Moravian  towns,  and  a  beautiful  country,  it  falls  into  the 
Delaware,  at  Easton.  The  canals  have  enabled  the  great  cities  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  rich  and  exhaustless  coal  beds  near  its  banks. 

Schuylkill  rises  among  the  mountains,  in  Schuylkill  county,  winding! 
through  a  rich  country,  and  the  towns  of  Reading  and  Pottstown,  supply- 
ing Philadelphia  with  water  in  its  course,  it  falls  into  the  Delaware  seven 
miles  below  that  city.  It  has  a  long  course,  and  the  locks  and  canals 
have  rendered  it  navigable,  so  that  the  immense  beds  of  anthracite  coal 
on  its  head  sources  are  rendered  available  to  Philadelphia,  and  the 
country  on  the  sea  board.  The  names  of  many  other  streams  might  be 
given,  which  furnish  admirable  water  power,  and  which  irrigate  and 
adorn  the  rich  interior  of  the  state. 

Canals  and  Rail  Roads.  Pennsylvania  has  commenced  a  gigantic 
outline  of  internal  improvements.  In  1830,  it  had  four  hundred  and 
eighty  miles  of  canal  finished ;  two  hundred  and  fifty  in  progress  towards 
completion;  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  projected  and  surveyed. 
The  whole  length  of  the  grand  Pennsylvania  canal,  would  be,  if  comple 
ted  in  a  continuous  line,  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Of  this  line, 
two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  Philadelphia  to  a  point  about  twenty 
miles  beyond  Huntingdon,  are  completed.    The  whole  line  from  Johns- 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  67 

town,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Alleghany,  over  one  hundred  miles,  is  com- 
pleted. An  interval  of  something  more  than  fifty  miles  from  the  Juniata 
over  the  Alleghany,  to  Johnstown,  is  yet  incomplete.  It  is  proposed  to 
unite  them  by  a  rail-way  over  the  mountains.  The  Philadelphia  and 
Wyoming  canal,  connecting  that  far-famed  valley  with  that  city,  is  two 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  miles  in  length.  It  is  intended  to  unite  the 
Pennsylvania  canal  at  Pittsburgh,  with  a  canal  through  Meadville  to 
lake  Erie.  This  canal  will  be  between  two  and  three  hundred  miles  in 
length.  Still  another  canal  route  has  been  surveyed,  to  lead  from  Pitts- 
burgh to  the  summit  level  of  the  Ohio  and  Erie  canal.  Numerous  side 
cuts  connected  with  these  canals,  which,  a  few  years  since,  would  have 
been  deemed  impracticable,  now  dwindle  in  comparison  with  these  gigan- 
tic works,  and  are  too  numerous  to  find  a  place  in  this  work. 

Forty  miles  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Columbia  rail  road  are  nearly 
completed.  At  the  termination  of  the  Hudson  and  Delaware  canal,  a 
rail-way  extends  over  Moosic  mountains,  reaching  from  the  canal  to 
Carbondale,  on  the  Lackawanna  river.  It  is  sixteen  and  a  half  miles  in 
length,  and  overcomes  an  elevation  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight  feet. 
The  Mauch  Chunk  rail-way  is  of  wood,  overlaid  with  iron.  It  connects 
the  coal  mines  with  Lehigh  river,  which  is  rendered  boatable  by  canal 
boats.  The  summit  of  the  mountain,  where  the  coal  is  found,  is  nine 
hundred  and  eighty -two  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river.  The  length 
of  the  rail-way  is  nine  miles.  The  cars  descend  the  platform,  where 
they  unload  in  a  minute  and  twenty  seconds.  One  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  cars  have  descended  in  a  day,  with  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
tons  of  coal.  The  loaded  cars,  in  descending,  are  attached  to  empty 
cars  at  the  foot,  and  draw  them  up.  The  coal  of  this  exceedingly  rich 
and  abundant  mine  is  anthracite,  hard,  pure,  black,  with  a  beautiful  con- 
choidal  fracture,  and  perfectly  clean  in  the  handling.  Other  rail  roads 
are  in  contemplation  and  survey. 

Manufactures.  This  article  is  too  extensixe  to  allow  details.  In  the 
important  article  of  iron  manufactures,  Pennsylvania  far  excels  any 
other  state  in  the  Union.  We  have  spoken  of  the' manufactures  west  of 
the  Alleghanies.  As  long  ago  as  in  1810,  there  were  in  the  state  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  important  iron  factories,  for  all  operations  in 
iron,  from  smelting  the  ores  to  manufacturing  nails.  At  the  same 
time,  there  were  sixty-four  cotton  factories,  sixty-four  paper  mills,  and 
eight  glass  works.  Some  of  these  manufactures  have  doubled  since  that 
time.  It  is  supposed  that  the  total  value  of  manufactures  in  this  state, 
may  be  about  $70,000,000.  The  bank  capital  is  $10,310,333.  The 
tonnage  of  the  shipping  is  104,114  tons.  In  1816,  the  exports  were 
$7,196,246.     The  domestic  trade  has  increased  prodigiously  since  that 


68  ATLANTIC      STATES. 

time.     The  foreign  trade  has  diminished,  as  a  natural  consequence, 
amounting  in  exports,  in  1830,  to  $4,089,1)35. 

Education.     This  great  state  has  made  certain  constitutional  provis- 
ions that  the  poor  shall  be  taught  gratis.     Means  have  been  provided  in 
almost  all  the  counties  to  carry  this  provision  into  effect.     The  report  of 
the  comptrollers  of  the  public  schools  states,  that  in  twelve  years  prece- 
ding 1830,  thirty-four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  three  children  had 
received  the  advantage  of  this  provision.     But  general  instruction  is  not 
diffused  so  universally  as  in  New  York.     The  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, after  many  cfeanges  of  the  original  plan,  is  organized  on  the  most 
respectable  footing;  and  the  medical  school  attached  to  it,  yields  in  repu- 
tation to  none  in  the  Union.     Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  is  an  impor- 
tant institution.     Jefferson  College,  at  Cannonsbnrg,  has  a  medical  school 
attached  to  it  in  Philadelphia.     Washington  College,  at  Washington,  the 
Western  University,  at  Pittsburgh,  and  the  Alleghany  College,  at  Mead- 
ville,  have  already  been  named  under  the  head  of  Western  Pennsylva- 
nia.    Madison  College,  at  Uniontown,  is  an  institution  under  the  care  of 
the  Methodist  church.     Mount  Airy  College  is  fixed  at  Germantown. 
There  are  theological  schools  at  Gettysburgh,  York,  and  Alleghany. 
The  Moravian  schools,  at  the  beautiful  villages  of  Nazareth,  Bethlehem, 
and  Litiz,  sustain  a  high  reputation,  and  are  in  the  most  flourishing  con- 
dition.    The  system  of  instruction  is  of  a  peculiar  character,  and  has 
deserved  estimation  for  conferring  on  females  an  efficient  and  useful 
education. 

Chief  Towns.  Philadelphia,  the  second  city  in  the  Union,  is  situated 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Delaware,  three  hundred  miles  south-west  of  Bos- 
ton, ninety  south-west  of  New  York,  one  hundred  miles  north-east  of 
Baltimore,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  miles  north-east  of  Wash- 
ington, it  is  situated  on  an  isthmus  plain,  between  the  Schuylkill  and 
Delaware,  extending  from  the  one  to  the  other,  and  is  abont  six  miles 
above  their  junction.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles  by  the 
curves  of  the  river  from  the  city  to  the  estuary.  The  Delaware  is  here 
abroad,  unimpeded,  and  noble  stream,  affording  water  for  vessels  of  any 
size,  and  furnishes  an  admirable  harbor.  The  city  is  built  in  the  form  of 
an  oblong  square;  and  is  noted  for  the  regularity  with  which  its  streets, 
running  north  and  south,  arc  intersected  by  others  at  right  angles,  run- 
ning east  and  west.  The  streets  are  from  one  hundred  and  thirteen  to 
fifty  feet  wide,  and  numbered  in  one  direction,  first,  second,  third,  and  so 
on;  and  in  the  other,  by  specific  names :  so  that  no  city  exists  in  which 
it  is  so  easy  to  find  a  given  point  by  the  direction.  The  number  of 
squares,  it  is  believed,  amounts  to  about  three  hundred  and  fifty. 

It  is  unquestionably  among  the  first  manufacturing  cities,  all  things 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  09 

taken  into  view,  id  the  United  States.  Among  all  the  extensive  branches 
for  which  it  is  famous,  paper,  printing,  and  publishing,  are  important 
items.  A  great  number  of  gazettes,  periodicals,  and  monthlies  are  issued ; 
and  one  quarterly  critical,  and  another  quarterly  medical  journal.  This 
city  vies  with  Boston,  in  the  number  and  extent  of  its  school  and  classical 
books.  If  Boston  publishes,  as  regards  material  and  execution,  more 
substantially,  Philadelphia  publishes  cheaper,  a  circumstance  often  as 
important,  in  the  extension  of  its  books.  This  city  has  reputation,  also, 
for  the  extent  and  excellence  of  its  breweries. 

Its  literary,  philosophical,  and  humane  institutions,  are  worthy  of  all 
praise.  The  Philadelphia  library,  owes  its  origin  to  the  illustrious  Frank- 
lin. It  contains  a  museum,  a  philosophical  apparatus,  the  Philadelphia 
library,  and  the  Loganian  library;  amounting  in  all  to  twenty -rive  thou- 
sand volumes.  The  American  Philosophical  Society,  the  Philadelphia 
Society  for  promoting  Agriculture,  the  Athenaeum,  and  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  are  all  important  institutions,  and  have  libraiies  and  col- 
lections. The  Friend's  library  contains  a  respectable  collection,  and  the 
Friend's  common  school  institution  is  an  important  and  efficient  one. 
There  are  among  the  literary  institutions  great  numbers  of  Lancasterian, 
Sunday,  and  Infant  schools.  Among  the  humane  institutions,  is  one  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb.  One  of  the  noblest  establishments  in  this  or  any  other 
state,  is  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  It  extends  a  front  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy-three  feet,  and  has  a  large  building  connected  with  it,  suf- 
ficient to  contain  fifty  or  sixty  patients.  Appended  to  it  is  a  beautiful 
garden.  There  are  admirable  arrangements  for  every  thing  appertain- 
ing to  the  comfort  and  restoration  of  the  diseased,  both  in  body  and  mind. 
West's  splendid  picture  of  Christ  healing  the  sick,  is  properly  kept  in  this 
institution,  and  for  a  trifling  gratuity  shown  to  strangers.  There  are  over 
forty  public  buildings,  and  about  seventy  houses  of  public  worship.  The 
names,  uses,  and  dimensions  of  some  of  the  public  buildings  follow. 

The  first  Presbyterian  church,  is  a  noble  building,  as  are  the  Episco- 
pal churches  in  Eighth  and  Tenth  streets.  The  market  is  a  low  range  of 
buildings,  in  the  middle  of  Market  street,  extending  from  the  Delaware  to 
Eighth  street.  The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in  Chesnut  street,  is  con- 
sidered the  most  finished  specimen  of  pure  Grecian  architecture  in  the 
Union.  It  is  of  white  marble,  with  Doric  columns  in  front.  The  Bank  of 
Pennsylvania  fronts  two  streets  with  Ionic  columns,  and  is  of  white  mar- 
ble. The  state  house  is  a  large  brick  building  in  Chesnut  street.  Ge 
rard's  bank  is  a  beautiful  marble  building  with  Corinthian  columns.  The 
arcade  is  an  imposing  stone  structure  leading  from  Chesnut  to  Lafayette 
street.  It  is  fitted  up  with  shops,  and  in  the  second  story,  with  piazzas, 
and  contains  Peal's  museum.   The  theatre,  in  Chesnut  street,  has  a  mar- 


70  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

ble  front.  The  Masonic  Hall,  a  little  further  on,  is  in  the  Gothic  style. 
The  Academy  of  Arts  is  in  Chesnut  street,  between  Tenth  and  Eleventh. 
Among  the  statues,  are  the  three  graces  of  Canova ;  and  a  gallery  of  pic- 
tures, principally  the  works  of  American  artists.  The  United  States 
mint  is  visited  as  an  object  of  general  curiosity.  Most  of  the  visitants 
purchase  gold  and  silver  coins  struck  under  their  eye.  The  amount 
coined  annually,  varies  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  million  dollars.  In 
1829,  the  number  of  pieces  of  coin  struck,  amounted  to  7,674,501. 

The  Schuylkill  Water  Works  are  a  splendid  establishment,  and  noted 
especially  for  the  rich  and  varied  prospect  enjoyed  from  them.  The 
building,  in  which  the  machinery  is  contained,  is  a  handsome  one,  and 
the  machinery  is  capable  of  raising  seven  million  gallons  of  water  in 
twenty-four  hours.  The  wheels  are  driven  by  a  current  from  a  dam 
above.  The  reservoirs  are  on  a  hill,  higher  than  any  part  of  the  city. 
The  pipes  extend  thirty-four  or  thirty-five  miles.  This  grand  work  abun- 
dantly repays  the  inspection.  Pratt's  Garden,  in  full  view  of  the  water 
works,  is  a  charming  place,  and  well  worthy  to  be  visited.  The  peniten- 
tiary has  the  aspect  of  a  fortress.  The  walls  are  of  granite,  forty-feet 
high,  and  encloses  a  square  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  each  way.  The 
Naval  Hospital,  two  miles  south-west  of  the  centre  of  the  city,  has  a  front 
of  three  hundred  and  eighty-six  feet,  and  is  three  stories  high.  It  is  built 
partly  of  granite,  and  partly  of  marble.  The  Navy  Yard  is  of  great  ex- 
tent, and  fitted  up  with  first  rate  appurtenances  for  building  frigates,  and 
ships  of  the  line.  The  Pennsylvania,  building  here ,  it  is  said,  will  be  the 
largest  ship  in  the  world,  and  it  is  to  carry  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns. 

The  public  squares  of  this  beautiful  city,  strike  a  stranger  with  pleas- 
ing emotions,  from  their  frequency,  neatness,  and  verdure;  and  the  num- 
ber of  people  promenading  them.  No  city  in  the  Union,  can  show  such 
long  ranges  of  uniform  and  magnificent  houses,  as  this.  Chesnut  street 
may  serve  as  a  sample.  A  volume  would  be  requisite  to  convey  details 
of  all  the  public  buildings,  churches,  literary  and  humane  institutions,  and 
interesting  objects,  worthy  of  the  inspection  of  strangers.  Uniformity, 
neatness,  and  utility,  stand  embodied  as  the  characteristics  of  this  great 
and  thriving  city.  Two  men,  whose  names  will  be  coeval  with  time, 
differing  in  a  thousand  respects,  have  been  enabled  to  stamp  a  blended 
impress  of  their  own  peculiar  intellectual  character  upon  the  aspect  and 
institutions  of  Philadelphia.  The  one  is  Franklin,  the  simple  and  saga- 
cious expounder  of  the  doctrine  of  utility;  and  the  other,  William  Penn, 
the  memorable  patriarch,  the  immortal  assertor  of  toleration,  a  doctrine  in 
his  time  unknown,  and  now  as  universally  admitted  and  lauded  in  theory, 
as  it  is  universally  infringed  and  disregarded  in  practice.  Population  in 
1820,  108,110.    In  1830, 101,412. 


ATLANTIC    STATES.  71 

The  entrance  of  the  estuary  of  the  Delaware  is  defended  by  an  artificial 
breakwater,  an  immense  work  not  yet  completed.  The  artificial  commu- 
nications of  Philadelphia  with  the  interior,  by  turnpikes  and  McAdam 
ized  roads,  and  navigable  rivers  and  canals,  are  too  numerous  to  be  dwelt 
upon,  except  in  general  terms.  One  communication  of  permanent  im- 
portance must  not  be  overlooked.  The  numerous  and  beautiful  steam 
boats,  that  formerly  plied  between  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  used  to 
descend  the  Delaware  to  a  certain  point,  when  the  passengers  debarked 
and  took  stages  from  the  Delaware  across  the  state  of  Delaware,  to  New- 
castle, on  Chesapeake  bay.  A  ship  canal  is  now  cut  across  this  penin- 
sula, uniting  the  Delaware  and  the  Chesapeake,  by  an  uninterrupted  line 
of  inland  canal  communication.  This  canal  is  fourteen  miles  long,  and 
is  sixty  feet  in  width  at  the  water  line.  It  was  originally  dug  eight  feet 
in  depth,  but  has  been  increased  to  ten.  The  locks  are  one  hundred  feet 
in  length,  and  the  whole  construction  is  for  sloops  of  the  largest  class,  and 
schooners.  The  steam  boats  intended  to  ply  on  this  route,  are  of  the 
largest  and  most  beautiful  kind.  Three  towns,  Delaware,  Chesapeake, 
and  Bohemia,  have  already  sprung  up  on  the  route.  The  harbor  on  the 
Delaware,  is  formed  by  two  prodigious  piers  running  into  the  water. 
The  bridges  over  the  canal  are  some  of  them  of  the  class  called  swivel 
bridges.  Over  the  centre  of  the  deep  cut  is  the  Summit  bridge,  reach- 
ing from  hill  to  hill,  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  span,  and  ninety  feet 
at  its  key  stone  above  the  level  of  the  water.  Schooners,  and  the  largest 
class  of  sloops,  pass  underneath  with  their  masts  standing. 

Harrisburgh,  the  political  metropolis  of  the  state,  has  a  pleasant  site  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Susquehannah,  nearly  one  hundred  miles  north-west 
of  Philadelphia.  It  contains  seven  or  eight  public  buildings,  and  four 
houses  of  public  worship.  The  state  house  is  a  spacious  and  elegant 
building,  and  makes  an  imposing  show.  A  bridge  has  been  erected  across 
the  Susquehannah,  at  this  place.  An  island  divides  the  bridge  into  two 
divisions.  The  whole  length  of  the  bridge  and  cause-way  over  the  island 
is  a  mile.     It  contains  about  5,000  inhabitants. 

Lancaster  is  situated  in  a  delightfully  fertile  country,  near  Conestoga 
creek,  which  falls  into  the  Susquehannah ;  and  is  connected  with  the 
great  chain  of  the  Pennsylvania  canal.  It  contains  nine  or  ten  public 
buildings,  and  as  many  churches.  Some  of  the  public  buildings,  many 
of  the  private  mansions,  and  two  of  the  churches  are  handsome  buildings. 
Many  of  the  buildings  are  in  the  substantial  German  style  of  building  in 
Pennsylvania,  of  stone.  It  is  becoming  a  manufacturing  town.  Many 
of  the  inhabitants  are  Germans,  and  the  German  language  is  much  spo- 
ken. Three  or  four  German  gazettes  are  published  in  this  place,  and  as 
many  in  English.    The  canal  system,  by  connecting  Lancaster  by  water 


72  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

communication  with  Philadelphia,  has  given  a  new  impulse  to  this  town. 
It  is  situated  sixty-two  miles  west  of  Philadelphia,  with  which  it  is  con- 
nected by  an  admirable  road,  and  is  thirty -six  miles  south-east  of  Harris- 
burgh.     Population  in  1820,  was  6,663.     In  1830,  7,683. 

Reading  is  also  central  to  a  fine  agricultural  country,  and  is  situated 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  contains  a  number  of  public  build- 
ings, and  five  churches.  Being  connected  with  Philadelphia  by  the  line 
of  the  Pennsylvania  canal,  its  trade  is  rapidly  advancing.  There  are 
many  fine  mills  in  the  vicinity.  Its  manufactures  are  increasing.  Hats 
constitute  a  large  item  in  its  manufactures.     Population  about  6,000. 

Carlisle  is  an  interior  town,  sixteen  miles  west  of  Harrisburgh,  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  miles  west  of  Philadelphia,  and  contains  five  public 
buildings  and  eight  churches.  The  streets  are  handsome,  and  the  build- 
ings chiefly  of  stone  and  brick.  Dickinson  College,  already  mentioned} 
is  in  this  place.  Population  is  about  5,000.  Easton  is  a  very  neat  town, 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Delaware,  at  the  junction  of  the  Lehigh,  sixty 
miles  north  of  Philadelphia.  It  contains  a  number  of  public  buildings,  a 
church,  and  an  academy.  Here  is  a  handsome  bridge  across  the  Dela- 
ware. 

Chambersburgh  is  situated  on  Conococheague  creek,  with  striking 
views  of  the  Alleghanies  in  the  distance.  The  stream  on  which  it  stands 
furnishes  water  power  for  many  manufactories,  of  which  the  town  already 
contains  a  considerable  number.  It  has  six  public  buildings,  seven 
churches,  and  four  hundred  dwelling  houses,  of  which  a  great  propor- 
tion are  brick  or  stone.  Blue  limestone,  freestone,  and  marble  abound 
in  the  vicinity.  It  has  turnpike  communications  with  Philadelphia,  Bal- 
timore, and  Pittsburgh.  Population  in  1820,  was  2,401.  The  number 
ber  in  1830,  amounted  to  3,233. 

York  is  situated  on  Codorus  creek,  eighty-five  miles  west  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  forty-eight  north  of  Baltimore,  and  contains  six  public  buildings 
and  eight  churches.  It  is  a  handsome  town,  in  the  centre  of  a  fertile  and 
charming  country.  Population  in  1820,  3,546.  In  1830, 5,207.  Beth- 
lehem is  a  charming  Moravian  town  on  the  Lehigh,  fifty-four  miles  north- 
west of  Philadelphia.  The  town  is  built  of  stone,  and  inhabited  entirely 
by  Moravians.  The  two  seminaries  for  instruction  in  this  place  enjoy  a 
high  reputation.  Population  2,000.  Lehigh  and  Litiz  are  the  other 
principal  Moravian  establishments  in  this  vicinity.  The  principal  towns 
in  West  Pennsylvania  have  already  been  noticed.  Northampton,  on  the 
Lehigh,  Norristown,  on  the  Schuylkill,  and  Huntingdon,  on  the  Juniata, 
are  considerable  towns.  Bedford,  on  the  south  branch  of  the  Juniata,  is 
the  seat  of  the  Bedford  mineral  springs,  and  surrounded  by  splendid 
scenery.     A  barren  catalogue  of  the  names  of  thirty  other  considerable 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  73 

villages  might  be  given.  A  single  fact  from  the  late  census  of  1830,  will 
illustrate  the  vigorous  advance  of  this  great  state  in  population  and  im- 
portance. The  aggregate  increase  of  twenty-eight  towns  and  boroughs, 
is  at  the  rate  of  sixty  per  cent.  In  1829,  297,20b"  barrels  of  wheat  flour, 
39,523  of  rye  flour,  and  1,609  hogsheads  and  6,433  barrels  of  corn 
meal,  were  inspected  in  Philadelphia. 

It  spreads  a  wide  surface  in  the  Ohio  valley,  rapidly  advancing  in 
wealth  and  population.  New  towns  are  springing  up  in  every  direction. 
It  abounds  in  all  the  elements  of  wealth  and  power.  Public  opinion  has 
given  it  a  strong  impulse  towards  manufactures,  and  a  gigantic  system  of 
internal  improvements.  Its  inhabitants,  though  composed  of  all  nations, 
are  distinguished  for  their  orderly  habits,  industry,  and  sober  progress  of 
thrift,  and  a  sturdy  spirit  of  political  independence.  The  passing  stranger 
as  he  traverses  the  state,  is  struck  with  the  noble  roads  and  public  works, 
with  the  beautiful  German  farms  and  their  magnificent  and  imperishable 
stone  houses,  and  often  still  more  magnificent  stone  barns.  An  agricul- 
tural country,  alike  charming  and  rich,  spreads  under  his  eye.  He  not 
only  passes  many  handsome  towns,  but  is  surprised  with  the  frequent  re- 
currence of  neat  and  populous  villages,  the  names  of  which  he  had  met 
in  no  itinerary  or  gazetteer.  He  sees  a  country  of  immense  agricultural 
resources. 


DELAWARE. 

Length,  ninety -two  miles;  breadth,  twenty -three.  Containing  two 
thousand  and  fifty  square  miles.  Between  38°  27'  and  39°  50'  north  lati- 
tude, and  1°  13'  and  1°  57'  east  longitude.  Bounded  north  by  Pennsyl- 
vania; east  by  the  Delaware  bay  and  the  Atlantic;  south  and  west  by 
Maryland. 

Physical  Aspect.  The  greater  portion'  of  the  surface  is  one  exten- 
ded plain.  The  upper  part  of  the  state  is  undulating.  Christiana  heights 
and  Brandywine  hills  are  rough  and  elevated.  On  the  table  summits  be- 
tween Delaware  and  the  Chesapeake  bays,  is  a  chain  of  swamps,  from 
which  the  waters  descend  in  one  direction  to  Chesapeake  bay,  and  from 
the  other  to  Delaware  river.  Taken  together,  it  is  a  fine  tract  of  country 
for  cultivation,  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  growing  of  wheat,  the 
staple  of  the  state.  Delaware  flour  has  reputation  abroad  for  softness 
and  whiteness  beyond  all  other  American  flour.  It  is  distinctly  perceived 
Vol.  II.  10 


74  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

in  this  state,  that  the  temperature  is  softening  to  that  of  the  southern 
states.  Cypress,  the  timber  of  southern  countries,  abounds  in  the  swamps. 
The  catalpa,  persimmon,  and  some  of  the  laurel  tribe,  are  found  among 
the  forest  trees.  Sweet  potatoes  are  raised  without  difficulty.  We  know 
of  no  ores  found  in  this  state,  except  those  of  iron,  which  are  abundant. 

Divisions.  Counties.  Kent,  Dover;  Newcastle,  Newcastle;  Surry, 
Georgetown.     Population  in  1820,  was  72,749.      In  1830,  76,739. 

The  state  owns  13,213  tons  of  shipping.  Its  exports,  passing  through 
Philadelphia  or  Baltimore,  are  chiefly  included  in  the  amount  of  exports 
from  those  towns. 

Manufactures  and  Commerce.  Brandywine  creek,  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  state,  furnishes  water  power  for  great  and  growing  manufacturing 
establishments.  The  chief  articles  are  flour,  cottons,  woolens,  paper, 
and  gunpowder.  Newcastle  county,  is  the  seat  of  the  principal  of  those 
establishments.  In  proof  of  the  tendency  of  manufacturing  industry,  we 
give  the  following  facts  from  a  table  of  the  assessed  value  of  lands  in  this 
county,  in  1828.  The  whole  valuation  of  lots,  houses,  and  lands,  in  it  is 
$8,086,932.  Christiana  hundred  furnishes  $2,710,000,  being  out  of 
proportion  richer  than  any  other  part  of  the  country,  in  consequence  of 
the  extensive  manufactures  in  its  beautiful  neighborhood.  The  highest 
value  of  land  is  forty-four  dollars  per  acre,  in  Christiana  hundred,  the 
most  manufacturing  district,  and  the  lowest  is  seven  dollars,  in  Appoquin- 
imink,  the  least  manufacturing  part  of  the  state.  All  the  other  hundreds 
approach  nearer  the  highest  value,  or  retire  from  it,  in  proportion  to  their 
manufacturing  industry.  The  capital  invested  in  manufactures  in  Dela- 
ware in  1827,  was  $2,500,000. 

Canals.  The  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  canal  runs  through  this 
state,  and  has  already  been  mentioned.  This  state  has  made  great  exer- 
tions to  render  the  Susquehannah  navigable,  and  has  effected  it  as  far  as 
Columbia. 

Literature.  The  state  has  a  school  fund  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand  dollars.  There  are  academies  at  Wilmington,  New  Castle, 
Newark,  Smyrna,  Dover,  Milford,  Lewistown,  and  Georgetown.  Schools 
are  established  in  every  district  of  four  miles  square.  No  district  is  enti- 
tled to  any  share  of  the  school  fund,  that  will  not  raise  by  taxation  a  sum 
equal  to  its  share  of  the  income  of  the  fund.  This  state  furnishes  one  col- 
lege student  from  every  11,000  of  its  inhabitants. 

Religion.  The  number  of  fixed  congregations  is  stated  to  be  fifty-five ; 
of  these  the  Presbyterians  are  said  to  be  the  most  numerous. 

Chief  Towns.  Dover  is  the  political  metropolis.  It  is  situated  on 
Jones  creek,  seven  miles  from  its  entrance  into  Delaware  bay.  It  con- 
tains four  public  buildings,  of  which  the  state  house  is  (he  most  conspic- 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  75 

uous,  and  two  churches.  The  number  of  its  inhabitants  is  about  1,200. 
Wilmington  is  the  largest  town  in  the  state,  and  is  a  handsome  and  thri- 
ving place.  It  is  situated  between  Brandywine  and  Christiana  creeks, 
one  mile  above  their  confluence,  and  two  miles  from  the  Delaware,  with 
which  it  has  a  navigable  communication.  It  is  twenty-eight  miles  south- 
west of  Philadelphia,  and  seventy  north-east  of  Baltimore.  The  position 
is  high,  airy,  and  pleasant.  The  number  of  its  public  buildings  is  nine  or 
ten,  and  it  has  eleven  churches.  It  is  supplied  with  water  from  the  Bran- 
dywine, by  water  works,  like  those  of  Philadelphia.  There  is  a  United 
States  Arsenal  here  j  and  the  Friends  have  a  boarding  school  of  celebrity. 
A  college  was  incorporated,  but  has  never  gone  into  operation.  This 
town  owns  more  than  ten  thousand  tons  of  shipping.  Its  staple  article 
of  export  is  flour.  There  is  abridge  over  the  Brandywine,  and  one  over 
the  Christiana,  connecting  it  on  each  side  with  a  beautiful  surrounding 
country,  in  which  it  is  situated.  The  celebrated  Brandywine  flour  mills 
are  in  a  village  a  little  distant  from  the  town.  These  flour  mills  were 
formerly  the  most  numerous  and  important  in  the  United  States.  Those 
in  Rochester,  New  York,  now  vie  with  them.  Within  ten  miles  of  Wil- 
mington there  are  at  least  one  hundred  important  manufactories,  render- 
ing it  the  largest  manufacturing  district  in  the  Atlantic  country  west  of 
Philadelphia.  Great  quantities  of  gun  powder  are  among  the  articles 
manufactured.  The  population  in  1820,  was  5,268.  The  census  of 
1830,  gives  it  6,620.  New  Castle  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Delaware,  five  miles  from  Wilmington,  and  thirty-three  south-west  from 
Philadelphia.  It  contains  two  or  three  churches,  and  some  public  build- 
ings. Before  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  canal  went  into  operation, 
this  used  to  be  a  place  of  embarkation  for  passengers  from  Philadelphia, 
on  board  the  steam  boats  for  Baltimore.  Population  in  1830, 1,000.  The 
names  of  the  other  considerable  villages  in  the  state,  follow.  Newport, 
near  Christiana  creek,  deals  extensively  in  flour.  Christiana,  on  Chris- 
tiana creek,  five  miles  south-west  of  Newport,  has  a  similar  trade.  Smyr- 
na, Milford,  Georgetown,  and  Lewistown,  near  Cape  Henlopen  light 
house,  are  towns  of  some  importance. 

History.  This  state  was  first  settled  by  a  colony  of  Swedes  and  Fins. 
It  then  passed  under  the  authority  of  the  Dutch,  from  whom  it  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  English.  Afterwards  it  was  made  a  part  of  the  peaceful 
domain  of  William  Penn.  Next  to  Rhode  Island,  it  has  the  smallest  area 
of  any  state  in  the  Union. 


76  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

MARYLAND. 

Length,  one  hundred  and  nineteen  miles ;  breadth,  ninety-one.  Con- 
taining ten  thousand  eight  hundred  square  miles.  Between  38°  and  39° 
43'  north  latitude,  and  between  2°  31'  west,  and  1°  58'  east  longitude. 
Bounded  north  by  Pennsylvania;  east  by  Delaware  and  the  Atlantic j 
and  south  by  Virginia. 

Counties.  Chief  Towns.  Alleghany ,  Cumberland;  Ann  Arundel,  An- 
napolis; Baltimore,  Baltimore;  Calvert,  Prince  FredericJcton;  Caroline, 
Denton;  Charles,  Port  Tobacco;  Cecil,  Elkton;  Dorchester,  Cambridge; 
Frederick,  Frederick  {city;)  Harford,  Belle  Air;  Kent,  Chestertoum; 
Montgomery,  RocJcville;  Prince  George,  Upper  Marlboro"1 ;  Queen  Ann, 
Centreville;  St.  Mary,  Leonardtown;  Somerset,  Princess  Anne;  Talbot, 
Easton;  Washington,  Hagerstown;  Worcester,  Snow  Hill.  Population 
in  1820,  was  407,350.     In  1830,  446,913. 

Physical  Aspect.  The  maritime  belt  of  this  state  is  penetrated  far  into 
the  interior  by  Chesapeake  bay,  as  a  vast  river,  dividing  it  into  two  dis- 
tinct portions,  called  the  Eastern  and  Western  shore.  These  shores  in- 
clude a  level,  low,  and  alluvial  country,  permeated  by  tide,  rivers,  and 
creeks,  and  like  the  same  tracts  of  country  farther  south,  subject  to  inter- 
mittents.  The  genuine  white  wheat,  which  is  supposed  to  be  peculiar 
to  this  state,  is  raised  on  the  eastern  shore.  Above  the  tide  waters,  the 
land  becomes  agreeably  undulating.  Beyond  this,  commence  the  differ- 
ent ranges  of  the  Alleghanies,  with  their  numerous  peaks.  The  valleys 
between  them  are  of  a  loamy  and  rich  soil,  yielding  fine  wheat,  and  all  the 
productions  of  the  middle  states,  together  with  some  of  those  of  the  south- 
ern country.  The  national  road  passes  through  the  wide  and  fertile  val- 
leys in  which  Fredericktown  and  Hagerstown  are  situated,  being  broad 
belts  of  the  same  admirable  soil,  which  is  seen  in  Lancaster  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. The  names  of  the  principal  ridges,  are  South  Mountain,  the 
Blue  Ridge,  Rays  Hill,  Sideling  Hill,  Savage  Mountain,  Evit's  Hills, 
and  Alleghany  Mountains.  Between  these  mountains  and  hills,  are  clear 
and  transparent  waters.     The  air  is  elastic,  and  the  climate  salubrious. 

Productions.  The  great  staple  of  this  state  is  wheat.  The  second 
staple  is  tobacco.  The  soil  and  climate  are  admirably  adapted  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  all  the  fruits  of  the  temperate  climates.  The  proportion  of 
hickory  trees  in  the  forests  is  greater  than  in  the  northern  states.  The 
woods  abound  in  that  production,  called  mast,  on  which  the  swine  fatten. 
Sweet  potatoes  are  raised  in  abundance,  and  some  cotton  for  domestic 
use.  In  the  swamps  the  cypress  is  common,  and  the  catalpa  is  indig- 
enous. 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  77 

Rivers.  The  Potomac,  which  divides  this  state  from  Virginia,  will 
be  described  under  the  head  of  that  state.  The  Susquehannah,  passing 
through  it,  has  already  been  described.  The  principal  rivers  that  have 
their  courses  in  this  state,  are  the  Choptank,  which  rises  in  Delaware, 
and  falls  into  the  Chesapeake.  Nanticoke  rises  also  in  Delaware,  from 
several  branches,  and  likewise  empties  into  the  Chesapeake.  Patapsco 
river  might  with  more  propriety  be  called  an  inlet.  Several  branches 
empty  into  Patapsco  creek,  which  falls  into  the  bay  about  three  miles 
below  Baltimore.  From  Baltimore  to  Chesapeake  bay,  the  Patapsco 
affords  good  navigation  for  vessels  of  a  considerable  size.  Sassafras 
river,  Manokin,  Pocomoke,  Deer,  Brush,  Gunpowder,  and  Black  rivers, 
are  streams  with  short  courses,  that  empty  into  Chesapeake  bay.  Sev- 
ern empties  into  the  bay  at  Annapolis,  of  which  it  forms  the  harbor. 
Patuxent  river  falls  into  the  bay  thirty  miles  below  Annapolis.  A  num- 
ber of  small  streams  fall  into  the  Potomac  in  this  state.  Of  these,  the 
principal  are  St.  Mary's,  Wicomico,  Port  Tobacco,  Matawoman ,  Piscata- 
way,  and  Eastern  Branch.  The  latter  stream  falls  into  the  Potomac 
below  Washington.  The  great  Cumberland  road  passes  over  the  Monoco- 
cy,  Antietam,  and  Conococheague.  Beside  these,  Licking,  Conoloway, 
Sideling  Hill,  Town,  Evit's,  and  Will's  creeks,  rise  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  run  into  this  state. 

Climate.  The  maritime  belt  of  this  state  belongs  rather  to  the  south- 
ern than  the  northern  states.  It  is  the  commencement  of  that  belt  of 
alluvial  plain,  which  spreads  to  the  remotest  extent  of  the  southern  coun- 
try. The  summer  climate  of  this  region  cannot  be  accounted  healthy, 
the  waters  being  stagnant,  and  the  surface  yielding  forth  miasm.  The 
higher  portions  of  the  state  have  a  salubrious  and  delightful  climate. 

Religion.  The  Roman  Catholics  are  the  most  numerous  denomina- 
tion.    The  other  sects  are  fairly  represented. 

Literature.  The  University  of  Maryland,  St.  Mary's,  and  Baltimore 
College,  are  all  in  Baltimore.  There  are  twenty  incorporated  acade- 
mies in  the  state,  each  of  which  receives  eight  hundred  dollars  a  year 
from  the  state  treasury.  A  law  appointing  primary  schools  and  general 
instruction,  was  enacted  in  1825,  but  has  not  been  carried  into  effect  so 
extensively  as  could  have  been  desired.  The  University  of  Maryland 
was  originally  a  medical  school.  An  academical  department  has  been 
added.  Itiias  a  spacious  and  elegant  building  and  ample  endowments; 
and  the  medical  college  is  highly  respectable  in  its  standing.  St.  Mary's 
College,  a  Catholic  institution,  has  a  number  of  buildings,  considerable 
endowments,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  students,  much  younger 
than  the  members  of  colleges  in  general.  Attached  to  this  institution,, 
is  a  theological  seminary. 


78  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

Exports.  In  and  about  Baltimore,  and  in  the  richer  and  more  popu- 
lous districts  west  of  it,  the  products  of  the  customary  American  manu- 
factures are  very  respectable  in  amount.  But  Maryland,  being  a  slave 
owning  state,  is  chiefly  devoted  to  agriculture.  The  principal  exports 
are  flour,  tobacco,  pig  iron,  some  lumber,  and  grain.  They  amounted 
in  1829  to  $4,804,465.     The  shipping  was  170,947  tons. 

Roads  and  Canals.  There  are  a  number  of  long  turnpikes  in  the 
state;  particularly  one  connecting  with  the  National  or  Cumberland 
Road,  and  constituting  the  great  thoroughfare  to  the  western  country. 

The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal  commences  at  the  Potomac,  in  the 
Federal  city,  and  proceeds  along  the  river  near  the  limits  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia;  and  is  laid  out  to  pass  through  the  highlands,  and  over 
the  Alleghanies,  not  far  from  the  route  of  the  great  national  road,  to  meet 
the  Ohio  at  or  near  Pittsburgh.  Among  the  three  great  national  works 
to  connect  the  Atlantic  waters  with  the  Ohio,  and  two  of  which  are  near- 
ly completed,  this  is  by  no  means  the  least  stupendous.  In  fertility  of 
the  country  through  which  it  will  pass,  in  the  romantic  grandeur  of  the 
scenery,  and  in  the  importance  of  the  results  that  may  be  expected,  it 
will  probably  equal  either.  An  unfortunate  litigation  between  this  cor- 
poration and  that  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  rail-way,  has  retarded  the 
pi-ogress  of  this  canal.  About  fifty  miles  of  the  route  are  completed. 
The  whole  surveys  have  been  made,  and  various  excavations  on  the  line 
beyond  commenced.  A  lateral  cut  from  Fredericktown  to  this  canal  has 
been  authorized  and  surveyed  by  the  state.  The  whole  length  of  the 
route,  when  completed,  must  considerably  exceed  three  hundred  miles. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  rail  road  is  by  far  the  most  stupendous  na- 
tional work  of  the  kind  ever  undertaken  in  this  or  any  other  country. 
The  length  of  the  route  must  be  nearly  three  hundred  miles.  The  eleva- 
tion to  be  overcome,  on  the  highest  central  point  of  the  line  above  the 
termination  at  Baltimore,  is  eight  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet.  From 
Baltimore  to  Cumberland,  the  inclination  will  be  about  fifteen  feet  and 
ten  inches  a  mile ;  and  thence  to  the  Ohio,  about  five  feet  two  inches  a 
mile.  The  route  from  Baltimore  to  the  Potomac,  of  sixty  miles,  will 
have  but  a  single  summit  requiring  stationary  power.  Thence  up  the 
Potomac  valley,  a  route  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  farther,  will  re- 
quire none.  The  fust  section  of  the  road  to  Ellicott's  mills,  on  the  Pa- 
tapsco,  thirteen  miles  from  the  city,  has  been  finished  some  time,  and 
other  sections  are  in  a  state  of  progress  near  to  completion.  On  This 
route,  every  mode  of  passage  by  horse-car  power,  and  locomotive  steam- 
car  power,  and  wind  power  by  sails,  has  been  adopted.  Although  the 
speed  of  a  mile  in  a  minute,  which  has  been  effected  on  the  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  rail-way,  has  not  been  attempted  on  this,  half  that  dis- 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  7i> 

tance  has  often  been  attained.  A  single  steam  car  will  transport  eight 
cars  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  passengers  the  distance  of  thirteen  miles 
in  about  thirty  minutes,  a  speed  and  power  as  great  as  could  be  desired. 
To  judge  of  the  capabilities  of  such  a  rail-way,  we  state  a  fact  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  rail  road.  The  distance  between 
the  two  towns  is  thirty -two  miles.  An  entire  ship's  cargo,  consisting  of 
one  thousand  two  hundred  bales  of  cotton,  was  conveyed  by  two  engines 
from  Liverpool  to  Manchester  in  two  hours ! 

The  route  of  this  stupendous  undertaking  is  through  a  country  abound- 
ing in  every  variety  of  splendid  scenery,  that  mountains,  valleys,  cas- 
cades, rivers,  forests,  and  the  wildness  of  nature  in  her  mountainous  re- 
treats, can  furnish.  Neither  Alexander,  Hannibal,  or  Napoleon,  ever 
meditated  a  more  gigantic  undertaking.  What  a  conception  to  imagine 
the  thousands  of  teams  that  will  travel  on  this  road,  each  conveying  half 
a  ship  load,  continually  gliding  along  the  iron  rail-way,  bound  in  opposite 
directions,  propelled  along  their  everlasting  course  up  the  hills  and  down 
the  valleys,  by  a  power  apparently  as  untiring  as  the  rivers  that  roll  by, 
or  the  lapse  of  time,  and  with  a  flight  almost  to  emulate  the  eagle  soaring 
above !  The  expense  of  the  route,  where  it  has  been  completed  and 
double  tracked,  exceeds  the  average  of  forty  thousand  dollars  a  mile. 
The  average  expense  of  the  whole  route  will  be  much  less.  The  Car- 
rollton  viaduct  on  the  route  is  a  stupendous  work,  and  supposed  to  be  the 
noblest  piece  of  mason  work  which  our  country  can  show.  The  Jackson 
bridge,  deep  cut,  great  embankment,  Gadsby's  run  viaduct,  Patterson 
viaduct,  and  the  cut  through  Buzzard's  rock,  are  vast  works  already  ac- 
complished. What  sublime  views  will  the  whole  route  over  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  to  the  Ohio  furnish ! 

A  rail  road  from  York-Haven  to  the  Susquehannah,  has  been  undertaken 
by  the  legislature  of  Maryland.  The  distance  is  sixty  miles,  and  the 
estimated  cost  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a  mile.  This  will 
connect  with  the  Susquehannah  and  Philadelphia  rail  road.  The  French 
Town  and  New  Castle  rail  road  is  laid  out,  and  the  stock  taken.  Vari- 
ous other  rail-ways  are  in  contemplation.  When  these  great  works  shall 
be  completed,  Maryland  will  probably  come  in  for  her  full  share  of  the 
trade  of  the  western  country.  Both  the  great  canal  and  rail-way  routes 
traverse  a  country  of  great  fertility,  abounding  in  exhaustless  beds  of 
coal  and  iron  ore.  Marble  and  freestone,  sufficient  to  build  up  all  the 
cities  in  the  Union,  abound  on  the  route.  No  elements  of  national  wealth 
can  well  be  imagined,  that  these  works  are  not  calculated  to  develop  to  an 
unlimited  extent. 

Chief  Towns.     Baltimore,  the  commercial  capital  of  Maryland,  is  the 
third  city  in  the  Union  in  point  of  population  and  extent.     It  is  situated 


80  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

on  the  north  shore  of  the  Patapsco,  fourteen  miles  above  its  entrance 
into  Chesapeake  bay,  one  hundred  and  ninety  south-west  of  New  York, 
one  hundred  south-west  of  Philadelphia,  and  thirty-seven  north-east  of 
Washington.  No  Atlantic  city  has  had  so  rapid  a  growth.  It  naturally 
commands  the  trade  of  a  great  and  growing  interior  country,  comprising 
Maryland,  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  the  western  country. 
Vessels  of  six  hundred  tons  can  come  to  the  wharves  at  Old  Town  and 
Fell's  Point.  But  vessels  over  two  hundred  tons  burden  cannot  come 
quite  up  to  the  compact  part  of  the  city  shore.  Six  or  seven  bridges,  some 
of  them  elegant,  and  of  stone,  connect  Old  Town  with  the  city.  In  other 
respects,  the  harbor  is  admirably  adapted  for  trade,  and  is  remarkable  for 
the  number  of  vessels  that  arrive  and  depart.  The  mouth  of  the  harbor 
is  a  strait,  effectually  guarded  by  Fort  McHenry.  The  marshes  in  and 
about  the  city  have  been  filled  up,  and  various  improvements  for  health 
and  utility  adopted,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  supplying  the  city 
with  water  from  public  fountains. 

The  area  of  the  town  is  a  square  of  four  miles,  divided  into  twelve 
wards.  It  contains  twenty-five  public  buildings,  and  forty  places  of 
worship,  in  which  the  common  denominations  are  all  represented. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  is  a  spacious  and  magnificent  building, 
the  largest,  it  is  believed,  in  the  United  States.  A  beautiful  painting  of 
the  taking  of  Christ  from  the  Cross  is  shown  in  it.  The  Unitarian 
church  is  a  large  and  beautiful  one,  as  is  St.  Paul's  church.  The  Ex- 
change is  a  vast  building,  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  feet  by  one  hundred 
and  forty,  with  four  wings.  The  Athenaeum  is  a  spacious  and  beautiful 
structure.  The  Union  Bank  is  one  of  the  most  showy  buildings  of  the  kind. 
The  Penitentiary  is  on  a  great  scale,  and  under  excellent  management. 
The  Hospital  is  distinguished  for  the  extent  and  excellence  of  its  anatomical 
apparatus,  having  generally  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred 
patients.  Among  the  conspicuous  objects  are  its  monuments.  The 
Washington  Monument  is  a  marble  column,  in  Howard  Park,  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  feet  high.  The  base  or  pedestal  is  fifty  feet  square, 
and  twenty  feet  high,  and  the  column  fourteen  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
summit,  and  twenty  at  the  foot.  The  Battle  Monument  is  raised  in  mem- 
ory of  those  who  fell  in  defence  of  the  city  in  the  British  attack  of  1814, 
At  the  corner  of  Front  and  Pitt  streets  is  a  shot  tower,  the  most  conspicu- 
ous object  in  a  distant  view  of  the  city.  It  is  two  hundred  and  thirty-four 
feet  high.  Barnum's  Hotel  is  one  of  the  most  spendid  in  the  United  States, 
being  two  hundred  and  twenty -three  feet  front,  by  one  hundred  in  depth. 
The  Public  Fountain  is  a  spring  fountain  of  water,  in  the  western  part  of 
the  city,  shaded  with  trees,  and  surrounded  by  a  public  square.  In  the 
sultry  months  it  is  a  place  of  great  resort.     Baltimore  has  been  so  recently 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  81 

settled,  that  its  vicinity  is  more  wooded,  and  has  scenery  of  more  fresh- 
ness than  surrounds  American  cities  in  general.     The  approaches  to  it 
are  of  surpassing  beauty;  and  in  regard  to  position,  and  the  configura- 
tion of  its  area  for  convenience,  show,  or  having  its  streets  cleaned  by 
the  rains,  no  place  in  America  exceeds  it.     A  considerable  part  of  the 
city  is  built  up  with  the  same  regularity  as  Philadelphia.     A  great  num- 
ber of  the  houses  are  elegant,  and  on  the  whole,  the  city  of  monuments 
strikes  the  eye  of  a  stranger  as  a  beautiful  place.     It  issues  seven  or  eight 
gazettes,  and  has  one  hundred  considerable  manufactories  of  one  kind  or 
another.     In    1830,   were   inspected  577,804  barrels  of  wheat  flour, 
4,436  barrels  of  rye  flour,  558  hogsheads  and  5,458  barrels  of  corn 
meal.     Population  in  1820,  02,738.     In  1830,  80,519.     Annapolis  is 
the  political  metropolis  of  the  state,  and  is  situated  on  the  western  side  of 
the  estuary  of  the  Severn,  twenty -eight  miles  south-east  of  Baltimore, 
and  forty  north-east  of  Washington.     It  has  a  spacious  and  elegant  court 
house,  which  is  the  only  conspicuous  building  in  it.     It  has  two  churches, 
and  about  three  thousand  inhabitants.     Fredericktown,  on  a  branch  of 
the  Monococy,  is  a  large  and  pleasant  interior  town,  forty-five  miles  west 
of  Baltimore,  and  forty -three  north-west  of  Washington.     It  contains  six 
public  buildings  and  seven  churches.     Intermixed  with  the  beautiful  and 
spacious  private  and  public  buildings,  are  not  a  few  log  houses,  memo- 
rials of  the  recent  woods  from  which  their  timber  was  hewn.     It  is  a 
peculiarity  in  the  modes  of  this  place,  that  the  marketing  is  finished  be- 
fore sunrise.     It  is  in  the  centre  of  a  very  pleasant  and  fertile  country; 
and  when  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal  shall  be  finished,  will  have  a 
direct  boatable  water  communication  with  the  Chesapeake.     It  issues 
four  gazettes,  and  has  between  4  and  6,000  inhabitants.     Hagerstown 
is  a  very  neat  town,  regularly  laid  out  on  Antietam  creek.     It  contains 
four  public  buildings  and  four  houses  of  public  worship,  two  of  which  are 
handsome.     The  town  is  built  chiefly  of  wood  or  stone.     Many  of  the 
inhabitants  are  Germans.     It  issues  two  gazettes,  and  has  about  4,000 
inhabitants.     Cumberland  is  a  considerable  village,  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Potomac,  at  the  commencement  of  the  National  road.     It  is  seventy 
miles  west  of  Hagerstown,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  east  of  Wheeling. 
It  contains  four  public  buildings  and  four  churches.     An  immense  abun- 
dance of  stone  coal  is  found  in  the  vicinity.     Hancock,  on  the  most  north- 
ern bend  of  the  Potomac,  near  the  Pennsylvania  line,  is  also,  as  well  as 
the  three  last  mentioned  towns,  on  the  National  road,  and  is  an  impor- 
tant village.     The  names  of  the  other  considerable  villages  in  this  state 
follow :  Elkton,  Frencbtown,  Charlestown,  Chestertown,  Easton,  Mid- 
dleton,   Salisbury,  Princess  Anne,  and    Snowhill.     These  are  on  the 
Vol.  II.  11 


82  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

eastern  shore.   Havre  de  Grace,  Belle-Air,  Harford,  Bladensburgh,  Port 
Tobacco,  and  Leonardtown,  are  on  the  western  shore. 

Manners  of  the  People.  Maryland  was  originally  a  Roman  Catholic 
settlement,  made  by  Lord  Baltimore.  Deep  traces  of  the  influence  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  worship  are  inwrought  into  the  manners  of  the  people. 
The  effect  of  slavery  on  a  large  scale,  is  first  perceptible  as  we  advance 
south  in  this  state.  The  educated  citizens  have  a  generous  frankness  of 
manners,  exceedingly  attractive  to  strangers,  and  worthy  of  all  praise. 


DISTRICT  OF   COLUMBIA. 

This  is  a  tract  ten  miles  square,  on  both  sides  of  the  Potomac,  under 
the  peculiar  jurisdiction  of  the  general  government,  and  is  the  seat 
of  that  government.  It  contains  two  counties :  Washington,  Washing- 
ton and  Georgetown;  Alexandria,  Alexandria.  Population  in  1820, 
3,039.     In  1830,  39,588. 

Washington,  the  metropolis  of  the  United  States,  is  situated  on  the 
Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  by  the  curves  of  the  river  and  the  bay, 
two  hundred  and  ninety-five  miles  from  the  Atlantic,  about  intermediate 
between  it  and  the  Ohio,  and  not  far  from  intermediate  between  the  north- 
ern and  southern  divisions  of  the  Union ;  in  38°  57'  north  latitude,  and 
77°  2'  west  longitude,  from  Greenwich.  Its  position  is  between  the 
Eastern  Branch  and  the  Potomac.  Rock  Creek  divides  it  from  George- 
town, with  which  it  is  connected  by  four  bridges;  and  the  Potomac  sepa- 
rates it  from  Alexandria,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  a  bridge  of  more 
than  a  mile  in  length.  A  canal,  following  the  course  of  the  Tyber,  a 
small  stream  that  runs  through  Washington,  connects  the  Potomac  with 
the  Eastern  Branch.  The  space  on  which  the  city  is  built,  is  high,  airy, 
commanding,  and  salubrious;  and  as  but  a  small  part  of  it  is  yet  covered 
with  buildings,  has  the  aspect  of  a  succession  of  opulent  villages  in  the 
midst  of  the  country.  The  original  plan  was  a  regular,  but  a  singular 
one.  The  streets  were  laid  out  to  radiate  in  right  lines  from  the  capitol, 
as  a  centre.  This  plan  has  been  but  imperfectly  carried  out.  Some  of 
the  smaller  streets  are  designated  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  It  pre 
sents  the  appearance  of  three  distinct  villages — the  navy  yard  village, 
Capitol  hill  village,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  which  is  the  most 
showy  and  compact  part  of  the  city.     The  capitol  presents  an  imposing 


ATLANTIC      STATES. 


83 


mass  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  front,  and  the  wings  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one  feet  in  depth.     The  eastern  projection  is  sixty-five 
feet,  and  the  western  eighty-eight.     The  building  covers  nearly  an  acre 
and  three  quarters.     The  centre  of  the  dome  is  ninety-five  feet.     It  is 
handsomely  terraced  in  front,  and  occupies  a  hill,  which  renders  it  a  con- 
spicuous object  for  several  miles  in  the  distance.     It  is  built  of  beautiful 
freestone,  adorned  with  massive  stone  columns  in  different  styles  of 
architecture.     It  is  too  large  to  have  its  proportions  fully  apprehended  by 
the  eye,  when  viewed  near  at  hand.     It  is  seen  in  tbe  best  light  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  mile,  and  its  white  columns  illumined  by  the  mild 
radiance  of  the  setting  sun.     The  representatives'  chamber  is  a  magnifi- 
cent semicircular  apartment,  supported  by  bluish  polished  stone  columns, 
lighted  from  above.     The  greatest  length  of  the  representatives'  room  is 
ninety-five  feet.     The  senate  chamber  is  a  similar,  but  smaller  apart- 
ment, seventy-four  feet  in  length.     The  height  of  the  former  is  sixty  feet, 
and  that  of  the  latter  only  forty.     In  the  centre  of  the  building  is  the 
Rotunda,  ninety-six  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  same  number  of  feet  in 
height.     It  is  ornamented  with  national  paintings,  representing  the  sur- 
render at  Saratoga  and  Yorktown,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
Washington  resigning  his  commission.     Each  of  these  paintings  is  twelve 
feet  by  eighteen.     There  are  also  relievos  in  marble,  representing  Po- 
cahontas rescuing  Captain  Smith  from  death,  the  landing  of  the  pilgrims 
at  Plymouth,  one  of  Penn's  treaties  with  the  Indians,  and  a  battle  be- 
tween Boone  and  two  Indians.     This  noble  and  magnificent  apartment  is 
of  white  marble,  and  lighted  from  the  dome.     Men  on  the  pediment  seem 
dwindled  to  atoms,  and  the  slighest  noise  creates  echoes,  which  reverbe- 
rate upon  the  ear  with  a  grand  and  surprising  effect.     Its  solitude,  during 
the  recess  of  congress,  gives  these  deafening  echoes  a  peculiar  impres- 
siveness.     It  would  require  no  great  effort  of  the  imagination  to  suppose 
them  the  shades  of  the  interminable  speeches  uttered  during  the  session, 
lingering  behind,  in  the  absence  of  the  orators,  like  clouds,  (in  the  phrase 
of  scripture,)  returning  after  the  rain.     A  most  splendid  view  is  enjoyed 
from   the  top  of  the  capitol,  commanding  a  vast  sweep  of  country,  the 
noble  Potomac,  and  handsome  mansions  embowered  in  the  distant  groves. 
The  beautiful  area,  in  which  the  capitol  is  situated,  is  surrounded  by  an 
avenue  of  young  trees,  which  will  soon  give  the  softening  of  verdure  and 
shade  to  the  view  of  this  imposing  structure.     The  whole  expense  of  the 
capitol  and  appurtenances,  was  not  far  from  $2,000,000.     The  president's 
house  is  an  elegant  mansion,  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  front,  and 
eighty-five  deep,  and  built  of  the  same  material  with  the  capitol.     The 
entrance  hall  leads  into  the  drawing  room,  where  are  the  levees;  upon 
which  occasions,  two  other  magnificent  apartments  are  thrown  open,  all 


84  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

easily  accessible  to  strangers.  The  offices  for  the  departments  of  state, 
are  four  spacious  brick  edifices,  in  which  are  kept  the  papers,  records, 
archives,  and  offices  of  the  several  departments.  The  general  post  office 
is  a  large  brick  edifice,  nearly  a  mile  north-west  of  the  capitol,  in  which 
are  kept  the  offices  of  the  post  office  establishment,  the  general  land 
office,  and  the  patent  office,  in  which  more  than  two  thousand  patents  are 
shown,  among  which  are  a  great  many  useful  and  useless  inventions. 
The  navy  yard  is  situated  on  the  Eastern  Branch,  and  has  all  the  appur- 
tenances for  building  ships  of  the. largest  size.  The  city  hall  is  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  feet  long  by  fifty  in  breadth.  Congress'  library  is 
now  kept  in  the  capitol,  and  contains  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  volumes. 
The  Columbian  College  has  an  extent  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  feet 
by  forty-seven,  is  situated  on  elevated  ground,  and  is  a  lofty  building, 
calculated  to  accommodate  one  hundred  students.  There  are  a  number 
of  other  public  buildings,  and  fourteen  houses  for  public  worship.  Popu- 
lation, 13,823. 

Georgetown  is  separated  from  Washington  by  Rock  Creek,  and  from 
its  proximity,  seems  to  the  eye  to  make  part  of  the  city.  It  contains 
eight  public  buildings  and  five  churches.  It  is  a  handsomely  built  and 
flourishing  town,  with  considerable  trade.  It  contains  a  respectable 
Catholic  literary  institution,  called  Georgetown  College,  which  has  two 
spacious  edifices,  containing  a  library  of  seven  thousand  volumes,  and 
having  an  average  number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  students.  Popula- 
tion, 8,441. 

Alexandria  is  included  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  though  six  miles 
distant  from  Washington,  and  the  Potomac  interposing  between  them  in 
passing  to  it  from  Washington,  with  a  bridge  over  it  more  than  a  mile  in 
length.  The  remaining  distance  is  an  almost  uninhabited  plain.  It 
contains  twelve  or  fifteen  public  buildings,  and  eight  churches.  The 
streets  are  regular,  and  the  squares  rectangular.  It  is  favorably  situated 
for  commerce,  at  the  head  of  tide  water  on  the  Potomac.  The  amount 
of  its  trade  is  respectable,  and  it  has  between  fifteen  and  sixteen  thousand 
tons  of  shipping.  The  progress  of  this  neat  and  ancient  town  has 
been  for  a  long  time  almost  stationary.  It  is  expected  that  the  Ohio 
and  Chesapeake  canal,  with  which  it  is  connected,  will  communicate  to 
it  a  new  impulse  of  prosperity.  Population  in  1820,  8,216.  In  1830, 
8,221. 


ATXANTIC     STATES. 


85 


VIRGINIA. 


Length,  320  miles;  breadth,  200.  Containing  04,000  square  miles. 
Between  36°  40'  and  40°  39'  north  latitude;  and  6°  34'  west,  and  1° 
20'  east  longitude.  Bounded  north  by  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland ;  east 
by  the  Atlantic;  south  by  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee;  west  by  Ken- 
tucky ;  north-west  by  Ohio. 


Counties.     Chief  Towns. 
Accomac,  Accomac  C.  H. 
Albemarle,  Charlottesville. 
Alleghany,  Covington. 
Amelia,  Amelia. 
Amherst,  Amherst. 
Augusta,  Staunton. 
Bath,  Hot  Springs. 
Bedford,  Liberty. 
Berkley,  Martinsburgh. 
Botetourt,  Fincastle. 
Brooke,  Wellsburgh. 
Brunswick,  Lawrenceville. 
Buckingham,  Buckingham. 
Cabell,  Cabell  C.H. 
Campbell,  Lynchburgh. 
Caroline,  Bowling  Green. 
Charles  City,  Charles  City  C.  H. 
Charlotte,  Charlotte  C.  H. 
Chesterfield,  Chesterfield  C.  H. 
Culpepper,  Culpepper  C.  H. 
Cumberland,  Cumberland  C.  H. 
Dinwiddie,  Dinwiddie  C.  H. 
Elizabeth  City,  Hampton. 
Essex,  Tappahannoc. 
Fairfax,  Fairfax  C.  H. 
Fauquier,  Warrenton. 
Flucanna,  Columbia. 
Franklin,  Rocky  Mount. 
Frederic,  Winchester. 
Giles,  Giles  C.  H. 
Gloucester,  Gloucester  C.  H. 
Goochland,  Goochland  C.  H. 


Counties.     Chief  Towns. 
Henry,  Martinsville. 
James  City,  Williamsburgh. 
Jefferson,  Charlestown. 
Kenhawa,  Kenhawa  C.  H. 
King  &  Queen,  King  &  Queen  C.  H. 
King  George,  King  George  C.  H. 
King  William,  King  William  C.  H. 
Lancaster,  Lancaster  C.  H. 
Lee,  Jonesville. 
Lewis,  Weston. 
Logan,  Logan  C.  H. 
Loudon,  Leesburgh. 
Louisa,  Louisa  C.  H. 
Lunenburgh,  Lunenburgh  C.  H. 
Madison,  Madison. 
Mason,  Point  Pleasant. 
Matthews,  Matthews  C.  H. 
Mecklenburgh,  Boydton. 
Middlesex,  Urbana. 
Monongalia,  Morgantown. 
Monroe,  Union. 
Montgomery,  Christiansburgh. 
Morgan,  Oakland. 
Nansemond,  Suffolk. 
Nelson,  Lovington. 
New  Kent,  New  Kent  C.  H. 
Nicholas,  Nicholas  C.  H. 
Norfolk,  Norfolk. 
Northampton,  Eastville. 
Northumberland,  Northumberland 
Nottaway,  Nottaway  C.  H. 
Ohio,  Wheeling. 


86 


ATLANTIC     STATES. 


Grayson,  Grayson  C.  H. 
Greenbrier,  Greenbrier  C.  H. 
Greenville,  Hicksford. 
Halifax,  Halifax  C.  H. 
Hampshire,  Romney. 
Hanover,  Hanover  C.  H. 
Hardy,  Moorefields. 
Harrison,  Clarksburgh. 
Henrico,  Richmond. 


Orange,  Orange. 
Patric,  Patric  C.  H. 
Pendleton,  Franklin. 
Pittsylvania,  Pittsylvania  C.  H. 
Pocahontas,  Huntersville. 
Powhattan,  Scottsville. 
Preston,  Kingwood. 
Prince  Edward,  Prince  Edward. 
Prince  George,  City  Point. 


Princess  Anne,  Princess  Anne  C.  H. Stafford,  Stafford. 


Prince  William,  Brentsville. 
Randolph,  Beverly. 
Richmond,  Richmond  C.  H. 
Rockbridge,  Lexington. 
Rockingham,  Harrisonburgh. 
Russell,  Lebanon. 
Scott,  Estillville. 
Shenandoah,  Woodstock. 
Southampton,  Jerusalem. 
Spottsylvania,  Fredericksburgh. 
Population  in  1820,  1,005,366. 


Surry,  Surry  C.  H. 

Sussex,  Sussex  C.  H. 

Tazewell,  Tazewell  C.  H. 

Tyler,  Middlebourne. 

Warwich,  Warwich  C.  H. 

Washington,  Abingdon. 

Westmoreland,  Westmoreland  C.  H. 

Wood,  Parkersburgh. 

Wythe,  Wythe  C.  H. 

York,  Yorktown. 

In  1830, 1,211,266, 
Physical  Aspect.  A  wide  maritime  belt,  from  the  shore  of  the  sea  to 
the  head  of  tide  waters,  is  of  maritime  formation,  low,  level,  sandy,  and 
not  rich,  except  the  alluvial  borders  of  the  rivers,  which  have  a  loamy 
and  fertile  soil,  producing  the  rankest  vegetation.  This  district,  during 
the  sultry  months,  is  exposed  to  intermittents  and  bilious  complaints. 
Thence  to  the  Blue  Ridge  is  level,  inclining  to  undulating,  and  from  that 
to  a  rough  surface.  The  valleys  between  the  mountains  are  generally 
fertile.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  the  rich  and  the  poor  counties  of  the 
state  lie  in  parallel  belts.  But  in  such  a  wide  tract  of  countiy,  stretching 
from  the  sea  across  the  Atlantic  belt,  over  the  mountains,  and  thence  to 
the  Ohio,  embracing  more  than  half  the  breadth  of  the  Union,  and  com- 
prising every  variety  of  sea  plain,  alluvial  plain,  mountain  table  summits, 
and  cedar  declivities,  deep  valleys,  and  large  districts  of  the  Ohio  valley, 
and  every  quality  of  soil  from  the  best  to  the  worst,  every  diversity  of 
configuration  might  naturally  be  expected  to  be  found.  We  have  already 
spoken  of  Western  Virginia.  Atlantic  Virginia  will  compare  favorably, 
as  to  fertility  of  soil,  with  the  states  south  of  her.  The  mountain  peaks 
of  the  Alleghanies,  which  run  through  the  state  as  in  Pennsylvania,  are 
the  Blue  Ridge,  the  Peaks  of  Otter,  North  Mountain,  Clinch,  Cumber- 
land, Chesnut  Ridge,  and  Gauley  mountains. 

Rivers.     The  principal  Atlantic  rivers,  are   Potomac,  Shenandoah,, 


ATLANTIC    STATES.  87 

Rappahannoc,  Mattapony,  Pamnuky,  York,  James,  Rivanna,  Appomat- 
toxe,  Elizabeth,  Nottaway,  Meherrin,  Staunton,  and  Roanoke. 

The  Potomac  rises  among  the  Alleghany  mountains.  It  runs  a  north- 
east course,  approaching  Pennsylvania,  receives  the  Shenandoah,  and 
makes  its  celebrated  pass  through  South  mountain.  At  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington, it  is  over  a  mile  in  width.  It  empties  into  the  Chesapeake  bay, 
about  ninety  miles  below  the  city.  Its  course,  including  its  curves,  is  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  miles.  In  its  whole  length  it  constitutes 
the  boundary  between  Maryland  and  Virginia.  James  river  rises  in  the 
same  range  of  mountains,  sixty  miles  south  of  the  sources  of  the  Potomac. 
It  breaks  through  three  ridges  of  mountains  in  its  course,  and  falls  into  the 
Chesapeake,  near  Norfolk.  It  meets  the  tide  at  Richmond,  and  its  whole 
course  is  over  three  hundred  miles.  Artificial  improvements  have  ren- 
dered more  than  two  hundred  miles  of  this  distance  boatable.  Roanoke 
rises  in  the  Alleghanies,  near  the  sources  of  James  river,  and  pursuing  a 
south-east  direction,  enters  North  Carolina.  Rappahannoc  rises  in  the 
Blue  mountains,  from  two  branches,  which  unite  below  Fredericksburgh. 
It  falls  into  the  Chesapeake  bay,  ninety  miles  below  that  place.  York 
river  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  Mattapony  and  Pamunky,  twenty-seven 
miles  above  York,  and  falls  into  the  Chesapeake  bay,  fifteen  miles  below 
that  town.  Large  vessels  ascend  it  to  the  junction  of  the  two  streams. 
Roanoke  river  is  formed  by  a  junction  of  the  Dan  and  Staunton,  and  runs 
one  hundred  miles  in  this  state,  before  it  passes  into  North  Carolina. 
Shenandoah  rises  near  Staunton,  and  winds  near  the  base  of  the  Blue 
mountain,  uniting  with  the  Potomac  immediately  before  its  passage 
through  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  Potomac  South  Branch  rises  in  the  Alle- 
ghanies, and  after  a  north-east  course  of  one  hundred  miles,  unites  with 
the  other  branch  below  Old  Town.  This  state  is  traversed  by  so  many 
considerable  streams,  that  pursue  parallel  courses  through  the  level  Atlan- 
tic belt,  and  the  navigation  of  these  streams  has  been  so  much  improved 
by  artificial  means,  that  most  of  the  transport  of  the  state  is  by  water,  and 
commerce  is  in  this  way  brought  to  the  doors  of  the  people. 

Productions.  In  this  medial  climate,  and  this  formation  of  sea,  river, 
and  detritus  of  mountains,  embracing  all  varieties  of  elevation,  from  the 
low  sand  plain,  on  a  level  with  the  sea,  to  the  Alpine  heights  of  the  moun- 
tains, a  rich  flora  would  naturally  be  expected.  In  passing  from  Nor- 
folk to  the  Ohio,  a  naturalist  will  detect  most  of  the  trees,  shrubs,  and 
plants,  that  can  be  found  in  North  America.  The  unlearned  traveller 
over  the  Alleghanies,  will  be  struck  with  a  view  of  strange  plants  and 
flowers  in  the  vernal  months,  which  will  impress  him  with  the  pleasure  of 
surprise,  from  the  novelty  of  their  form,  scent,  and  hues.  This  is,  prob- 
ably, the  richest  region  in  the  Union  in  medicinal  plants.     Among  those 


88  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

most  abundant  and  best  known,  are  ginseng  and  snake  root.     To  the  pro- 
ductions common  to  the  northern  and  middle  states,  this  state  adds  the 
sweet  potato,  the  finest  tobacco,  and  in  the  southern  parts,  cotton,  as  a 
crop.      The  productions  of  the   north  and  the  south,  apples  and  wheat, 
cotton  and  tobacco,  meet  here,  as  in  Tennessee,  in  the  western  country. 
The  temperature,  soil,  and  circumstances,  are  supposed  to  be  favorable 
in  the  highest  degree  to  the  cultivation  of  the  grape  and  the  silk  mulberry. 
Minerals  and  Fossils.      In  these  respects,  Virginia  is  considered  the 
richest  state  in  the  Union.     Quarries  of  the  most  beautiful  marble  and 
freestone,  blue  limestone,  pit  coal  and  iron  ore,  are  found  in  inexhaustible 
abundance,  and  in  places  too  numerous  to  be  designated.      Black  lead, 
lead  ore,  rock  crystal,  amethysts, and  emeralds,  are  discovered.     Porce- 
lain clay   and  chalk,  are  common,  and  almost  all  the  useful  fossils.     At 
Bath,  in  the  central  part  of  the  state,  are  the  Warm  Springs,  the  ordinary 
temperature  of  which  is   96°  Fahr.      The  Hot  Springs,  six  miles  dis- 
tant, are  112°,  and  varying  in  temperature,  will  sometimes  boil  an  egg. 
The  Sulphur  Springs  are  situated  among  the  mountains.     They  are  re- 
sorted to  by  rheumatic  patients  with  great  benefit.      The  Sweet  Springs, 
in  Botetourt  county,  are  strongly  charged  with  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  are 
also  a  place  of  resort.     The  elastic  air,  the  exciting  scenery,  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  climbing  the  mountains,  probably  exert  more  salutary  influence 
upon  the  numerous  patients  that  resort  to  these  springs,  than  the  healing 
efficacy  of  the  waters.     The  public  are  sufficiently  informed,  that  an  ex- 
tensive belt  of  hill  and  mountainous  country,  in  which  gold  is  found  in 
every  form,  commences  in  this  state,  nearly  in  the  midland  regions,  and 
extends  south-west  many  hundred  miles.     Although  this  state  is  not  the 
richest  in  these  newly  discovered  beds  of  gold,  yet,  as  the  belt  begins  here, 
a  kw  general  remarks  upon  the  gold  region  in  general  belong  to  this 
place.       Commencing  in  Virginia,  it  extends   south-west  through  North 
Carolina,  nearly  bisecting  the  state,  and  passing  through  the  northern 
section  of  South  Carolina,  and  thence  through  the  upper  part  of  Georgia, 
in  a  north-west  direction,  and  through  Alabama,  ending  in  Tennessee. 
The  mines  in  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  are  most  wrought.     In  North 
Carolina,  in  the  counties  of  Burke  and  Rutherford,  are  the  chief  sections 
where  gold  icashing  is  practised.     In  Mccklinburgh,  Rowan,  Davidson, 
and  Cabarras,  in  North  Carolina,  are  the  richest  gold  mines.     In  work- 
ing these  mines  the  ore  is  perfectly  pulverized,  and  mixed  with  mercury, 
which  extracts  every  particle  of  it,  and  forms  an  amalgam.     The  mer- 
cury is  then  driven  off  in  an  alembic,  leaving  the  gold  perfectly  pure. 
The  gold  washing  is  a  simple  and  easy  occupation;  but  the  mining  re- 
quires great  practical  knowledge  and  experience,  and  not  a  little  science. 
The  sinking  of  shafts  and  forming  horizontal  perforations,  or  fortifying 


ATLANTIC     STATUS.  89 

galleries  to  reach  the  veins,  are  operations  in  which,  without  much  geo- 
logical knowledge,  money  and  labor  will  be  thrown  away  to  no  purpose. 
The  richest  veins  have  a  dip  of  42°  to  the  horizon,  and  vary  in 
width  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet.  They  are  not,  as  in  other  coun- 
tries, confined  to  hills,  but  are  often  found  in  the  valleys.  The  veins  are 
often  parallel  to  each  other,  at  unequal  distances.  Shafts  have  been 
sunk  to  the  depth  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  mines  have  not 
been  worked  to  any  extent  for  more  than  five  years. 

The  mills  for  grinding  the  ore,  are  propelled  by  water  or  steam. 
They  are  in  great  numbers.  A  single  establishment  employs  five  hun- 
dred hands.  The  whole  number  of  miners  is  estimated  to  be  over 
20,000.  But  a  small  proportion  of  the  gold  reaches  the  United  States'  mint. 
The  greater  part  is  sent  to  Europe,  particularly  to  Paris.  A  considera- 
ble proportion  of  the  laboring  miners  are  foreigners.  Thirteen  langua- 
ges are  spoken  at  the  chief  mines.  Most  of  them  can  earn  enough  in 
three  days  of  the  week,  to  enable  them  to  spend  the  remaining  four  in 
dissipation.  It  may  be  imagined,  that  the  morals  of  such  miners,  per- 
fectly free  and  unrestrained,  will  be  deplorably  bad.  The  opening  of 
the  mines  indubitably  proves  that  they  were  known  in  past  ages.  Cru- 
cibles and  other  mining  instruments  have  been  repeatedly  discovered, 
under  circumstances  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  their  having  been 
left  there  by  descendants  of  the  European  races.  The  largest  masses 
of  solid  gold  have  been  found  in  this  mining  district,  that  have  ever 
been  discovered;  in  value,  from  some  thousand  dollars,  to  two  or  three 
hundred.  Pieces  of  two  ounces  weight  are  not  unfrequently  found. 
They  are  of  unusual  fineness,  and  seem  to  have  been  thrown  off  from 
their  ores  by  fusion. 

Canals.  Extensive  improvements  have  been  made  in  the  navigation 
of  the  Potomac,  Shenandoah,  and  James  rivers,  by  dams  and  canals 
round  their  falls.  Ths  Board  of  Public  Works  have  reported  the  practi- 
cability of  connecting  James  river  with  the  Ohio  by  a  canal.  The  Ches- 
apeake and  Ohio  canal,  in  almost  its  whole  length,  is  between  this  state 
and  Maryland,  or  through  this  state.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  rail-way, 
it  is  calculated  will  pass  through  the  western  part  of  this  state.  The  Dis- 
mal Swamp  canal  opens  a  water  intercommunication  between  this  state 
and  North  Carolina.  It  admits  vessels  of  seven  feet  draught  and  ninety 
tons  burden;  and  is  twenty -two  and  a  quarter  miles  in  length.  It  ren- 
ders an  immense  forest  of  valuable  cypress  timber  accessible.  The  state 
has  in  short  canals,  and  in  different  sections,  a  total  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  finished.  There  areagreat  number  of  short  turnpike  roads; 
but  the  country  east  of  the  Alleghanies  is  so  level,  that  good  roads,  arti- 
Vol.  II.  12 


90  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

ficially  made,  are  not  common.      The  capital  employed  in  internal  im- 
provements under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  is  $3,263,811. 

Climate.  In  a  country  so  unequal  in  surface,  and  extending  from  the 
sea  to  the  Ohio,  it  is  obvious,  that  no  general  character  will  apply  to  the 
climate  of  the  whole  state.  The  district  south  of  the  Potomac,  is  decided- 
ly classed  in  the  southern  climate  of  the  United  States.  The  low,  mari- 
time belt,  has  a  hot,  sultry,  and  rather  unhealthy  summer;  but  a  mild  and 
agreeable  winter.  The  air  near  the  mountains  is  more  pure  and  elastic. 
Among  the  mountains,  snows  and  frost  are  common  in  the  winter;  but 
the  summer  temperature  is  delightful. 

Curiosities.  This  state  abounds  in  caverns  of  vast  extent  and  variety, 
too  numerous  to  be  given  in  detail  in  this  article.  The  tourist  generally 
commences  with  visiting  a  point,  fertile  in  the  highest  possible  moral  in- 
terest, the  estate  of  Mount  Vernon,  and  the  tomb  of  Washington.  The 
estate  is  situated  nine  miles  south  of  Alexandria,  and  in  a  position  so  se- 
cluded, as  to  be  found  with  difficulty,  except  when  visited  by  a  steam 
boat.  The  beautiful  lawn,  the  noble  trees,  and  the  venerable  aspect  of 
the  mansion,  embosomed  among  woods  and  hills,  seem  precisely  the  spot, 
where  the  worthiest  statesman  and  general  that  the  world  has  seen,  should 
have  found  the  repose  of  age  and  decline,  and  where  his  ashes  ought  to 
have  rested.  The  tomb  is  under  the  shade  of  a  little  grove  of  cedars, 
near  the  brow  of  the  precipitous  shore  of  the  Potomac,  humble,  simple, 
and  unadorned,  and  from  that  very  circumstance,  an  object  of  more  sub- 
lime interest.  Monticello,the  abode  of  the  late  Thomas  Jefferson,  is  a  mag- 
nificent hill,  eighty  miles  north-west  of  Richmond,  commanding  abound- 
less  prospect.  The  mansion  is  fitted  up  with  that  taste,  and  those  classi- 
cal ornaments,  which  the  travelled  and  philosophic  statesman  knew  so 
well  to  collect  and  arrange.  The  Natural  bridge  over  Cedar  creek, 
twelve  miles  south-west  of  Lexington,  is  a  sublime  curiosity.  The  chasm 
through  which  the  river  passes  under  the  bridge,  is  ninety  feet  wide,  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty  deep.  The  bridge  is  sixty  feet  broad  at  the  middle, 
and  covered  with  earth  and  trees.  To  look  down  from  this  immense 
height  upon  the  foaming  waters  below,  inspires  in  common  minds,  a  revul- 
sion of  terror,  and  in  minds  of  more  self  possession,  the  unmingled  sensa- 
tion of  the  sublime.  At  Harper's  Ferry  is  another  sublime  spectacle. 
Though  a  striking  scene,  the  spectator  has  formed  too  high  raised  expec- 
tations, from  reading  the  eloquent  description  of  nature's  war,  between 
rivers  and  mountains  at  this  place,  from  the  pen  of  Jefferson.  The  tourist 
in  search  of  the  watering  places  and  beautiful  scenery,  takes  his  depart- 
ure from  Lynchburg.  He  is  successively  brought  in  view  of  the  impres- 
sive Peaks  of  Otter,  the  natural  bridge,  the  canal  through  the  Blue  Ridge, 
the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  the  Sweet  Springs,  the  Salt  Sulphur  Springs, 


ATLANTIC      STATES.  91 

a  place  of  resort  for  consumptive  patients,  the  Hot  Springs,  and  the  Warm 
Springs.  In  approaching  Staunton,  he  passes  the  Blowing  cave;  and 
beyond  Staunton,  Weyers  cave,  one  of  the  most  imposing  subterranean 
curiosities  of  nature;  terminating  with  the  United  States'  manufactory  of 
arms  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  junction  of  the  Shenandoah  and  Potomac. 
No  route  of  the  same  extent  in  our  country,  presents  a  greater  variety 
of  picturesque  and  grand  scenery,  or  passes  thiough  a  pleasanter 
country. 

Religion.  The  Baptists  are  by  far  the  most  numerous  denomination 
in  this  state.  A  Baptist  report  of  1817,  makes  the  number  of  their  con- 
gregations three  hundred  and  fourteen.  Presbyterians  and  Episcopalians 
are  the  next  most  numerous  denominations.  There  are  many  Methodist 
societies,  thirty  or  forty  meetings  of  the  Friends,  a  number  of  Roman 
Catholic  congregations,  some  Jewish  synagogues,  and  more  or  less 
churches  of  all  the  different  denominations. 

Education.  The  famous  University,  of  which  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the 
principal  founder,  is  at  Charlottesville.  It  is  amply  endowed,  and  the 
buildings  make  a  splendid  show.  William  and  Mary  College,  at  Wil- 
liamsburg, is  the  oldest  literary  institution  in  the  state.  It  has  graduated 
a  large  number  of  respectable  scholars  and  statesmen.  Hampden  Syd- 
ney, in  Prince  Edward  county,  and  Washington  College,  at  Lexington, 
are  respectable  literary  institutions.  There  are  twenty  incorporated 
academies.  The  state  has  a  literary  fund  of  $1,233,522.  Other  contin- 
gent funds  are  added  to  the  avails  of  this.  Fifteen  thousand  dollars  of 
the  avails  of  the  fund,  are  annually  appropriated  to  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  fifteen  thousand  dollars  to  the  education  of  the  poor  in  the  re- 
spective counties,  apportioned  among  them  in  the  ratio  of  the  white  popu- 
lation. In  182S,  there  were  twenty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety 
applicants  for  the  benefit  of  this  fund,  and  twelve  thousand  six  hundred 
and  forty-two  recipients. 

Exports.  The  great  exports  of  Virginia,  are  flour  and  tobacco.  Be- 
side the  common  productions  of  the  north,  it  exports  some  cotton.  The 
value  of  the  produce  in  1828,  was  three  million  seven  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-three thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-three  dollars,  and  the  state 
owned  sixty-seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  two  tons  of  shipping.  In 
1828-29,  thirty-four  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty -nine  hogsheads  of 
tobacco  were  inspected. 

Chief  Towns.  Richmond  is  the  political  metropolis  of  Virginia,  and 
is  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  James  river,  just  below  the  falls,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
south-west  from  Washington.  The  situation  is  alike  picturesque,  salu- 
brious, and  beautiful.     The  position  is  favorable  for  commerce,  it  being 


92  ATLANTIC      STATES. 

the  natural  depot  of  tobacco,  wheat,  and  hemp,  raised  in  the  populous 
country  watered  by  the  river.  An  abundance  of  mineral  coal  is  cheaply 
conveyed  to  it.  It  contains  thirteen  public  buildings,  and  eight  churches, 
together  with  a  number  of  respectable  manufactories.  The  capitol,  the 
penitentiary,  and  the  beautiful  church  raised  on  the  ruins  of  the  theatre, 
in  the  conflagration  of  which  seventy  citizens  perished,  are  beautiful  and 
conspicuous  erections.  The  new  court  house  is  also  a  spacious  and  ele- 
gant building.  The  Virginia  Armory  is  an  extensive  establishment.  The 
river  has  been  rendered  boatable  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  above 
the  city.  This  town  owns  a  respectable  amount  of  shipping,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  flourishing  places  in  the  state.  Population  in  1S20,  was  12, 
046.  In  1830,  16,085.  Norfolk  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  Eliza- 
beth river,  eight  miles  from  its  estuary,  thirty-two  from  the  sea,  and 
one  hundred  and  two  south-east  from  Richmond.  It  contains  thirteen 
public  buildings,  and  six  churches.  The  Farmer's  Bank,  the  Orphan 
Asylum,  and  the  Lancasterian  school,  are  among  the  most  conspicuous 
buildings.  The  position  of  the  town  is  not  pleasant,  being  low,  and  in 
some  places  marshy;  but  it  affords  agreeable  society,  and  the  citizens 
are  distingnished  for  their  hospitality.  It  has  a  spacious  and  commodi- 
ous harbor,  strongly  defended  by  three  forts.  It  has  more  maritime  com- 
merce and  shipping  than  any  other  town  in  the  state.  The  handsome 
marine  hospital  is  on  Washington  point,  one  mile  distant.  On  the  oppo- 
site shore  of  this  river,  is  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  and  a  little  farther  up 
the  river,  the  village  of  Gosport,  containing  an  extensive  United  States 
Navy  Yard,  with  all  the  customary  appurtenances.  Population  in  1820, 
was  8,478.  In  1830,  9,800.  Petersburgh  is  situated  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  Appomattor,  just  below  the  falls,  twelve  miles  above  its  junction 
with  James  river,  and  twenty-five  south-east  from  Richmond.  It  con- 
tains seven  public  buildings,  fifteen  tobacco  warehouses,  eight  flour  mills, 
and  five  churches.  It  is  a  neat  and  commercial  town,  dealing  largely  in 
tobacco  and  flour.  It  is  amply  supplied  with  good  water;  and  since  the 
great  fire  of  1815,  in  which  one  hundred  buildings  were  consumed,  it  has 
been  handsomely  rebuilt  with  brick.  Population  in  1820,  was  6,690. 
In  1830,  8,300.  Fredericksburgh,  on  the  Rappahannoc,  one  hundred 
and  ten  miles  from  its  mouth,  is  a  great  depot  for  grain,  flour,  and  tobacco. 
It  contains  eight  public  buildings,  and  four  churches.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  flour  mills  within  a  short  distance  from  the  town.  It  is  accessible  by 
vessels  of  one  hundred  and  forty  tons,  and  is  central  to  a  fertile  and  well 
cultivated  country,  and  circumstances  taken  together,  is  one  of  the  most 
flourishing,  healthy,  and  pleasant  towns  in  the  state.  Population 
about  5,000. 

Williamsburgh  is  situated  between  York  and  James  river,  sixty  miles 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  93 

east  from  Richmond,  and  was  formerly  the  metropolis  of  the  state.  In 
this  place  is  William  and  Mary  College,  formerly  an  eminent  seat  of 
learning.  Population  in  1820,  1,402.  Yorktown,  on  the  south  side  of 
York  river,  will  be  forever  remembered  as  the  place  where  Cornwallis 
surrendered  to  General  Washington.  Winchester  is  an  interior  town  in 
the  great  limestone  valley,  thirty  miles  south-west  of  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  seventy  miles  north-west  from  Washington;  and  is  a  neat  and  flour- 
ishing town,  containing  eight  public  buildings  and  six  churches.  It  has 
a  large  number  of  manufactories  and  workshops.  Being  central  to  many 
mineral  springs,  and  a  place  noted  for  its  salubrity  and  pleasantness,  it  is 
a  summer  resort  for  strangers.  It  contains  about  4,CO0  inhabitants. 
Staunton  is  an  interior  town,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  north  of 
Richmond.  It  is  a  healthy  and  delightful  place,  containing  a  number  of 
public  buildings,  and  three  churches.  The  Sulphur  Springs,  a  place  of 
great  resort,  are  not  far  from  this  town.  Lynchburgh  is  situated  twenty 
miles  below  the  great  falls,  where  James  river  breaks  through  the  Blue 
Ridge,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river.  It  contains  ten  or  twelve  public 
buildings,  four  churches,  and  a  number  of  very  handsome  houses.  It  has 
two  bridges  over  the  river,  a  large  number  of  tobacco  warehouses  and 
manufactories,  and  a  great  number  of  commission  houses,  flour  mills,  and 
cotton  and  woolen  manufactories.  There  are  four  mineral  springs  in  its 
vicinity.  It  is  favorably  situated  for  trade,  not  only  with  the  western 
part  of  the  state,  but  with  the  western  states  generally.  Small  boats 
convey  the  abundant  produce  which  is  brought  here  down  the  river  to 
Richmond.  The  most  important  item  in  the  produce,  is  from  ten  to 
twelve  thousand  hogsheads  of  tobacco.  It  is  almost  embosomed  in  moun- 
tains, that  have,  however,  fertile  and  populous  valleys  between,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  commercial  towns  in  the  state ;  and  prob- 
ably contains  7,000  inhabitants.  Harper's  Ferry  is  situated  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Shenandoah  and  the  Potomac,  and  in  view  of  that  magnificent 
junction  so  well  described  by  Jefferson.  It  is  sixty-five  miles  north-west 
from  Washington.  The  United  States  possess  in  this  place  a  very  ex- 
tensive establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  arms.  The  buildings,  taken 
together,  compose  a  little  village.  There  are  ten  large  brick  buildings 
connected  with  the  establishment,  and  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred  men  constantly  employed  in  the  making  and  repairing  of  arms. 
The  other  considerable  towns  in  Virginia,  east  of  the  Alleghany  moun- 
ains,  are  as  follows:  Dumfries,  Colchester,  Leesburg,  Martinsburgh, 
York,  New  Castle,  Hanover,  Portsmouth,  Hampton,  Suffolk,  Smithfield, 
Manchester,  Charlottesville,  Milton,  Monticello,  Lexington,  and  Fincastle. 
Character  and  Manners.  The  planters  of  Virginia,  east  of  the  moun- 
tains, are  generally  large  slave-holders.     The  influence  of  slavery,  both 


94  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

favorable  and  unfavorable,  is  distinctly  marked  in  their  manners.  The 
neat  and  thriving  villages  of  the  northern  states,  with  their  numerous 
mechanics,  and  the  village  spire,  are  no  longer  seen.  Towns  at  wide 
stages  from  each  other,  are  built  up  on  the  navigable  waters;  and  the 
habitations  between  are  mansions  or  cabins.  The  state  has,  however, 
recently  made  munificent  and  noble  exertions  to  extend  general  educa- 
tion. It  has  produced  a  great  proportion  of  the  leading  minds  in  the 
legislative,  judicial,  and  military  departments  of  the  general  government. 
It  has  already  given  three  presidents  to  the  nation,  and  until  very  re- 
cently, exercised  an  ascendant  influence  in  its  councils.  The  distin- 
guishing national  traits  of  the  Virginians  are  frankness,  generosity,  and 
decision,  unshrinking  perseverance  in  the  right,  and  obstinacy  in  the 
wrong.  Nature  has  given  the  state  every  advantage  of  position,  soil, 
climate,  and  navigable  rivers;  but  a  prevalent  political  dogma  has  influ- 
enced the  councils  of  the  state,  that  the  inculcation  of  internal  improve- 
ment and  domestic  industry  is  the  great  heresy  of  political  economy.  So 
far  as  the  returns  of  the  census  are  known,  it  appears  that  Virginia  has 
increased  at  the  rate  of  about  fifteen  per  cent,  in  the  last  ten  years;  and 
that  the  increase  of  free  persons,  is  in  a  much  greater  ratio  than  that  of 
slaves. 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 

Length,  362  miles;  breadth,  121.  Containing  43,800  square  miles. 
Between  33°  53'  and  36°  33'  north  latitude,  and  between  6°  20'  west 
longitude,  1°  33'  east  longitude.  Bpunded  north  by  Virginia;  east  by 
the  Atlantic ;  south,  South  Carolina ;  west,  Tennessee. 

Counties.     Chief  Towns.  Counties.     Chief  Towns. 

Anson,  Wadesborough.  Camden,  New  Lebanon. 

Ashe,  Jeffersonton.  Carteret,  Beaufort. 

Beaufort,  Washington.  Caswell,  Caswell  C.  H. 

Bertie,  Windsor.  Chatham,  Pittsborough. 

Bladon,  Elizabethtown.  Chowan,  Edenton. 

Brunswick,  Smithville.  Columbus,  Whitesville. 

Buncombe,  Ashville.  Craven,  Newbern. 

Burke,  Morgantown.  Cumberland,  Fayettevill*. 

Cabarras,  Concord.  Currituck,  Currituck. 


ATLANTIC     STATES 


95 


Davidson,  Lexington. 
Dupin,  Kenansville. 
Edgecombe,  Tarboro. 
Franklin,  Louisburg. 
Gates,  Gates  C.  H. 
Granville,  Oxford. 
Greene,  Snow  Hill. 
Guilford,  Greensboro. 
Halifax,  Halifax. 
Haywood,  Haywood  C.  H. 
Hertford,  Winton. 
Hyde,  Germantown. 
Iredell,  Statesville. 
Johnson,  Smithfield. 
Jones,  Trenton. 
Lenoir,  Kinston. 
Lincoln,  Lincolnton. 
Macon,  Franklin. 
Martin,  Williamston. 
Mecklenburg,  Charlotte. 
Montgomery,  Lawrenceville. 
Moore,  Carthage. 


New  Hanover,  Wilmington. 

North  Hampton,  N.  Hampton  C.  H. 

Orange,  Hillsborough. 

Pasquotank,  Elizabeth  City. 

Perquinans,  Hertford. 

Person,  Roxborough. 

Pitt,  Greenville. 

Randolph,  Ashborough. 

Richmond,  Rockingham. 

Robeson,  Lumberton. 

Rockingham,  Wentworth. 

Rowan,  Salisbury. 

Rutherford,  Rutherfordton. 

Samson,  Clinton. 

Stokes,  Salem. 

Surry,  Rockford. 

Tyrrell,  Columbia. 

Wake,  Raleigh. 

Warren,  Warrenton. 

Washington,  Plymouth. 

Wayne,  Waynesboro. 

Wilkes,  Wilkesboro. 


Nash,  Nashville. 

Population  in  1820,  638,829.     In  1830,  738,470. 

Physical  Aspect.  The  belt  of  maritime  plain  is  still  wider  in  this 
state  than  in  Virginia,  extending  into  the  interior  more  than  sixty  miles- 
It  is  a  low  plain,  with  many  swamps  and  inlets  from  the  sea.  The 
greater  portion  of  this  district,  except  along  the  water  courses,  is  a  vast 
forest  of  evergreens.  The  rich  lands  near  the  swamps  and  rivers  are 
insalubrious.  Having  passed  this  monotonous  region,  we  emerge  to  the 
pleasant  and  undulating  midland  parts  of  the  state,  at  the  bases  of  the 
Alleghanies,  from  whose  summits  the  eye  traverses  an  immense  extent 
of  beautiful  country  to  the  west,  and  vision  is  lost  in  the  agreeable  suc- 
cession of  hill,  dale,  forest,  and  valley,  with  an  elastic  and  salubxious 
atmosphere.  The  great  chains  of  the  Alleghanies  pass  through  this  state, 
as  through  Virginia.  The  peaks  are  called  Stone  Mountain,  Yellow 
Mountain,  Iron  Mountain,  Bald  Mountain,  Sandusky  Mountain,  and 
White  Mountain.  The  Blue  Ridge  divides  the  Atlantic  streams  from  the 
western  waters.     Between  the  chains  are  numerous  detached  spurs. 

Soil  and  Productions.  The  soil  resembles  that  of  Virginia.  The 
maritime  belt  is  sandy,  and  in  many  places  sterile,  covered  with  vast 
forests  of  pine  timber,  and  the  swamps  with  cedar,  bay,  and  cypress. 


96  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

The  alluvial  belt  of  the  rivers  is  generally  fertile.  Beside  the  products 
of  the  northern  states,  cotton,  tobacco,  rice,  sweet  potatoes,  and  yams, 
abound;  and  the  soil  and  climate  are  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  grape 
and  the  mulberry.  From  their  pines,  the  people  extract  tar,  pitch,  and 
turpentine.  The  exports  consist  of  cotton,  tobacco,  lumber,  tar,  turpen- 
tine, pitch,  pork,  and  tallow.  In  1828,  the  exports  were  564,500  dollars. 
This  does  not  present  a  fair  estimate  of  exports,  compared  with  that  of 
the  other  states,  as  a  great  part  of  her  exports  are  sent  off  from  Charles- 
ton.    Her  shipping  amounts  to  54,094  tons. 

Minerals.  Iron  ore  abounds;  and  the  state  possesses  valuable  iron 
works.  Freestone,  granite,  marble,  porcelain  clay,  pit  coal,  and  most  of 
the  useful  fossils,  are  found  in  the  state.  The  belt  in  which  gold  is  found, 
is  broader  and  more  productive  than  in  any  of  the  other  states.  In  Meck- 
lenburgh,  Montgomery,  Rowan,  and  particularly  Cabarras,  gold  has  been 
found  more  abundantly  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  gold  district. 
One  of  the  largest  lumps  of  pure  gold  ever  found  was  dug  up  in  Cabar- 
ras. It  was  worth  between  seven  and  eight  thousand  dollars.  Lumps 
from  the  value  of  three  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars  are  not  uncom- 
mon. Gold  is  found  in  great  purity  in  small  grains  and  particles.  There 
are  innumerable  diggings  over  all  this  district,  and  a  host  of  greedy  ad- 
venturers, relinquishing  all  other  employments,  are  digging  the  hill  sides 
in  pursuit  of  gold.  Sulphate  of  barytes  is  found  in  great  abundance  in 
two  mines  in  the  state.  During  1829,  the  United  States  Bank,  in  Fay- 
etteville,  received  ninety  thousand  eight  hundred  and  three  dollars  in  bars 
of  gold,  the  produce  of  the  North  Carolina  mines. 

Rivers.  The  Chowan  river  enters  this  state  from  Virginia,  where  it 
is  called  Nottaway.  By  a  broad  estuary  it  empties  into  Albemarle  Sound 
below  Edenton.  The  Roanoke  also  enters  this  state  from  Virginia,  and 
pursuing  a  very  sinuous  south-east  course,  it  falls  into  Albemarle  Sound 
by  several  channels.  It  is  navigable  by  vessels  of  considerable  size  thir- 
ty miles,  and  boatable  to  the  falls,  seventy  miles.  It  has  an  extremely 
fertile  alluvion.  Cape  Fear  river  has  its  whole  course  in  the  state.  It 
rises  in  the  mountains  in  the  north  part  of  the  state,  and  after  a  south-east 
course  of  two  hundred  miles,  falls  into  the  Atlantic  at  Cape  Fear.  Its 
estuary  is  a  league  in  width,  with  eighteen  feet  water,  at  high  tide,  over 
its  bar.  It  is  navigable  by  vessels  of  eleven  feet  draught  to  Wilmington, 
and  boatable  to  Fayctteville.  Neuse  river  has  a  course  of  two  hundred 
miles,  and  finds  its  estuary  in  Pamlico  Sound,  eighteen  miles  below  New- 
bern.  Tar  river  has  a  south-east  course  through  the  state  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles,  and  empties  into  Pamlico  Sound.  It  is  navigable  to 
Washington,  thirty  miles,  and  boatable  to  Tarborough,  ninety  miles  from 
tts  mouth.     Yadkin  river  rises  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  in  the  north-west  part 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  i)7 

of  the  state,  and  after  a  course  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles  in  it, 
passes  into  South  Carolina.  Catawba  river  rises  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
after  a  course  of  seventy  or  eighty  miles  in  this  state,  passes  into  South 
Carolina.  Broad  river  also  rises  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  after  south-east 
course  of  fifty  miles  in  this  state,  passes  into  South  Carolina.  The  head 
waters  of  the  Tennessee  and  Kenhawa  rise  in  this  state,  but  they  have 
already  been  described.  The  dangerous  and  stormy  Cape  Hatteras  is  on 
the  shore  of  this  state. 

Climate.  This  great  state,  like  Virginia,  spreading  from  the  sea  over 
the  mountains,  has  in  summer  a  sultry  climate,  a  warm  climate,  a  tem- 
perate, and  a  cool  climate,  according  to  the  elevation  and  distance  of  the 
district  from  the  sea.  In  the  low  country  die  summers  are  decidedly  hot 
and  sultry;  and  the  high  and  relaxing  heats,  united  with  the  exhalation 
from  decaying  vegetable  matter,  and  the  miasm  of  the  swamps,  are  in- 
jurious to  health.  The  highlands  of  North  Carolina  are  as  healthy  as 
any  part  of  the  United  States. 

Chief  Towns.  Raleigh  is  the  political  metropolis.  It  is  a  handsome 
interior  town,  near  the  centre  of  the  state,  six  miles  west  of  the  Neuse, 
one  hundred  and  forty  north-west  of  Newbern,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four  south-west  of  Richmond.  It  contains  thirteen  public  buildings, 
five  houses  of  public  worship,  and  about  3,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  half 
are  slaves.  Union  Square,  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  containing  ten 
acres,  is  a  public  ground,  highly  ornamental  to  the  city.  Four  streets 
extend  from  it,  dividing  the  town  into  four  parts.  In  1831,  the  splendid 
state  house  in  this  town  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  beautiful  marble 
statue  of  Washington,  by  Canova,  the  great  Italian  artist,  which  cost  the 
state  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  was  placed  in  the  state  house,  and  was 
supposed  at  first  irreparably  destroyed.  It  has  since  been  discovered  to 
be  less  injured  than  was  imagined.  The  artist  is  dead,  and  it  is  a  source 
of  melancholy  regret,  that  this  chef  oVoeuvre  can  never  be  restored  to  its 
pristine  beauty.  There  are  two  flourishing  academies  in  this  town. 
The  most  beautiful  materials  for  building  abound  in  its  vicinity.  New- 
bern is  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Neuse,  thirty  miles  from  Pam- 
lico Sound.  It  contains  eight  public  buildings  and  three  churches,  and 
has  a  considerable  commerce.  Its  exports  consist  of  lumber,  tar,  pitch, 
grain,  and  pork.  The  water  distance  between  this  place  and  Elizabeth 
City  makes  a  part  of  the  steam  boat  route  between  Norfolk  and  Charles- 
ton. It  is  the  best  built,  healthiest,  and  most  flourishing  town  in  North 
Carolina,  upon  the  sea  coast.  Population,  3,762.  More  than  half  are 
colored  people. 

Fayetteville  is  one  of  the  largest  towns  in  the  state.     Its  position,  near 
the  west  bank  of  Cape  Fear  river,  at  the  head  of  boat  navigation,  is  for- 
Vol.  II.  13 


S8  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

tunate;  and  it  was,  until  recently,  one  of  the  most  flourishing  towns  in 
the  state.  In  May,  1831,  it  was  laid  in  ashes  by  one  of  the  most  de- 
structive fires  ever  known  in  our  country.  From  the  material  of  the 
buildings,  and  the  amount  of  pitch,  tar,  and  spirits,  stored  in  the  town, 
the  fire  raged  with  terrific  and  irresistible  violence.  Six  hundred  build- 
ings were  destroyed,  but,  strange  to  tell,  not  a  life  was  lost.  It  was  a 
compact  town,  doing  much  mercantile  business,  and  with  about  4,000 
inhabitants.  It  is  rebuilding,  like  the  Phoenix,  more  beautiful  from  its 
ruins. 

Wilmington  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  Cape  Fear  river,  thirty-five 
miles  from  the  sea,  and  ninety  north-east  of  Fayetteville.  It  is  the  most 
commercial  town  in  the  state.  It  contains  five  or  six  public  buildings 
and  three  churches.  Its  annual  exports  have  sometimes  exceeded  one 
million  of  dollars,  and  it  owns  ten  thousand  tons  of  shipping.  The  ex- 
tensive rice  fields  in  the  vicinity  are  supposed  to  render  it  unhealthy. 
The  towns  in  this  state  have  been  peculiarly  unfortunate  in  suffering 
from  fires.  This  town  has  been  visited  by  two  destructive  conflagrations ; 
one  in  1819,  by  which  two  hundred  buildings,  to  the  value  of  one  million 
of  dollars,  were  destroyed;  and  another  in  1828,  in  which  fifty  buildings 
were  burned,  valued  at  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars.  Popu- 
lation about  3,000.  Edenton  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  Chowan 
river.  Among  its  public  buildings,  the  courthouse  is  conspicuous  for  its 
elegance.  Its  commercial  position  is  favorable;  but  its  air  is  considered 
insalubrious.  It  is  supposed  to  own  six  thousand  tons  of  shipping,  and  to 
contain  about  2,000  inhabitants.  Washington  and  Salisbury  are  agreea- 
ble inland  towns.  The  names  of  the  other  considerable  towns  follow : 
Murfreesborough,  Plymouth,  Halifax,  Warrenton,  Greenville,  Tarbo- 
rough,  Smithfield,  Avereysborough,  Lumbertown,  Rockingham,  Hunts- 
vilie,  Salem,  Statesville,  Charlotte,  Morgantown,  and  Ashville.  This 
last  town,  having  a  pleasant  position,  and  being  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Warm  Springs,  is  rapidly  growing. 

Religion.  All  the  christian  denominations  are  represented  in  this 
state.  The  fixed  congregations  are  not  so  numerous  as  in  the  other  states, 
but  the  people  are  generally  addicted  to  some  form  of  worship.  The 
Methodists,  Presbyterians,  and  Baptists,  are  believed  to  be  the  prevailing 
denominations. 

Education.  The  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel  Hill,  is 
respectably  endowed.  There  are  about  twenty  academies  in  the  state. 
The  seminary  for  young  ladies  at  Salem,  is  a  Moravian  institution  of 
distinguished  reputation,  to  which  many  young  ladies  from  the  southern 
country  resort  for  their  education.  The  state  has  provided  an  accumu- 
lating literary  fund,  which  at  present  amounts  to  about  seventy  thousand 


ATLANTIC    8TATE3.  99 

dollars.  It  is  intended  that  the  avails  of  it  shall  be  appropriated  among 
the  several  counties,  in  the  ratio  of  the  free  population,  for  the  support  of 
common  schools. 

Roads  and  Canals.  In  the  level  belt  of  tho  state,  nature  has  done  so 
much  towards  giving  it  good  roads,  that  artificial  exertions  in  this  direc- 
tion have  been  neglected.  Considerable  extent  of  canal  has  been  made 
on  Cape  Fear  river;  and  the  navigation  of  some  of  the  other  rivers  has 
been  improved  in  the  same  way.  The  canal  between  Chesapeake  bay 
and  Albemarle  Sound,  through  the  great  Dismal  Swamp,  has  already 

:been  mentioned.  The  whole  extent  of  canals  in  this  state  is  forty- 
three  miles. 

General  Remarks.     This  state  holds   a  large   proportion  of  slaves, 

■  especially  the  planters  in  the  lower  part  of  it.  In  this  district,  the  term 
gickly  season  is  of  common  use ,  and  has  a  distinct  import.  The  reed 
cane,  the  palmetto,  and  long  moss  are  striking  features  in  the  landscape, 
indicating  sufficiently  that  it  belongs  to  the  southern  states.  The  pro- 
digious forests  of  long  leafed  pine,  strike  the  eye  of  the  northerner  with  a 
peculiar  effect.     The  sound  of  the  breeze  in  this  forest,  as  he  journeys 

•through  it,  furnishes  him  a  sad,  though  not  unpleasing  music.  The 
bright  fires  of  the  tar  makers  in  these  ancient  forests,  with  their  number- 
less tall  columns,  and  the  deep  verdure  of  their  tassels,  half  a  yard  in 
length,  as  seen  illuminated  by  the  bright  glare  of  the  burning  fat  pine, 

I  taken  together,  furnish  a  spectacle,  which,  to  be  apprehended  must  be 
seen. 

The  people  in  the  interior  and  western  part  of  the  state  have  fewer 
slaves,  labor  with  their  own  hands,  and  are  more  assimilated  in  their  hab- 
its and  manners  to  the  northern  people.  The  inhabitants  of  the  state  in 
general  have  a  marked  character  for  sobriety  and  morality,  and  a  sturdi- 
ness  of  independence.  In  their  temperament,  they  are  inclined  to  reli- 
gious excitement;  and  are  striving  to  remedy  past  neglect  of  common 
schools,  by  fostering  private  seminaries  and  Sunday  schools.  In  common 
with  Virginia,  this  state  has  a  great  extent  of  swamp  lands.  The 'Great 
Dismal'  of  Virginia  is  well  known  to  be  thirty  miles  in  extent.  There 
are  in  this  state  2,000,000  acres  of  such  land.  These  are  discovered  to 
be  easily  reclaimable,  and  to  possess  a  soil  of  great  and  exhaustless  fer- 
tility. They  are  supposed  capable  of  sustaining  a  population  of  100,000 
people,  and  to  be  particularly  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  rice, 
cotton,  and  hemp.  The  Scuppernong  and  Catawba  grape,  indigenous  to 
this  state,  are  extensively  cultivated  abroad,  and  yield  a  wine  which 
ranks  at  the  head  of  our  native  wines.  They  are  great  bearers.  The 
cultivation  of  indigo  has  been  attempted  with  entire  success.  The  pro- 
duct is  of  the  best  quality.     The  people  are  beginning  to  turn  their  atten- 


100  ATLANTIC    STATES. 

tion  to  the  making  of  wine  from  their  native  grapes,  and  to  raising  the  silk 
mulberry.  A  spirit  of  improvement  is  abroad,  from  which  the  best  re- 
sults must  follow. 

This  state  was  the  theatre  of  some  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements 
during  the  revolutionary  war.  The  battle  of  Moore's  Creek  Bridge, 
King's  Mountain,  and  Guilford,  will  remain  in  history,  imperishable  me- 
morials of  the  bravery  and  patriotism  of  its  inhabitants. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Length,  188  miles;  breadth,  160.  Containing  30,000  square  miles. 
Between  32°  2'  and  35°  10'  north  latitude;  and  between  1°  45' and 
6°  15'  west  longitude.  Bounded  north  and  north-east  by  North  Caroli- 
na; south-east  by  the  Atlantic;  and  south-west  by  Georgia,  from  which 
it  is  separated  by  the  Savannah. 

Counties.     Chief  Towns.  Counties.     Chief  Towns. 

Abbeville,  Abbeville.  Lancaster,  Lancaster  C.  H. 

Anderson,  Pendleton.  Laurens,  Laurensville. 

Barnwell,  Barnwell.  Lexington,  Lexington,  C.  H. 

Beaufort,  Coosawatchie.  Marion,  Marion  C.  H. 

Charleston,  Charleston.  Marlborough,  Marlborough  C.  H. 

Chester,  Chesterville.  Newberry,  Newberry  C.  H. 

Chesterfield,  Bennetsville.  Orangeburgh,  Orangeburgh. 

Colleton,  Waterboro.  Pickens,  Pickens. 

Darlington,  Darlington.  Richland,  Columbia. 

Edgefield,  Edgefield.  Spartanburgh,  Spartanburgh. 

Fairfield,  Winnisboro.  Sumpter,  Statesburgh. 

Georgetown,  Georgetown.  Union,  Unionville. 

Grecnvilllc,  Greenville.  Williamsburgh,  Kingstree. 

Horry,  Conwayboro.  York,  York  C.  H. 

Kershaw,  Camden. 

Population  in  1820,  502,741.     In  1830, 581,458. 

Physical  Aspect.  South  Carolina  shows,  still  more  palpably  than  the 
states  farther  north,  the  maritime  belt  of  plain,  broadening  in  proportion 
to  the  advance  towards  the  south.  In  this  state,  this  broad  plain  of  sea 
formation,  of  a  uniform  and  monotonous  level,  extends  more  than  one  hun- 
dred miles  into  the  interior.     It  is  chequered  by  swamps  and  indented  by 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  101 

sea  inlets.  An  alluvial  belt  along  the  rivers  is  rich.  The  remaining  por- 
tions of  the  plain  are  covered  with  the  long  leafed  pine.  Beyond  this  is 
the  sand-hill  belt,  sixty  miles  in  width,  the  sterile  hills  of  which  have  been 
compared  to  the  arrested  waves  of  the  sea  in  a  storm.  It  yields  naturally 
nothing,  but  stinted  junipers  and  pines.  To  this  distance  the  broad  ex- 
tent of  country  is  called  the  lower  country.  Beyond  it  we  approach  the 
ridge  or  upper  country,  the  Atlantic  ascent  of  which  is  precipitous. 
From  the  summit  stretches  a  large  belt  of  table  country,  fertile,  cultiva- 
ted, watered  by  rivers,  and  irrigated  by  smaller  streams,  extending  from 
the  Savannah  to  Broad  river.  Hills  and  dales  alternate.  The  deep  for- 
ests, with  their  varieties  of  trees,  gratify  the  eye  by  their  verdure  and  va- 
ried foliage.  The  ascent  hence  to  the  mountains,  is  gradual  and  imper- 
ceptible. A  number  of  mountains  of  striking  forms,  here  swell  with  their 
peaks  to  a  very  considerable  elevation.  Table  mountain  is  the  most 
couspicuous.  Its  summit  is  supposed  to  be  four  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  The  names  of  the  other  elevated  peaks  are  Oconee, 
Paris$  Glassey,  Hogback,  and  King's.  These  mountains  give  rise  to  ma- 
ny clear  and  quick  streams  of  water. 

Climate.  The  atmosphere  of  the  low  country  is  sultry,  damp,  and  un- 
elastic.  The  complexion  of  the  inhabitants  is  marked  with  a  sallow  tinge, 
and  most  of  the  summer  and  autumnal  diseases  assume  a  bilious  type. 
Intermittents  are  common,  and  the  autumnal  fevers  severe.  In  the  low 
country,  the  season  of  frost  does  not  comprise  more  than  three  months, 
and  the  ground  is  seldom  whitened  with  snow,  more  than  one  night; 
though  the  mountains  are  often  white  for  many  days  together.  The 
weather  in  the  intermediate  seasons  between  autumn  and  spring,  is  often 
fickle,  and  subject  to  frequent  and  great  changes.  The  multiflora  rose 
blooms  all  the  year  in  Charleston ;  and  yet  the  extremes  of  summer  heat 
are  not  often  felt  in  that  city.  The  hilly  and  western  parts  of  the  state 
have  a  climate,  mild,  delightful,  and  salubrious. 

Productions.  The  staples  are  cotton  and  rice.  The  value  of  cotton 
exported  from  this  state,  has  been  as  high  as  $12,000,000  in  a  year. 
Next  to  cotton,  rice  is  the  most  important  production.  Indigo  is  a  large 
item  in  the  exports  of  the  state.  Tobacco  thrives  well.  Many  of  the 
northern  fruits  and  grains  would  succeed,  were  they  sufficiently  attended 
to.  The  soil  is  remarkable  for  producing  the  best  sweet  potatoes  and 
yams,  and  the  largest  and  finest  watermelons  in  the  United  States.  The 
fruits  are  pears,  pomegranates,  figs,  apricots,  nectarines,  apples,  peaches, 
olives,  grapes,  almonds,  and  oranges.  The  planters  divide  their  soil 
into  several  classes,  with  distinctive  names;  as  the  tide  swamp,  which 
yields  a  sea  island  cotton,  of  nearly  double  the  value  of  the  upland  kinds; 
inland  swamp,  river  swamp,  oak  and  hickory  land,  and  pine  barren. 


102  ATLANTIC      STATES. 

The  oak  and  hickory  land  is  favorable  to  indigo  and  cotton.  The  pine 
barren,  though  the  least  fertile  of  all,  is  overhung  by  an  atmosphere  so 
much  more  salubrious,  that  much  of  it  is  cultivated;  and  a  sufficient  por- 
tion for  the  planter  to  erect  his  habitation  upon,  is  deemed  an  imporlant 
appendage  to  every  swamp  plantation.  So  various  is  the  climate,  that 
the  plants  of  Canada  may  be  found  on  its  mountains,  and  on  its  southern 
declivities,  the  hardier  tropical  fruits.  In  botanical  opulence  it  surpas- 
ses any  other  Atlantic  state.  It  is  an  extended  garden  of  medicinal  herbs 
and  flowering  plants.  Among  its  striking  shrubs  and  beautiful  trees,  may 
be  mentioned  the  magnolia  azalia,  rhododendron  rosa,  Carolinensis  cali- 
canthus,  Floridus  angelica,  robinia  fragrans,  and  different  kinds  of  the 
adromeda,  delight  the  eye  with  their  flowers,  and  perfume  the  air  "with 
their  fragrance. 

Minerals.  We  have  already  seen,  that  the  belt  in  which  gold  is  found, 
extends  through  this  state.  Although  the  mines  are  abundant  and  nu- 
merous, from  some  cause  the  diggings  have  been  less  numerous  than  in 
North  Carolina.  Various  ochres,  used  in  painting,  are  found  at  York- 
ville.  Marble,  limestone,  iron,  and  lead  ore,  potter's  clay,  fuller's  earth, 
nitrous  earth,  talc,  pellucid  stones,  and  most  of  the  useful  fossils  are 
common. 

Rivers.  The  Pedee  rises  in  Virginia,  and  flows  in  a  south-east  direc- 
tion, through  North  Carolina  into  South  Carolina,  and  empties  into  the 
Atlantic  below  Georgetown.  Its  length  of  course  is  three  hundred  miles, 
two  hundred  of  which  are  beatable.  Santee  is  formed  by  the  junction 
of  the  Congaree,and  Wateree,  below  Columbia.  These  streams  rise  in 
the  mountains  of  North  Carolina.  It  pursues  a  south-east  course  of  three 
hundred  miles  to  the  Atlantic,  into  which  it  empties  fifty  miles  north-east 
from  Charleston.  It  is  boatable  two  hundred  miles.  The  head  waters 
of  the  noble  river  Savannah,  are  in  Tennessee.  Entering  this  state,  it 
becomes  the  dividing  line  between  it  and  Georgia.  The  direction  of  its 
course,  which  is  three  hundred  miles,  is  south-east,  and  it  empties  into 
the  Atlantic  seventeen  miles  below  Savannah.  Up  to  this  point  large 
vessels  ascend.  It  is  navigable  by  steam  boats  to  Augusta,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  miles  higher.  Smaller  boats  ascend  far  beyond  this 
place,  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  Catawba  river  rises  in  North  Car- 
olina. Passing  into  South  Carolina,  it  assumes  the  name  of  Wateree, 
and  unites  with  the  Congaree,  thirty  miles  below  Columbia.  The  stream 
below  the  junction  is  called  the  Santee.  The  most  splendid  cascade  in 
the  state  is  furnished  by  the  Catawba  falls,  above  Rocky  Mount.  The 
river,  which  had  been  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  yards  wide 
above,  here  contracts  to  less  than  sixty,  and  dashes  down  from  cascade 
to  cascade  one  hundred  feet.     This  striking  spectacle  is  easily  accessible 


ATLANTIC     STATiS.  103 

and  much  visited.  Broad  river  is  the  main  branch  of  the  Santee.  It 
rises  in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina,  and  is  swelled  in  its  course 
with  the  Pacolet,  Tiger,  and  Ennoree,  and  unites  with  the  Saluda,  below 
Columbia.  Saluda  river  is  the  western  branch  of  the  Santee.  Cooper 
river  rises  forty  miles  north  from  Charleston,  and  unites  with  Ashley 
river  below  that  city.  It  is  connected  with  the  Santee  by  a  canal.  The 
little  Pedee,  Waccamaw,  Lynch's  creek,  Black  river,  Edisto,  Cambahee, 
Coosaw,  Stono,  and  Keowee,  are  all  considerable  streams. 

Exports.  We  have  already  observed,  that  the  staples  are  cotton  and 
rice.  In  1830,  186,007  bales  of  cotton  were  exported  from  Charleston. 
The  total  amount  of  exports  in  1829,  was  $8,175,586.  The  tonnage 
owned  in  South  Carolina  in  1828,  was  33,688. 

Literature.  The  South  Carolina  College,  at  Columbia,  the  political  me- 
tropolis, is  a  respectable  institution,  liberally  endowed,  receiving  from 
the  stale  an  annual  grant  of  ,$15,000.  The  college  buildings  prober,  are 
two  buildings  three  stories  high,  two  hundred  and  ten  feet  long  and  twen- 
ty-five wide.  Five  or  six  other  respectable  buildings,  for  the  residence  of 
the  officers,  handsomely  arranged,  present  a  striking  appearance.  The 
library  and  philosophical  apparatus,  are  also  respectable.  The  state  has 
expended  $200,000  upon  this  institution.  Charleston  College,  in  Charles- 
ton, is  spoken  of  as  a  respectable  institution.  There  are  also  institutions 
called  colleges  at  Beaufort,  Winnisboro',  and  Cambridge;  and  there  are 
six  or  eight  incorporated  academies  in  the  state.  The  state  makes  an 
annual  appropriation  of  about  .340,000  for  the  support  of  free  schools. 
In  1628,  there  were  eight  hundred  and  forty  such  established,  in  which 
nine  thousand  and  thirty-six  scholars  were  instructed  at  the  expense  of 
about  $39,716. 

Chief  Towns.  Charleston  is  situated  on  a  point  of  land,  made  by  the 
junction  of  the  rivers  Cooper  and  Ashley,  which  by  their  union  form  a 
commodious  harbor,  opening  to  the  ocean  below  Sullivan's  Island,  seven 
miles  below  the  city.  The  passage  over  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the 
harbor,  though  deep  and  safe,  is  difficult  to  find.  It  is  strongly  defended 
by  three  forts  on  different  islands  in  the  harbor.  It  contains  ten  or  twelve 
respectable  public  buildings,  and  eighteen  or  twenty  churches.  Most  of 
them  are  handsome,  and  some  of  them  magnificent.  There  are  but  three 
or  four  larger  city  libraries  in  the  United  States,  than  that  of  Charleston. 
It  contains  between  thirteen  and  fourteen  thousand  volumes.  The  Or; 
phan  Asylum  is  a  noble  and  munificent  charity,  which  maintains  and 
educates  one  hundred  and  thirty  orphan  children.  There  is  a  fund  also, 
for  educating  at  the  South  Carolina  College,  such  boys  as  manifest  dis- 
tinguished talents.  Many  of  the  charitable  institutions  of  this  hospitable 
city,  are  munificiently  endowed,  and  afford  ample  and  efficient  relief  to 


104  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

the  various  species  of  distress,  for  the  alleviation  of  which  they  are  de- 
signed. It  is  regularly  laid  out,  and  handsomely,  and  in  some  parts 
splendidly  built.  The  site  was  originally  low  and  marshy,  but  the  low 
places  have  been  filled  up,  and  so  raised  that  the  streets  are  perfectly  dry. 
The  houses  are  spacious  and  have  piazzas  to  court  the  breeze.  The 
squares  are  shaded  with  the  pride  of  China  and  other  beautiful  trees,  and 
the  gardens  with  orange  trees;  and  the  inhabitants  have  had  the  taste  to 
surround  their  dwellings  with  the  multiflora  rose,  and  other  ornamental 
shrubs,  and  fragrant  flowering  plants,  which  impart  to  a  northern  stran- 
ger the  idea  of  a  tropical  flower  garden.  Though  this  city  has  been  more 
than  once  desolated  by  the  yellow  fever,  it  is  considered  healthier  for  ac- 
climated inhabitants,  than  the  surrounding  country.  The  planters  from 
the  low  country,  and  many  opulent  strangers  from  the  West  Indies,  come 
here  to  spend  the  sickly  months,  and  to  enjoy  the  elegant  and  enlightened 
society,  with  which  this  city  abounds.  The  city  owns  a  large  amount  of 
shipping,  and  in  the  value  of  its  exports  is  the  fourth  city  in  the  Union. 
It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  south-east  from  Columbia,-  five  hun- 
dred and  ninety  south-west  from  Baltimore;  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
south-west  from  New  York;  and  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  south-west 
from  Washington.  By  the  way  of  Norfolk  and  across  the  bays,  it  has 
rapid  and  easy  steam  boat  communications  with  the  southern  cities.  In 
1820,  the  population  was  24,780,  of  which  more  than  half  were  slaves. 
In  1830,  30,289. 

Columbia  is  the  political  metropolis  of  the  state.  It  is  situated  oppo- 
site the  junction  of  the  Saluda  and  Broad  rivers,  the  union  of  which  forms 
the  Congaree.  The  position  of  the  town  is  an  elevated  plain,  that  slopes 
beautifully  to  the  river.  It  is  regularly  laid  out;  the  squares  are  rectan- 
gular, and  the  streets  one  hundred  feet  wide.  The  town  contains  ten  or 
twelve  public  buildings,  and  four  or  five  churches;  two  of  which,  the 
Presbyterian  and  Episcopalian,  are  handsome.  The  former  has  two 
lofty  spires,  and  the  latter  a  bell  and  an  organ.  The  state  house  is  one 
hundred  and  seventy  feet  by  sixty.  The  college  buildings,  which  we 
have  already  mentioned,  show  to  great  advantage.  Altogether,  it  is  a 
very  neat  place,  and  has  frequent  steam  boat  communications  with 
Charleston.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  north-east  from  Charles- 
ton. Georgetown  is  situated  on  the  west  side  of  Winyaw  bay,  into  which 
a  number  of  considerable  streams  empty,  connecting  it  extensively  with 
the  back  country.  It  is  sixty  miles  north-east  of  Charleston,  Although 
the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay  prevents  the  entrance  of  vessels  draw- 
ing more  than  seven  feet  water,  it  is  a  port  of  some  importance.  It 
contains  four  or  five  public  buildings,  four  churches,  and  about  2,000 
inhabitants. 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  105 

Beaufort  is  situated  on  Port  Royal  Island,  near  the  outlet  of  the  Coo- 
saw.  It  is  a  pleasant  and  healthy  place,  containing  three  churches,  and 
eleven  or  twelve  hundred  inhabitants.  It  has  a  literary  institution,  in- 
corporated as  a  college,  which  has  an  endowment  of  seventy  thousand 
dollars. 

Camden  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Wateree,  at  a  point  in  the 
river  to  which  it  is  navigable  for  vessels  of  seventy  tons.  It  is  central  to 
a  fertile  and  populous  district  of  the  state.  It  is  a  neat  and  regularly 
built  town,  containing  four  or  five  public  buildings,  and  four  churches.  It 
is  a  memorable  spot  in  the  history  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  two  con- 
siderable battles  having  been  fought  here;  one  between  General  Gates 
and  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  the  other  between  General  Greene  and  Lord 
Rawdon.  It  is  thirty-five  miles  north-east  from  Columbia,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  north-west  from  Charleston.  Population  about  1,200. 
The  names  of  the  other  considerable  villages  follow :  Darlington,  Society 
Hill,  Cheraw,  Chesterfield,  Kingtree,  Sumpterville,  Manchester,  States- 
burgh,  Lancaster,  Chesterville,  Yorkville,  Cambridge,  Laurensville, 
Greenville,  Pickensville,  Orangeburgh,  Barnwell,  Coosawhatchie,  Pun- 
isburg,  Robertsville,  Edgefield,  Wilmington,  Vienna,  Abbeville,  Ander- 
sonville,  and  Pendleton. 

Roads  and  Canals.  This  state  has  a  Board  of  Public  Works,  under 
whose  exertions  public  works  of  considerable  extent  have  been  executed. 
The  Santee  canal,  twenty-two  miles  in  length,  connects  the  Santee  river 
with  Charleston  harbor.  A  number  of  short  canals,  making  in  all  a  con- 
siderable extent,  have  been  cut  around  the  falls  of  the  rivers,  to  render 
them  boatable.  The  whole  extent  of  canal  completed  or  in  progress  in 
this  state,  amounts  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  But  the  most  impor- 
tant public  work  it  has  attempted,  is  the  South  Carolina  rail  road.  Of 
this  great  work,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  miles  and  a  half  in  length, 
the  entire  line,  is  under  contract,  and  considerable  advancement  has  been 
made  in  the  whole  extent.  Twelve  miles  are  complete,  and  the  rails 
laid  and  wedged  upon  nineteen  miles  more.  In  1830,  an  average  of  six 
hundred  laborers  were  employed  upon  the  work. 

Religion.  All  the  denominations  of  Christians  are  represented  in 
South  Carolina,  as  in  the  other  states,  but  the  prevalent  denominations 
are  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  and  Baptists. 

General  Remarks.  Some  of  the  most  venerated  names  that  the  revo- 
lutionary annals  can  furnish,  are  names  of  men  of  the  first  fortune  and 
highest  education  in  this  state,  who  wrote,  legislated,  fought,  and  bled, 
and  put  every  thing  at  hazard,  on  the  issue  of  national  independence. 
The  state  has  continued  to  furnish  citizens  of  the  most  brilliant  talents  and 
distinguished  character  to  represent  her  in  the  national  councils.  The 
Vol.  II.  14 


106  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

integrity  and  glory  of  the  American  union,  were,  until  lately,  as  fondly 
cherished  here  as  in  any  other  state.  This  is  not  the  place  to  comment 
upon  the  new  political  dogmas,  adopted  as  political  orthodoxy  by  the 
councils  of  the  state.  It  is  more  pleasant  to  dwell  upon  the  high-minded 
independence,  the  frank  and  generous  hospitality,  the  prompt  and  chari- 
table regard  to  distress,  and  the  elegant  affluence,  which  all  strangers, 
sojourning  in  this  state,  have  concurred  to  award  to  its  distinguished  citi- 
zens. Amidst  the  querulous  and  menacing  spirit  of  complaint,  and  the 
avowal  of  real  or  supposed  depression  and  poverty,  she  is  adopting  some 
measures  for  the  amelioration  of  her  condition,  which  are  unquestionably 
wise  and  expedient.  She  is  cherishing  agriculture  by  the  efforts  of  en- 
lightened agricultural  associations.  Great  exertions  are  making  to  ex- 
tend the  cultivation  of  sea  island  cotton,  the  sugar  cane,  the  silk  mulberry, 
and  the  vine.  Manufactures  of  cotton  are  established  and  encouraged. 
It  is  only  requisite  that  this  great  state  should  cherish  her  internal  resour- 
ces, that  her  large  planters  should  have  the  knowledge  and  dignity  to 
practice  retrenchment,  and  inculcate  upon  their  children,  that  to  be  train- 
ed to  industry,  to  have  a  pursuit,  and  in  a  free  and  republican  country, 
even  to  labor  with  their  own  hands,  would  bring  neither  stain  nor  indig- 
nity, to  restore  that  prosperity,  which  will  be  sought  for  in  vain  in  idle 
menace  and  fierce  legislation. 


GEORGIA 

Length,  three  hundred  miles ;  breadth,  two  hundred.  Containing 
fifty-eight  thousand  square  miles.  Between  30°  19'  and  35°  north  lati- 
tude, and  3°  52'  and  8°  47'  west  longitude.  Bounded  north  by  Tennes- 
see and  North  Carolina;  north-east  by  South  Carolina;  south-east  by  the 
Atlantic;  south  by  Florida;  and  west  by  Alabama. 

Counties.     Chief  Towns.  Counties.     Chief  Toivns. 

Appling,  Appling  C.  II.  Butts,  Jackson. 

Baker,  Byron.  Camden,  JefTersonton. 

Baldwin,  Milledgeville.  Campbell,  Campbellton. 

Bibb,  Macon.  Carroll,  Carroll  ton. 

Bryan,  Bryan  C.  H.  Chatham,  Savannah. 

Bullock,  Statesborough  Cherokee  Nation,  New  Echotn 

Burke,  Waynesboro.  Clark,  Watkinsville. 


ATLANTIC      STATES. 


107 


Columbia,  Appling. 
Coweta,  Newnan. 
Crawford,  Knoxville. 
Creek  Nation,  Creek  Agency. 
Decatur,  Bainbridge. 
De  Kalb,  Decatur. 
Dooly,  Berrian. 
Early,  Biakely. 
Effingham,  Willoughby. 
Elbert,  Elberton. 
Emanuel,  Swainsboro. 
Fayette,  Fayetteville. 
Franklin,  Carnersville. 
Glymn,  Brunswick. 
Greene,  Greensboro. 
Gwinnet,  Laurenceville. 
Habersham,  Clarkesville. 
Hall,  Gainesville. 
Hancock,  Sparta. 
Harris,  Hamilton. 
Henry,  McDonough. 
Houston,  Perry. 
Irwin,  Irwin  C.  H. 
Jackson,  Jefferson. 
Jasper,  Monticello. 
Jefferson,  Louisville. 
Jones,  Clinton. 
Laurens,  Dublin. 
Lee,  Pendleton. 
Liberty,  Riceboro. 
Lincoln,  Lincolnton. 
Lowndes,  Franklinville. 

Population  in  1820,   340,987. 


Madison,  Danielsville. 

Mcintosh,  Darien. 

Marion,  Marion  C.  H. 

Merriwether,  Greenville. 

Monroe,  Forsyth. 

Montgomery,  Mount  Vernon. 

Morgan,  Madison. 

Muscogee,  Columbus. 

Newton,  Covington. 

Oglethorpe,  Lexington. 

Pike,  Zebulon. 

Pulaski,  Hartford. 

Putnam,  Eatonton. 

Rabun,  Clayton. 

Randolph,  Randolph  C.  H. 

Richmond,  Augusta. 

Suiven,  Jacksonburgh. 

Talbot,  Talbotton, 

Taliaferro,  Crawfordsville. 

Tatnall,  Perry's  Mills. 

Telfair,  Jacksonville. 

Thomas,  Thomas ville. 

Troup,  Lagrange. 

Twiggs,  Marion. 

Upson,  Thomaston. 

Walton,  Monroe. 

Ware,  Waresboro. 

Warren,  Warrenton. 

Washington,  Sandersville, 

Wayne,  Waynesville. 

Wilkes,  Washington. 

Wilkinson,  Irwinton. 

In  1830,  516,504.    Of  this  number 


between  the  third  and  the  half  are  slaves. 

Physical  Aspect.  There  is  the  same  broad  maritime  belt  of  level 
country,  skirting  the  sea,  as  in  South  Carolina,  of  nearly  one  hundred 
miles  in  extent.  The  sea  shore  is  dotted  with  a  number  of  islands.  The 
numerous  rivers,  inlets,  and  arms  of  the  sea,  overflow  the  swamps  at  al- 
most every  return  of  the  tide.  Hence,  the  sea  marsh  swamps,  and  the 
swamps  near  the  estuaries  of  rivers,  in  order  to  be  reclaimed,  require  lev- 
ees. Beyond  the  swamps,  commences  the  extensive  belt  of  pine  barrens, 
closely  resembling  those  of  South  Carolina.     Beyond  this  belt,  the  coun- 


108  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

try  begins  to  be  pleasantly  diversified  by  gentle  undulations.  The  soil 
is  what  is  technically  called  mulatto  soil.  This  region  is  bounded  on  the 
west  by  the  Blue  Ridge,  which  here  swells  into  elevations  fifteen  hundred 
feet  in  height,  which  thence  subside,  and  are  lost  in  the  sea.  Beyond 
the  mountains,  is  an  extensive  and  rich  table  country,  with  a  black  soil  of 
great  fertility,  in  which  pines  and  evergreens  are  more  rare,  and  are  re- 
placed by  black  walnut  and  the  forest  trees  that  denote  a  rich  soil. 

Climate — Differs  very  little  from  that  of  South  Carolina.  The  low 
country  planters  have  their  sickly  season,  and  their  summer  retreats  in 
the  high  pine  woods.  The  districts  central  to  the  rice  swamps  in  the  Car- 
olinas  and  Georgia,  are  universally  insalubrious.  There  are  districts  in 
this  state,  that  approach  nearer  to  tropical  temperature,  than  any  portions 
of  South  Carolina,  and  are  better  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  .the  sugar 
cane,  the  olive,  and  sweet  orange.  The  hilly  and  western  parts  of  the 
state  are  as  healthy  as  any  part  of  America.  As  an  average  of  the  tem- 
perature, winter  may  be  said  to  commence  in  the  middle  of  December, 
and  end  in  the  middle  of  February.  The  climate  of  the  low  country 
compares  very  nearly  with  that  of  Louisiana. 

Productions.  The  staple  is  cotton ;  both  the  black  seeded  and  sea 
island.  Rice  is  the  next  staple.  Great  extents  of  rice  swamps  are 
sowed  with  this  grain.  Sugar  cane  is  cultivated  on  experiment.  Indigo 
is  beginning  to  constitute  a  considerable  item  in  the  products.  Silk  and 
wine  are  made  on  experiment.  The  fruits  are  melons  in  the  greatest 
perfection,  figs  in  abundance,  oranges,  pomegranates,  olives,  lemons, 
limes,  citrons,  pears,  peaches,  and  grapes.  The  forest  trees  and  shrubs 
are  as  numerous  and  as  various  as  in  South  Carolina,  and  it  produces 
great  numbers  of  indigenous  medicinal  plants. 

Exports — Consisting  chiefly  of  cotton,  rice,  deer  skins,  lumber,  &c. 
in  1828  amounted  to  $4,981,370.     The  tonnage  was  13,959. 

Canals  and  Internal  Improvements.  A  canal  from  the  Savannah  to 
the  Ogeechee  is  completed.  It  is  intended  to  extend  it  the  Altamaha, 
making  in  all  seventy-two  miles.  One  hundred  negroes  are  employed 
by  the  state,  under  the  direction  of  two  superintendents,  to  work  by  the 
direction  of  overseers,  on  the  roads  and  the  rivers. 

Education.  The  University  of  Georgia  has  funds  to  the  amount  of 
one  hundred  and  thrty-six  thousand  dollars.  Its  position  is  at  Athens. 
The  buildings  consist  of  two  large  college  edifices,  two  chapels,  a  presi- 
dent's and  a  Stewart's  house.  The  library  and  philosophical  apparatus 
are  respectable.  An  academy,  with  an  average  number  of  eighty  stu- 
dents, is  connected  with  the  college.  There  are  eighty  incorporated 
academies  in  the  state,  sixty-four  of  which  are  in  operation,  containing 
jthree  thousand  and  eight  pupils.     The  total  number  of  the  pupils  in  the 


ATLANTIC     STATES.  109 

academies  and  common  schools  is  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight.  The  legislature  has  appropriated  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  one  thousand  acres  of  land  in  each  county,  in  such  an  invest- 
ment, as  that  the  avails  shall  be  applied  to  the  support  of  common  schools. 

Natives.  The  greater  portions  of  two  considerable  tribes,  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Creeks,  reside  within  the  chartered  limits  of  this  state.  The 
Cherokees  have  shown  a  greater  capacity  for  the  improvements  of  civili- 
zed life,  and  more  progress  in  cultivation  and  the  arts,  than  any  other 
Indian  tribe  in  our  country.  They  have  good  houses,  live  in  villages, 
cultivate  farms,  and  have  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
slaves.  They  have  carpenters  and  blacksmiths,  and  the  females  spin 
and  weave,  and  make  butter  and  cheese.  They  number  a  total  of  fifteen 
thousand  and  sixty  persons;  and  instead  of  diminishing,  they  have  in- 
creased during  the  last  six  years,  3,563.  They  have  adopted  a  form  of 
government  and  jurisprudence  similar  to  ours.  A  half  breed  Cherokee 
has  produced  the  surprising  invention  of  a  Cherokee  alphabet,  which,  in 
point  of  utility,  takes  a  high  place  among  the  alphabetic  inventions  of  all 
ages  and  countries.  Great  numbers  of  missionary  establishments  are 
fixed  among  them,  in  the  schools  of  which,  five  hundred  children  are 
learning  to  read  and  write  the  English  language.  This  is  not  the  placo 
to  vex  the  question,  which  has  proved  of  such  absorbing  interest,  of  the 
humanity  of  their  removal  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Rivers.  The  Savannah,  which  is  the  boundary  between  this  state 
and  Georgia,  has  already  been  noticed.  The  Ogeechee  river  pursues  a 
south-east  course  through  the  state  of  two  hundred  miles.  Its  estuary  is 
Ossabaw  Sound,  seventeen  miles  south-west  of  Tybee  light  house. 
Canuchee,  its  principal  branch,  after  a  course  of  one  hundred  miles, 
unites  with  it  twenty  miles  from  the  Atlantic.  St.  Mary's  rises  in  the 
great  swamp  of  Okanfanoka,  and  is  the  boundary  between  Georgia  and 
Florida.  Alatamaha  is  a  broad  and  deep  stream,  with  many  branches. 
The  principal  of  these  are  the  Oconee  and  Ocmulgee.  The  Apulcuhee 
is  a  principal  branch  of  the  Oconee.  The  Little  Ocmulgee  is  a  branch 
of  the  Ocmulgee.  After  the  junction  of  the  Oconee  and  Ocmulgee,  the 
majestic  Alatamaha  flows  one  hundred  miles  further  through  the  forests, 
and  finds  its  estuary  in  Alatamaha  Sound.  There  are  fourteen  feet 
water  over  the  bar,  and  the  Oconee  branch  is  navigable  for  boats  of 
thirty  tons  to  Milledgeville,  the  metropolis,  three  hundred  miles  from  the 
sea.  Ohoopee  is  an  important  branch  of  the  Alatamaha,  which  has  a 
course  of  one  hundred  miles.  Satilla  river  empties  into  the  Atlantic  be- 
tween St.  Simons  and  the  Cumberland  islands.  The  rivers  of  Georgia 
that  rise  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  have  already  been  noticed. 

Islands.     In  front  of  the  broad  belt  of  salt  marsh  that  skirts  the  sea 


11  0  ATLANTIC     STATES. 

shore,  is  a  chain  of  islands  of  great  value  for  their  capability  of  yielding 
sea  island  cotton,  and  for  being  retreats,  during  the  sickly  months,  for  the 
low  country  planters.  The  names  of  the  principal  islands  follow :  Tybee, 
Ossaw,  Ossabaw,  St.  Catharine's,  Cumberland,  Jekyl,  Sapelo,  and  St. 
Symon's. 

Chief  Towns.  Savannah,  the  commercial  capital,  is  situated  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Savannah,  seventeen  miles  from  its  estuary,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  miles  south-west  from  Charleston,  and  six  hundred  and 
fifty-eight  south-west  from  Washington.  Its  position  is  a  low  sandy 
plain.  It  was  formerly  built  of  wood,  and  insalubrious  from  its  marshy 
surface  and  contiguity  to  rice  swamps.  It  has  suffered  severely  from 
fires,  and  the  parts  destroyed  have  been  handsomely  rebuilt.  The  rice 
swamps  in  the  immediate  vicinity  are  no  longer  inundated,  and  the  health 
of  the  city  is  since  much  improved.  It  contains  twelve  public  buildings 
and  eight  churches.  The  Presbyterian  church  is  an  elegant  and  spa- 
cious edifice  of  stone.  The  Exchange  is  a  large  building,  five  stories 
high.  The  Academy  is  partly  of  brick  aud  partly  of  stone,  one  hundred 
and  eighty  feet  front,  sixty  feet  wide,  and  three  stories  high.  There  are 
ten  public  squares  planted  with  trees,  among  which  the  beautiful  China 
trees  are  conspicuous.  It  is  a  place  of  very  great  trade,  and  has  expor- 
ted over  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  beside  large 
amounts  of  rice  and  tobacco,  in  a  year.  It  is  defended  by  two  forts,  and 
the  entrance  to  the  river  indicated  by  a  light  house  on  Tybee  Island. 
In  1820,  four  hundred  and  sixty-three  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire, 
valued  at  $4,000,000.  Population  in  1820,  7,523,  of  whom  nearly  half 
were  slaves.     In  1830,  7,473. 

Augusta  is  a  handsome  town,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Savannah,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  miles  above  Savannah.  It  is  laid  out  with 
great  regularity.  It  is  handsomely  built,  and  chiefly  of  brick.  Being 
midway  between  the  upper  and  lower  country,  it  is  a  central  emporium 
of  business.  It  contains  eight  public  buildings  and  five  churches.  The 
public  buildings  are  spacious,  and  many  of  the  private  houses  elegant. 
No  town  has  more  business  according  to  its  size.  It  is  a  great  depot  of 
cotton  and  tobacco,  brought  down  from  the  upper  country.  It  communi- 
cates with  Savannah  by  steam  boats.  It  has  suffered,  as  well  as  Savan- 
nah, severely  by  fires ;  but  is  at  present  flourishing.  It  is  seventy-three 
miles  south-west  of  Columbia,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  north- 
west from  Charleston.     Population  in  1820,  4,000.     In  1830,  6,696. 

Milledgevillc  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Oconee,  three  hun- 
dred miles,  by  the  curves  of  the  river,  from  the  sea.  Though  in  the 
upper  country,  it  is  near  the  borders  of  the  low  country.  Its  situation  is 
elevated  and  pleasant,  and  central  to  a  fertile  and  populous  country 


ATLANTIC    STATUS.  Ill 

The  state  house,  arsenal,  and  penitentiary,  are  all  large  and  conspicuous 
buildings.  It  contains  some  other  public  buildings,  two  or  three  churches, 
and  about  3,000  inhabitants.  It  is  eighty-seven  miles  south-west  from 
Augusta,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  north-west  from  Savannah. 

Athens,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Oconee,  is  the  seat  of  the  University 
of  Georgia.  The  names  of  the  other  principal  villages  follow:  Waynes- 
borough,  Louisville,  Georgetown,  Warrenton,  Dublin,  Sandersville,  Spar- 
ta, Eatonton,  Greensburgh,  Madison,  Jefferson,  Clarksborough,  Watkins- 
ville,  Marion,  Clinton,  Monticello,  Sunbury,  Darien,  and  St.  Mary's. 

Minerals.  Near  Milledgeville  is  a  bed  of  yellow  ochre.  Mineral 
springs  are  found  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Copper  ores,  and  the 
greatest  abundance  of  iron  ore,  have  been  discovered.  The  gold  region 
extends  in  a  broad  belt  through  this  state.  The  discoveries  have  been 
numerous  and  productive  in  the  Cherokee  country ;  and  collisions  of  a 
serious  character  have  ensued  between  miners  claiming  to  dig  under  the 
authority  of  the  Cherokees,  the  state,  and  the  United  States.  Many  have 
supposed  that  gold  would  be  found  more  abundantly  in  the  highlands  of 
Georgia  and  Alabama,  than  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  gold  region. 

Religion.  The  aspect  of  the  religious  character  and  denominations  of 
this  state  differs  little  from  that  of  South  Carolina.  The  Baptists  and 
Methodists  arc  the  prevalent  denominations. 

General  Remarks.  This  state,  in  common  with  South  Carolina,  has 
adopted  a  tone  of  querulousn^ss,  complaining  of  poverty  and  depression. 
The  teaching  of  political  economy,  in  regard  to  its  bearing  upon  the  slave 
states,  indicates  alike  to  them  all  new  views  respecting  personal  labor. 
The  children  of  the  wealthier  planters  should  be  taught  that  industry  is 
not  dishonor ;  and  should  be  trained  to  become  sufficient  to  themselves. 
Retrenchment,  economy,  and  the  raising  and  manufacturing  every  thing 
that  domestic  industry  can  supply,  which  is  requisite  for  the  wants  of  a 
plantation,  are  duties  imperiously  prescribed  by  their  circumstances. 
The  sugar  cane  bids  fair  to  succeed  as  a  new  species  of  cultivation.  In 
the  remote  periods  of  the  colonial  history  of  Georgia,  the  manufacture  of 
silk,  on  a  considerable  scale,  was  practiced  with  entire  success.  A  sin- 
gle acre  in  the  cultivation  of  the  native  grape  yielded,  on  experiment, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  net  profit  from  the  sale  of  the  wine.  An 
abundant  crop  of  indigo,  of  an  excellent  quality,  can  be  grown  in  almost 
every  part  of  the  state.  Its  interior  and  western  parts  arc  peculiarly 
favorable  to  manufactures.  With  mines  both  of  iron  and  gold,  the  extent 
and  resources  of  which  can  only  be  measured  by  the  imagination,  and 
being  one  of  the  largest  states,  in  regard  to  extent  of  surface  and 
capabilities,  Georgia  has  within  herself  all  the  elements  for  becoming  one 
of  the  first  states  in  the  Union.  Wisdom,  dignity,  moderation,  and  for- 
bearance in  her  councils,  are  alone  requisite  to  produce  the  desired  result- 


DANISH  POSSESSIONS 

IN 

NORTH    AMERICA. 


GREENLAND. 


Position.  Greenland  was  long  accounted  a  part  of  our  continent,  but 
is  now  supposed  to  be  an  immense  island.  The  most  advanced  post  of 
the  Danes  towards  the  north  pole  is  Uppernavitch,  in  72°  30' ;  and  the 
most  southern  in  64°  10'.  Ships  have  not  been  known  to  have  doubled 
its  northern  extremity.  Davis'  Straits  to  the  west,  separate  it  from 
America.     Its  southern  extremity  is  Cape  Farewell. 

Climate.  Situated  altogether  in  the  polar  circle,  this  country  has  long 
winter  nights,  and  short  summer  days.  The  flitting  glimmer  of  the  Au- 
rora Borealis  softens  the  horror  of  these  polar  nights.  Eight-tenths  of 
the  year  it  is  subject  to  the  empire  of  frost.  The  contiguous  ocean  is 
covered  either  with  fields  of  ice,  prodigious  icebergs,  or  mountains  of 
ice,  that  are  of  immense  size,  rise  many  hundred  feet  in  the  air,  brilliant 
with  all  the  colors  of  the  bow,  and  having  there  movable  basis  fixed  as 
deep  in  the  ocean.  In  winter  the  breath  emitted  returns  in  a  little  cloud 
of  hoar  frost.  The  mercury  becomes  stationary  and  congealed  through  all 
the  severe  weather.  The  inhabitants  of  these  dreary  regions  can  know 
nothing  of  our  vernal  airs,  and  soft  south  breezes.  We  cannot  imagine 
how  people  can  enduro  this  period  of  frost  and  intense  cold,  passed  in 
darkness  and  storms.  But  the  goodness  of  the  Creator  is  shown  in 
rendering  the  people  of  all  lands  satisfied  with  their  condition.  The 
terror  of  the  Greenlanders  is,  lest  the  inhabitants  of  more  southern  coun- 
tries should  immigrate  among  them,  and  deprive  them  of  their  fancied 
paradise. 

Soil  and  Country.  Icy  Peak,  an  enormous  mass  of  ice,  rises  near  the 
mouth  of  a  river,  and  diffuses  such  a  brilliancy  through  the  air,  that  it  is 
seen  at  the  distance  of  more  than  thirty  miles.    The  country  along  the 


DANISH    l'OSSESSIO.NS  .  llrt 

sea  shore  presents  rugged  masses  of  rock,  interspersed  with  huge  blocks 
of  ice,  indicating  the  conflict  of  chaos  and  winter.     The  interior  is  cov 
ered  with  a  chain  of  innumerable  mountains,  most  of  which  are  unexplo- 
red.    Coal  and  various  minerals,  and  useful  and  beautiful  fossils  have 
been  discovered  here. 

Smoke  of  Ice.  This  arises  from  the  crevices  of  marine  ice.  The 
rare  occurrence  of  rain,  the  small  quantity  of  snow,  and  the  intense  de- 
gree of  cold  produced  by  the  north-east  wind,  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the 
north-east  parts  of  Greenland  constitute  a  great  Archipelago,  encumber- 
ed with  perpetual  ice.  which  for  many  centuries  has  been  piled  to- 
gether by  the  winds  and  currents. 

Animals.  Hares,  reindeer,  white  bear,  foxes,  and  large  dogs,  that 
howl  instead  of  barking,  and  are  employed  by  the  Greenlanders,  in 
drawing  their  sledges,  comprise  the  animals  of  this  country.  Immense 
flocks  of  sea  fowl  frequent  the  rivers  and  shores.  The  rivers  abound  in 
salmon,  and  the  seas  in  turbots  and  herrings.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that 
those  animals,  whose  blood  is  of  the  temperature  of  the  sea,  are  found  in 
greatest  numbers  under  these  icy  fields  and  mountains.  The  inhabitants 
of  North  Greenland  pursue  the  whale,  and  those  of  South  Greenland  the 
seal.  The  flesh  of  the  animals  is  their  chief  food.  The  skins  of  the 
seals  serve  them  for  clothing,  and  as  the  material  for  their  boats.  Their 
tendons  are  used  for  thread,  their  bladders  as  bottles,  their  fat  sometimes 
as  butter,  and  at  other  times  as  tallow,  and  their  blood  is  considered  by 
the  Greenlander  the  richest  broth. 

Exports.     In  value  from  50  to  100,000  rix  dollars. 

Natives.  They  are  of  a  low  stature,  have  black  hair,  small  eyes,  a 
flat  face,  and  a  yellowish  brown  skin,  evidently  assimilating  them  to  the 
Esquimaux. 

Language.  It  is  remarkable  for  its  copiousness,  and  regular  gram- 
matical forms.  Its  inflections  are  as  numerous  and  as  varied  as  the 
Greek.  The  women  employ  words  and  inflections  which  none  but  them- 
selves are  permitted  to  use.  The  Greenlanders  call  themselves  Innouk, 
or  brother;  their  national  name  Kalalit,  and  their  country  Kalalit  Nonnet 

Implements  and  Canoes.  They  make  use  of  the  bladder  of  the  sea 
dog,  distended  with  wind,  and  attached  to  the  javelin,  with  which  they 
strike  the  whale.  The  animal,  when  wounded,  feels  this  bag  of  wind 
constantly  dragging  him  upwards  to  the  surface.  Their  boats  resemble 
a  box  formed  of  little  branches,  and  covered  on  every  side  with  the  skin 
of  the  sea  dog.  They  are  twelve  feet  long,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  wide. 
In  the  middle  of  the  upper  surface  there  is  a  hole,  surrounded  by  a  wood- 
en hoop,  with  a  skin  attached  to  it,  which  admits  of  its  being  drawn  round 
the  hndy,  like  a  purse  by  a  thong  Supplied  with  a  single  oar,  which  is 
Vol.  II.  15 


114  DANISH     POSSESSION- 

very  thin,  three  or  four  feet  long,  and  broader  at  the  two  sides,  the  boat- 
man, paddling  rapidly  to  the  right  and  left,  advances  in  a  straight  line 
across  the  waves,  in  the  midst  of  the  tumult  of  the  tempest,  little  more 
fearful  of  the  surges  than  the  whales.  The  billows  dash  over  him.  He 
shakes  off  the  water  like  a  sea-fowl.  He  is  capsized;  but  not  being  ex- 
actly disposed  to  live  under  the  water,  with  a  dextrous  movement  of  his 
oar,  he  rights  himself,  and  becomes  the  companion  and  rival  of  the 
whales. 

Character — Is  an  undefinable  mixture  of  good  and  bad.  They  are 
ardently  attached  to  their  country  and  its  customs,  and  of  course  adverse 
to  the  Danish  system  of  civilization,  which  they  charge  with  having 
brought  spirituous  liquors  among  them.  They  look  with  abhorrence  up- 
on public  punishments,  and  think  it  enough  to  load  the  malefactor  with 
reproach. 

Religion.  The  Moravians  have  had  great  success  of  late  years  in 
converting  this  people.  These  benevolent  men  endured  every  thing  to 
train  themselves  to  sustain  the  climate  and  modes  of  life  of  these  people. 
By  these  labors,  a  certain  degree  of  civilization  has  been  introduced 
among  them.  They  have  learned  to  make  barrels  and  boats,  and  to 
comprehend  the  use  of  money.  The  divinities  of  the  pagan  Greenlan- 
ders,  were  Torngarsook,  and  a  malevolent  goddess  without  a  name,  who 
inhabited  a  palace  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  guarded  by  terrific  sea  dogs. 
They  believed  in  a  paradise,  where  the  soul,  in  a  state  of  happy  indo- 
lence, was  nourished  with  the  heads  of  sea  dogs.  Their  priests  were 
called  Angekok,  and  their  enchanters  Iliseets.  The  Danes  have  en- 
countered incredible  sacrifices  and  dangers  in  this  region  of  winter  and 
storms  to  christianize  this  people. 

Population — Towns.  The  Danish  establishments  are  Uppernavich, 
Umanak,  Godhavn,  Jacobshavn,  Holsteinborg,  Sukcrstoppen,  Gothaab, 
Friderickshaab,  and  Julianshaab.  The  largest  of  the  Moravian  estab- 
lishments is  called  Lichtenau.  In  1802,  the  population  amounted  to 
5,122  souls.  Vaccination  has  been  introduced  among  them,  and  will 
secure  them  hereafter  from  the  terrible  ravages  of  the  small  pox.  These 
people  wander  along  a  coast  of  nine  hundred  miles.  But  neither  the  Danes 
or  Grecnlanders  have  yet  passed  the  icy  chain  of  mountains  which  cut 
off  their  intercourse  with  the  interior. 


DANISH    POSSESSIONS.  1 1  £» 


ICELAND, 


Must,  after  all,  be  considered  as  included  in  the  western  continent. 
It  was  known  seven  centuries  before  Columbus.  It  is  a  land  of  prodi- 
gies. Subterranean  fires  burst  through  the  frozen  soil,  and  boiling  springs 
shoot  up  their  fountains  amidst  eternal  snows.  The  people  are  free,  and 
in  this  rude  and  strange  country  feel  the  strong  impulses  of  poetry.  The 
extent  of  the  country  is  4,500  square  leagues. 

Rocks — Mountains.  The  whole  country  is  little  more  than  a  chain  of 
immense  rocks,  covered  with  snow,  while  fire  burns  forever  within  their 
subterranean  caverns.  Various  fossils  and  shining  stones  and  lavas  are 
found  here. 

Volcanoes.  Twelve  are  known  in  this  island.  The  most  celebrated 
is  Mount  Hecla,  four  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  The  volcanoes  of  Scaptefel'l  made  themselves  known  in  1783,  by 
terrific  phenomena.  The  river  Skapt-Aa  was  filled  with  pumice  stones 
and  lava.  A  fertile  district  was  instantly  changed  to  a  desert.  Sulphu- 
reous exhalations  and  clouds  of  cinders  spread  over  the  whole  island,  and 
an  epidemic  was  the  consequence.  Immediately  before  this  eruption, 
a  volcanic  island  arose  out  of  the  sea,  and  shortly  after  sunk  again,  and 
its  place  was  no  more  known. 

Hot  Springs.  Some  are  tepid,  and  are  called  baths;  others  throw  up 
boiling  water,  with  great  noise,  and  are  called  Hverer,  or  caldrons.  The 
most  remarkable  is  Geyser,  near  Skalholt,  in  the  centre  of  a  plain,  and 
surrounded  by  forty  smaller  springs.  The  mouth  of  this  spring  is  nine- 
teen feet  in  diameter,  and  its  basin  thirty-nine  feet.  The  column  is 
thrown  up  from  eighty-eight  to  ninety-two  feet  high.  It  is  surrounded  by 
a  dense  smoke,  and  falls  back  upon  itself  in  spray.  The  lately  discov- 
ered spring,  Strok,  rivals  Geyser.  Its  aperture  is  smaller,  but  it  pre- 
sents a  better  defined  surface,  is  thrown  up  with  greater  power,  to  a 
higher  elevation,  and  disperses  in  the  air  like  artificial  fountains.  Two 
other  springs  near,  rise  and  fall  alternately.  The  whole  of  this  strange 
valley  is  filled  with  springs,  and  surrounded  with  lava  and  pumice  stone. 
In  these  springs  the  pagan  ancestors  of  the  inhabitants  were  baptized,  and 
the  present  Icelanders  cook  their  food;  and  employ  them  for  various  pur- 
poses. The  cows  that  drink  of  these  waters  give  an  extraordinary  quan- 
tity of  milk.  They  have  many  mineral  springs,  to  which  they  give  the 
name  of  beer  springs. 

Fossils.  Among  the  most  curious  is  a  heavy  inflammable  substance, 
called  in  Icelandic,  Surti/rbrand.  which  burns  with  a  flame.     Another 


110  DANISH      POSSESSIONS'. 

kind  of  mineral  wood,  heavier  than  coal,  burns  without  flame,  and  con- 
tains chalcedony  in  its  transverse  fissures.  A  great  variety  of  minerals 
is  found  here,  together  with  marble,  lime,  plaster,  porcelain  clay,  bole, 
onyx,  agate,  jasper,  sulphur,  and  slate.  Under  your  feet  you  see  and 
feel  the  clay  constantly  bubbling  up,  and  hear  the  din  of  waters  boiling, 
hissing  in  the  interior  of  the  mountain,  while  a  hot  vapor  hovers  above 
the  surface,  from  which  columns  of  muddy  water  frequently  shoot  into 
the  air. 

Air — Climate.  Through  the  air,  which  is  filled  with  icy  particles,  the 
sun  and  moon  often  show  double.  The  Aurora  Borealis  reflects  a  thou- 
sand different  colors.  Every  where  the  magic  illusion  of  mirage  creates 
phantom  seas,  and  imaginary  shores.  The  ordinary  climate  would  be 
sufficiently  temperate  to  admit  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  were  it  not  that 
the  floating  ice  sometimes  fixes  between  the  northern  and  southern  prom- 
ontories. A  frightful  degree  of  cold  is  the  consequence.  Vegetation  is 
entirely  destroyed,  and  famine  and  despair  settle  upon  those  mountains, 
which  are  heated  in  vain  by  subterranean  fires.  Out  of  one  hundred 
years,  forty-three  were  of  this  character,  and  fourteen  years  of  famine. 
In  1784  and  1785,  when  intense  cold  succeeded  volcanic  eruptions, 
nine  thousand  persons,  (one-fifth  of  the  whole  population,)  perished,  with 
a  great  portion  of  the  sheep,  horses,  and  horned  cattle. 

Vegetation.  A  species  of  wild  wheat,  called  Melur,  affords  good  flour. 
The  lichen  Icelandicus,  and  several  other  species  of  lichen,  a  great  num- 
ber of  antiscorbutic  roots,  and  even  marine  plants  are  used  as  food. 
Iceland  produces  an  immense  quantity  of  wild  berries  of  excellent  flavor. 
Gardening  is  practiced  over  all  the  country.  Cauliflowers  do  not  succeed, 
and  potatoes  have  made  but  small  progress,  hi  former  time,  the  vales  of 
the  south  of  the  island  were  covered  with  extensive  forests ;  but  they  have 
been  improvidently  destroyed.  A  few  birch  woods,  and  many  bushes 
remain.  But  the  wood  which  the  earth  denies  them  is  furnished  by  the 
ocean.  The  immense  quantity  of  thick  trunks  of  pines,  firs,  and  other 
trees,  which  arc  thrown  upon  the  northern  coast  of  Iceland,  especially 
upon  North  Cape,  and  Cape  Langaness,  is  one  of  the  most  astonishing 
phenomenons  in  nature.  It  comes  floating  down  upon  them  in  an  abun- 
dance even  greater  than  the  demand  of  the  people. 

Domestic  Animals.  The  oxen  and  cows  are  without  horns.  The 
sheep  have  two,  and  .sometimes  three,  with  long  wool,  and  are  very  large. 
There  arc  400,000  .sheep,  and  40,000  horned  cattle  upon  the  island. 
Pasturage  would  be  their  true  riches  if  they  would  attend  to  it.  The 
reindeer  lias  bees  imported,  and  thrives.  The  foxes  yield  most  beautiful 
furs.  The  white  bear  .sometimes  floats  upon  their  shores  on  the  ice. 
Among  many  sea  fowls  is  the  cKiek,  that  yields  the  cider  down. 


DANISH      POSSESSIONS.  117 

Fish.  Their  shores  and  rivers  offer  these  riches  in  an  abundance,  from 
which  they  profit  little.  The  salmon,  trout,  barhel,  and  other  excellent 
fish,  swim  in  their  waters  unmolested.  Eels  abound,  but  the  inhabitants 
are  afraid  to  eat  them,  fancying  them  tbe  young  of  the  great  sea  serpent, 
which  according  to  the  mythology  of  Odin,  encircles  the  whole  earth. 
The  Icelanders  pretend  to  have  seen  him  lifting  his  head  above  the  sea, 
upon  their  solitary  shores.  Herrings  swarm  upon  their  coast, — but  it  is 
only  recently  that  the  natives  have  learned  the  use  of  the  net.  Small 
whales,  sea  calves,  sea  dogs,  and  cod,  are  the  common  objects  of  their 
fishery. 

Divisions — Towns.  Iceland  is  divided  into  four  divisions,  correspond- 
ing to  the  four  cardinal  points.  Skalholt  and  Holum  were  formerly  towns 
that  were  seats  of  dioceses.  They  now  constitute  but  one.  Reikiavik  is 
the  capital,  and  formerly  contained  one  hundred  houses.  Besestadr  is  ihc 
seat  of  an  academy  with  a  library  of  1,500  volumes,  no  doubt  the  most 
northern  library  in  the  world. 

Commerce.  The  exports  are  fish,  train  oil,  meat,  tallow,  butter,  hides, 
eider  down,  wool,  worsted  thread,  and  coarse  woolens.  In  180G,  they 
amounted  to  191,230  rix  dollars,  and  the  importations  to  $107,205. 

Inhabitants — Are  of  moderate  stature,  not  strong,  seldom  have  a  nu- 
merous offspring,  and  want  industry.  But  they  are  honest,  benevolent, 
faithful,  obliging,  and  hospitable.  The  men  fish  and  tend  their  flocks. 
The  women  cure  the  fish,  cook,  sew,  and  spin.  They  have  some  manu- 
factures in  woolen.  They  are  so  attached  to  their  country,  that  they  ima- 
gine they  can  be  happy  no  where  else.  They  are  naturally  disposed  to 
piety.  Their  domestic  amusements  are  reading  history  and  poetry.  One 
of  the  men  gives  his  hand  to  a  woman,  and  they  sing  couplets  alternately, 
the  rest  occasionally  joining  in  the  chorus.  They  are  fond  of  chess. 
Their  dress  is  neat  and  decent.  They  live  more  plentifully  than  formerly. 
They  have  literary  societies,  which  have  published  memoirs.  There  are 
many  public  libraries  among  them.  Every  Icelander  knows  how  to 
write  and  calculate.  Wine,  coffee,  and  spices,  are  not  unknown  among 
them.  Such  is  the  colony  of  the  Scandinavians,  placed  between  the  ice 
of  the  poles,  and  the  flames  of  the  abyss. 


US  DANISH      POSSESSIONS. 


SP1TSBERGE  N 


To  the  north  of  Iceland  three  large  islands  and  a  group  of  smaller 
ones  have  received  this  name.  On  the  eastern  peninsula  of  this  group, 
the  Dutch  whalers  formerly  had  an  establishment,  called  Sweerinburg. 
The  mountains,  crowned  with  snow,  flanked  with  glaciers,  and  probably 
composed  of  red  granite,  shoot  up  in  portentious  brilliance  to  a  great 
height,  and  are  seen  far  off  over  the  sea.  The  deep  silence  increases  the 
mysterious  horror  of  the  approaching  navigator.  Yet  even  here  nature 
has  its  annual  resurrection,  and  a  summer  day  of  five  months,  followed 
by  a  night  as  long  of  winter.  Towards  the  noon  of  this  long  day,  the 
heat  penetrates  a  little  into  the  frozen  earth,  expanding  a  few  flowers. 
Here  among  the  marine  forests  of  the  Fuci,  the  whales  roll  their  enormous 
bodies  of  fat,  which  the  whalers  pursue  to  the  regions  of  eternal  ice. 
Here  beneath  the  mountains  of  ice  they  take  their  gambols  and  their  loves. 
Here  the  sea  dogs  dry  their  brown  furs  on  the  ice.  Here  the  sea  morse 
displays  his  enormous  tusks  of  ivory.  Here,  too,  is  his  mortal  enemy, 
the  sea  unicorn.  Here  the  whale  is  pursued,  and  sometimes  destroyed 
by  the  sword  fish.  Among  these  shapeless  and  colossal  monsters,  is  seen 
swimming  in  the  waves,  or  floating  on  the  ice,  the  ferocious  and  terrible 
polar  bear,  the  enemy  alike  of  all,  pursuing  every  thing  that  has  life,  de 
vouring  every  animal  that  he  encounters;  and  then,  growling  with  satia- 
ted delight,  he  seats  himself  on  his  trophy  of  carcasses  and  bones. 

Whale  Fishery.  There  have  been  in  these  seas  four  hundred  large 
whaling  vessels  at  a  time.  In  forty-six  years,  the  Dutch  caught  32,000 
whales,  the  whalebone  and  oil  of  which  were  worth  £14,000,000  ster- 
ling. The  whales  are  diminishing.  Sea  morses  are  still  abundant.  The 
skin  is  of  use  for  suspending  carriages,  and  its  teeth  are  more  precious 
than  those  of  the  elephant.  The  horn  of  the  sea  unicorn  was  once  an  ob- 
ject of  superstitious  veneration,  as  a  medicine.  A  margrave  of  Barcuth 
accepted  one  in  payment  of  a  sum  of  60,000  rix  dollars.  Here,  too,  is 
procured  from  a  species  of  whale  the  substance  improperly  called  sper- 
maceti. Countless  millions  of  herrings,  of  more  real  value  than  all  the 
rest,  swarm  in  these  seas. 

Floating  Wood.  Here,  as  upon  the  shores  of  the  other  northern  coun- 
tries, are  floated  down  immense  quantities  of  drift  wood.  Not  only  pines 
and  larches,  and  Siberian  cedars  accumulate,  but  even,  strange  as  it  may 
sceni,  Pernambwu  and  < -ampcachy  woods,  probably  brought  hither  by 
the  gulf  stream. 


RUSSIAN     POSSESSIONS.  119 

NEW    SIBERIA— RUSSIAN    AMERICA, 

Extends  from  Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  at  Behring's  Straits,  65°,  to 
Portlock  Harbor,  58°.  This  country  interposes  between  the  immense 
desolate  regions  of  the  British  North-west  Fur  Company  and  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States,  on  the  Columbia  or  Oregon.  The  Aleutain 
Islands,  lying  between  the  continent  of  Asia  and  America,  properly  be- 
long to  this  division,  though  in  physical  geography,  rather  to  the  former 
continent.  We  shall  omit  them  here,  and  speak  only  of  the  Russian  ter- 
ritories on  the  American  continent. 

Physical  Aspect.  This  country  presents  a  most  savage  and  gloomy 
appearance.  The  hills  are  clothed  with  pines  and  birches.  Above  them 
rise  naked  mountains,  covered  with  eternal  ices,  from  which  often  roll 
down,  with  frightful  noise,  and  carrying  ruin  in  their  path,  enormous  ava- 
lanches, that  fill  the  valleys,  and  dam  up  the  rivers.  When  these  mas- 
ses roll  into  the  sea,  the  affrightened  navigator  far  off  hears  the  echo  of 
the  concussion,  and,  in  the  rising  and  sinking  of  the  waves,  feels  the 
effect  dashing  his  vessel  to  and  fro.  Between  these  mountains  and  the 
sea,  the  soil  is  black,  and  might  seem  to  promise  fertility.  The  country 
is  covered  with  great  extents  of  spongy  morasses,  the  soil  of  which  seems 
firm,  but  into  which  the  traveller  sinks.  The  pine  tree  obtains  its  full 
development  here,  but  the  other  trees  are  stinted  and  dwarfish.  On  this 
coast  the  sea  is  rapidly  gaining  upon  the  land. 

Natives.  They  are  more  numerous  than  might  be  expected,  and  are 
not  unlike  the  tribes  of  the  opposite  coasts,  with  whom,  however,  they  are 
at  war.  The  savages,  dependent  upon  the  Russians,  are  computed  at 
50,000.  There  are  no  large  rivers  in  this  region.  On  Behring's  bay 
the  Russians  have  a  small  fort.  Their  chief  establishment,  New  Arch- 
angel, is  two  degrees  farther  south,  in  a  milder  climate.  About  this 
place  grow  large  pines  and  American  cedars,  and  a  great  variety  of  ber- 
ries. Fish  is  abundant  and  delicious,  and  rye  and  barley  succeed.  The 
Kalougians,  the  chief  tribe  on  this  coast,  are  numerous  and  warlike. 
These  people  possess  fire  arms,  forge  iron  and  copper,  work  a  kind  of 
tapestry,  and  weave  baskets  and  hats  with  great  neatness  and  taste. 

Commerce  of  the  Russians.  The  furs  obtained  are  chiefly  those  of  the 
sea  wolf  and  the  sea  otter.  The  latter  animals  have  become  rare.  From 
the  interior  they  obtain  of  the  Indians  fox  skins,  blue,  black,  and  gray. 
Parties  of  Russian  hunters  have  already  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  Russian  Company  has  the  large  capital  of  two  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  pounds.  The  chief  seat  of  this  company  is  at  Irkutsk  in 
Siberia . 


BRITISH  POSSESSIONS 

IN 

NORTH    AMERICA. 


NEW   BRITAIN 


Under  this  name  is  comprehended  the  immense  and  dreary  country, 
extending  from  the  Canadian  lakes  to  the  north-west  coast  and  Hudson's 
bay.  This  bay  divides  the  country  into  two  great  divisions,  Eastern  and 
Western.  The  Eastern  comprises  Labrador  and  East  Maine,  and  the 
Western,  New  North  and  New  South  Wales. 

Physical  Aspect.  Rivers.  This  dreary  country  is  intersected  with 
rivers,  lakes,  and  marshes,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  country 
with  which  we  are  acquainted.  Some  of  the  rivers  roll  into  the  unknown 
seas  of  the  north,  others  into  Hudson's  bay.  Among  the  former  arc 
Athapescow  and  Ounjigah,  on  Peace  river.  The  former  loses  itself  in 
lake  Athapescow.  Slave  river  empties  itself  into  Slave  lake.  Out  of 
this  lake  issues  McKenzie's  river,  which  empties  into  the 'Arctic  sea. 
The  adventurous  Franklin  has  surveyed  six  hundred  miles  of  this  coast. 
In  this  region  of  perpetual  winter,  in  G7°  30',  he  found  Esquimaux, 
diminutive  and  cowardly,  and  every  where  the  denizens  of  polar  rigor. 
Slave  lake  is  three  hundred  miles  long,  interspersed  with  islands,  which 
arc  covered  with  trees  resembling  the  mulberry.  The  lakes  and  rivers 
in  this  region  join  to  form  one  mighty  stream,  extending  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  resembling  the  magnificent  rivers  of 
Siberia.  Copper-Mine  and  Churchill  rivers,  empty,  the  one  into  the 
Arctic  sea,  and  the  other  into  Hudson's  bay.  Two  considerable  rivers 
unite  to  form  Saschachawin,  which  falls  into  lake  Winnipcek.  This  lake 
receives  also,  the  Assiniboil  and  Red  river,  and  discharges  itself  into 
Hudson's  bay,  by  the  great  rivers  Nelson  and  Severn.  Lake  Winnipeek 
is  eighteen  miles  broad,  by  one  hundred  long.  lis  banks  are  shaded  by 
the  sugar  maple  and  white  poplar. 


BRITISH     POSSESSIONS.  121 

Climate.  Such  is  the  severity  of  winter  here,  that  even  in  57°  the 
lakes  freeze  eight  feet  thick.  Brandy  congeals.  The  rocks  split  with  a 
noise  like  that  of  the  noblest  artillery,  and  the  shattered  fragments  fly  to 
an  astonishing  distance.  The  temperature  is  capricious,  and  the  changes 
sudden.  The  aurora  borealis  sheds  a  light  sometimes  equal  to  that  of  a 
full  moon. 

Soil.  Barrenness  and  desolation  spread  on  every  side.  The  sea  is 
open  only  from  the  commencement  of  July  to  the  end  of  September. 
Even  then  the  navigator  is  not  free  from  the  dangers  of  encountering 
icebergs. 

Fish.  Hudson's  bay  affords  but  few  fish.  But  the  most  northern  lakes 
abound  in  the  best  kinds,  such  as  sturgeon,  pike,  trout,  and  salmon.  The 
shores  are  inhabited  by  infinite  numbers  of  aquatic  fowls.  About  lake 
Winnipeek,  wild  rice  is  abundant,  the  favorite  food  of  these  tenants  of 
the  streams.  Franklin  found  that  the  Copper-Mine  river,  even  at  its 
entrance  into  the  Polar  sea,  yielded  an  abundance  of  fine  fish,  although 
there  were  none  in  the  sea  adjoining. 

Animals.  These  are  the  buffalo,  reindeer,  musk-ox,  fallow  deer,  bea- 
ver, wolf,  foxes  of  different  colors,  catamount,  wild  cat,  white,  black,  and 
brown  bears,  wolverene,  otter,  racoon,  muskrat,  mink,  pine  martin,  er- 
mine, porcupine,  hare,  varieties  of  squirrels,  mice,  &c. 

Vegetation.  There  is  a  great  abundance  of  berry-bearing  shrubs, 
gooseberries,  whortleberries,  and  culinary  herbs.  In  some  parts  of  the 
country  the  terebinthines  are  common,  and  other  trees  obtain  a  consider- 
able size.     On  Red  river,  different  kinds  of  culture  succeed  well. 

Trade — Is  shared  by  two  companies,  the  Hudson's  bay,  and  North- 
West  Company.  The  first  exports,  annually,  to  the  amount  of  £16,000, 
and  imports  £30,000.  The  other  company  has  been  more  enterprising, 
and  has  extended  its  efforts  to  the  Pacific,  and  the  Arctic  sea.  The  limits 
of  the  companies  being  undefined,  Uiey  have  come  in  collision. 

Lord  Selkirk.  In  these  remote  regions  Lord  Selkirk  settled  a  very 
interesting  colony,  which  also  had  its  collisions  with  the  fur  companies, 
which  were  afterwards  happily  adjusted.  The  industrious  and  moral 
Scotch  of  this  nobleman's  colony,  succeeded  in  raising  fine  wheat  and 
potatoes.  Lord  Selkirk  has  since  deceased,  and  this  interesting  colony 
is  dispersed. 

Natives.  The  Esquimaux  spread  over  the  country  from  Gulf  Welcome 
to  Behring's  Straits.  Their  huts  have  been  met  with  as  far  north  as  76°. 
Little,  squat,  feeble,  the  complexion  of  these  polar  men  has  little  of  the 
copper  color  of  the  other  American  aborigines,  and  is  rather  of  a  dirty, 
reddish  yellow.  Their  huts  are  circular,  covered  with  deer  skins,  and 
entered  by  creeping  on  the  belly.  Yet  these  feeble  and  simple  beings 
Vol.  II.  16 


122 


BRITISH      POSSESSIONS. 


have  been  taught  by  necessity  many  inventions,  which  do  honor  to  human 
nature.  They  make  a  snow  house  in  a  few  hours,  exceedingly  comfort- 
able. Some  of  the  tribes  are  wholly  ignorant  of  boats  and  canoes.  Ma- 
ny circumstances  indicate  them  to  be  a  peculiar  race  of  people.  They 
seem  to  be  wholly  destitute  of  religious  ideas.  Some  of  the  tribes  have 
canoes  made  of  the  skin  of  the  sea  calf,  with  which  they  sail  with  ama- 
zing swiftness.  They  work  a  gray  and  porous  stone  into  neat  pitchers 
and  kettles.  The  Chippeways  are  the  enemies  of  the  Esquimaux,  and 
have  in  their  turn  to  contend  with  the  Knisteneaux.  The  Chippeways 
are  a  much  higher  order  of  beings  than  the  Esquimaux.  They  hold 
themselves  to  be  descended  from  a  dog.  They  figure  the  Creator  by  a 
bird,  whose  eyes  lighten,  and  whose  voice  thunders.  All  the  northern 
Indians  regard  woman  as  a  beast  of  burden,  and  their  own  peculiar  coun- 
tenance and  configuration  as  the  highest  style  of  beauty.  Murder  is 
rare  among  them.  The  perpetrator  of  this  crime  is  abandoned  by  pa- 
rents and  friends  to  wandering  insolation.  Whenever  he  is  seen  issuing 
from  his  concealment,  the  abhorrent  and  general  cry  is ,  'there  goes  the 
murderer !' 

Knisteneaux  Indians — Are  the  handsomest  Indians  of  the  north.  They 
inhabit  from  the  lake  of  the  mountains,  on  the  north,  to  the  Canadian 
lakes  of  the  south ;  and  from  Hudson's  bay  on  the  east,  to  lake  Winnipeek 
on  the  west.  They  hold  congugal  chastity  of  little  account,  and  offer 
their  wives  to  strangers;  but  are  otherwise,  when  not  corrupted  by  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits,  mild,  honest,  generous,  and  hospitable.  They  be- 
lieve the  fogs,  which  cover  their  marshes,  to  be  the  spirits  of  their  decea 
sed  companions. 


LABRADOR, 

Is  a  triangular  peninsula,  bounded  east  by  Davis'  Straits;  south  by 
Canada  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Thus  removed  from  the  Arctic 
circle,  we  might  expect  to  find  it  partaking  of  the  temperature  of  the 
milder  climates.  But  it  is  to  the  full  as  frozen  as  the  countries  just  de 
scribed.  It  is  constantly  enveloped  in  fog.  A  family  of  the  natives  was 
seen  here  in  a  cavern  hollowed  out  of  snow ;  the  excavation  seven  feel 
high,  twelve  in  diameter,  and  shaped  like  an  oven.  A  plate  of  ice  form- 
ed the  door;  a  lamp  lighted  and  warmed  the  interior;  at  a  little  distance 


BRITISH      POSSESSIONS.  1  ~3 

was  a  snow  kitchen.  The  inmates  reclined  on  skins.  The  surface  of 
the  country  is  a  mass  of  mountains  and  rocks,  interspersed  with  innume- 
rable lakes  and  rivers.  These  abound  with  the  best  kind  of  fish.  The 
bears  combine  near  the  cataracts  to  catch  the  salmon,  that  are  impeded 
in  their  attempts  to  ascend.  These  voracious  animals  swallow  them  with 
greediness.  Some  of  the  bears  pursue  them  two  hundred  paces  under 
water,  while  the  indolent  remainder  sit  and  seem  to  enjoy  the  spectacle. 
The  country  swarms  with  beavers  and  reindeer.  The  interior  is  more 
mild,  has  valleys,  trees,  wild  celJery  and  other  plants.  The  eider  duck 
frequents  the  eastern  coast.  The  beautiful  spar  of  Labrador  is  well 
known. 

Moravians — Have  founded  three  Missionary  settlements,  Nain,  Okkak 
and  Hoffenthal.  The  heathen  Esquimaux  sometimes  put  their  widows 
and  orphans  to  death,  to  save  them  irom  the  more  dreadful  death  of  fam- 
ine. The  Missionaries,  besides  teaching  them  many  other  useful  things, 
built  a  magazine,  in  which  each  of  the  natives  might  deposit  his  useless 
stores,  prevailing  on  them  to  set  apart  a  tenth  for  widows  and  orphans. 
This  is  the  true  way  to  convert  a  savage  people,  by  showing  them  the 
palpable  fruits  of  the  Gospel. 

Icy  Archipelago,  north  of  these  countries,  has  been  vainly  attempted  to 
be  explored  by  various  adventurous  navigators.  Icebergs,  fields  of  ice, 
or  stationary  ice  always  barred  all  interior  access  to  those  frightful  re- 
gions. The  history  of  those  numerous  navigators,  who  have  attempted 
this  terrible  passage,  is  that  of  the  utmost  daring  of  the  human  mind,  and 
the  utmost  suffering,  that  human  nature  can  sustain. 

The  country  still  farther  north,  and  between  Labrador  and  Greenland, 
has  been  called  North  Devon,  by  Captain  Parry.  He  has  named  the 
islands  of  this  new  archipelago,  Cornwallis,  Griffith,  Somerville,  Brown, 
Lowther,  Garrat,  Baher,Davy,  Young,  Bathurst,  Byam,  Morton,  Sabine, 
and  Melville.  Cornwallis,  Bathurst,  and  Melville,  are  the  largest.  The 
latter  is  between  74°  25'  and  75°  50' ;  two  hundred  and  forty  by  one  hun- 
dred miles.  It  is  a  dreary  country  of  ice  and  mosses  and  startified  sand- 
stone. Some  vegetation,  however,  is  seen.  Reindeers,  hares,  and  musk 
oxen,  come  here,  during  the  short  summer,  and  innumerable  tribes  and 
varieties  of  water  fowl.  The  deserted  huts  of  Esquimaux  are  also  noted 
here.  February  20, 1820,  the  mercury  stood  below  cypher  in  Fahr.  The 
common  phenomena  of  polar  meteorology  are  seen.  The  needle  of  the 
compass,  approaching  the  pole,  scarcely  traverses. 


12-t  BRITISH     POSSESSIONS. 


BRITISH    AMERICA, 

Comprehends  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  Lower  Canada,  and 
Upper  Canada.  It  lies  south  of  the  countries  just  described,  and  north 
of  the  United  States.  These  are  of  regions  settled  by  the  whites.  The 
immense  and  dreary  country  of  New  Britain ,  upon  which  we  have  touch- 
ed, is  peopled  almost  entirely  by  Indians. 


NEWFOUNDLAND. 

This  large  island,  three  hundred  and  eighty  miles  in  length,  shuts  up 
the  northern  entrance  into  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  perpetual  fogs  that 
hover  over  it,  are  probably  evaporations  from  the  warm  current  of  the 
gulf  stream.    > 

Productions — Climate.  The  island  is  generally  barren.  It  furnishes, 
however,  trees  and  shrubs  sufficient  for  curing  the  fish.  The  glades  oc- 
casionally afford  pasturage.  Wolves,  deer,  foxes,  and  bears,  are  among 
the  animals.  The  rivers  abound  in  salmon  and  other  fish,  otters,  beavers, 
and  other  amphibious  animals. 

Banks. — Fish.  This  island  is  chiefly  important  on  account  of  its  con- 
tiguity to  the  immense  fisheries  on  the  banks.  These  are  Grand' Bank, 
100  miles  south-cast  of  the  island,  and  Green  Bank,  east  of  the  islands,  270 
by  120  miles  in  extent.  These  hanks  are,  probably,  deposits  by  the  sand 
brought  down  from  the  tropics  by  the  gulf  stream,  which  also  bears  down 
under  its  bosom  countless  millions  of  the  animals,  on  which  the  fish  feed. 
The  temperature  of  the  water  is  mild,  too,  and  the  motion  comparatively 
gentle.  The  fishing  season  begins  in  April,  and  ends  in  October.  At 
this  time  there  are  generally  400  ships,  and  thousands  of  small  crafts  here. 
The  business  is  lucrative,  dangerous,  and  an  admirable  nursery  for  our 
hardy  and  adventurous  seamen,  and  furnishes  one  of  the  considerable  ele- 
ments of  our  trade.  Many  English  and  French  vessels  are  here  in  com- 
pany. Every  part  of  the  process,  from  taking  the  hungry  animals  from  the 
water  to  curing  the  fish  and  delivering  it  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  is  spe- 
cific, and  employs  its  appropriate  process.  The  English  and  French  dry 
their  fish  on  the  island.  We  bring  great  portions  of  ours  pickled  to  our  own 
ports,  and  dry  them  there,  particularly  at  Marblehead,  Gloucester,  and 


fcHITISH      POSSESSION'S  l'J."> 

Beverly.  A  great  number  of  acres  around  those  towns  are  covered  with 
the  flakes  or  scaffolds  on  which  the  fish  are  dried.  A  vessel  with  twelve 
men  usually  takes  from  twenty  to  fifty  thousand  fish.  The  whole  em- 
ployment not  only  rears  thousands  of  men  to  consider  the  sea  their  home, 
and  storms  their  element,  but  many  other  thousands  are  employed  in  the 
business  to  which  this  gives  birth;  and  our  share  of  the  proceeds  in  good 
years  amounts  to  some  millions  of  dollars.  Nothing  can  be  more  unique 
than  the  modes  of  life  of  these  men,  whose  abode  is  on  the  sea.  They 
are  hale,  healthy,  honest,  intrepid,  and  of  reckless  cheerfulness  of 
character. 

Dog.  The  animal  of  this  kind,  called  the  Newfoundland  dog,  is  re- 
makable  for  its  great  size,  fine,  glossy  hair,  and  capacity  for  swimming. 
It  has  probably  been  the  mixed  breed  of  the  dog  and  the  wolf.  At  any 
rate,  the  species  was  not  known  when  the  country  was  first  settled. 

Population — Inhabitants.  This  island  has  recently  doubled  its  in- 
habitants. St.  Johns,  Placentia,  and  Bonavista,  are  considered  places 
assuming  in  their  embellishments  an  European  aspect.  St.  Johns,  the 
capital,  contained,  before  the  great  fire,  12,000  inhabitants.  The  whole 
population  may  amount  to  75  or  80,000,  chiefly  Catholics. 


NOVA    SCOTIA, 

is  a  narrow  peninsula,  three  hundred  miles  long  from  south-west  to 
north-east.  Bounded  north-west  by  New  Brunswick;  west  by  the  bay 
of  Fundy;  and  north  by  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence;  and  in  other  points 
by  the  Atlantic  ocean.  It  was  settled  by  a  colony  of  three  hundred 
English,  in  1749.  In  its  early  periods,  the  colony  suffered  much  from 
the  French  and  Indians. 

Climate.  Though  severe,  the  winter  never  closes  the  harbors  with 
ice.  Like  the  adjoining  countries,  it  is  subject  to  gloomy  and  unwhole- 
some fogs;  but  has  a  short  summer,  as  warm  as  that  of  the  north  of 
Europe.  The  country,  though  generally  rugged  and  mountainous,  has 
recently  made  no  inconsiderable  progress  in  agriculture.  Vast  marshes 
have  been  drained.     Wheat,  rye,  hemp,  flax,  and  especially  the  finest 

potatoes,  are  raised  here.     The  gooseberry  and  raspberry  grow  in  great 

perfection. 

Trees.     Oaks  attain  a  considerable  size;  but  the  chief  timber  trees 

are  pine  and   fir.    The  birch  and  the  larch  also  flourish.     The  chief 


126  BRITISH     POSSESSIONS. 

exports  are  fish,  timber,  potatoes,  and  plaster  of  Paris.     Game,  wild  fowl, 
and  the  finest  fish  abound. 

Chief  Towns.  Halifax  has  one  of  the  best  kind  of  harbors.  It  is 
strongly  fortified,  and  contains  from  15  to  20,000  inhabitants.  It  is  the 
residence  of  the  governor  general  of  all  the  British  American  provinces, 
the  chief  naval  station,  the  seat  of  a  court  of  admiralty,  where  a  number 
of  ships  of  the  line  and  armed  vessels  are  always  lying,  either  stationed 
here,  or  for  repairs.  A  considerable  number  of  troops  are  also  in  garri- 
son; who,  with  the  naval  officers,  give  it  the  air  of  a  military  place.  It 
is  situated  to  be  in  some  measure  the  key  of  the  Atlantic  shore,  and  in 
our  conflicts  with  the  English,  has  been  a  place  of  great  annoyance  to 
our  ships  and  seamen.  Annapolis,  on  the  bay  ofFundy,  opposite  Hali- 
fax, has  also  a  fine  harbor.  Shelburne,  on  the  south  side  of  Port  Rose, 
has  9  or  10,000  inhabitants. 


CAPE    BRETON, 

Is  separated  from  Nova  Scotia  by  the  strait  of  Canso.  It  has  a  severe 
and  tempestuous  climate,  subject,  like  the  other  countries  in  these  seas, 
to  fogs.  The  soil  is  unfruitful,  though  oaks  of  very  great  size  are  found 
here.  In  the  forests  a  partridge  of  surpassing  beauty  is  seen.  Cultiva- 
tion would  succeed;  and  the  island  abounds  in  mineral  coal  near  the 
surface. 

Louisburgh  is  on  the  south-east  coast  of  this  island,  and  was  once  a 
place  of  great  importance.  The  taking  this  town  from  the  French, 
chiefly  by  New  England  troops,  under  Sir  William  Pepperell,  forms  no 
unimportant  passage  in  the  annals  of  our  history.  It  is  now  unfortified, 
and  much  diminished  in  importance. 


PRINCE    EDWARD'S    ISLAND, 

Is  near  the  northern  shore  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  one  hundred  miles  in 
extent.     Charlottetown  is  a  considerable  village. 


BRITISH     POSSESSIONS.  127 

ANTICOSTI, 

Ninety-  by  twenty  miles,  is  covered  with  rocks,  and  has  no  harbor. 


NEW    BRUNSWICK, 

Is  bounded  north  by  Lower  Canada;  east  by  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence ; 
south-east  and  south  by  Nova  Scotia  and  the  bay  of  Fundy ;  and  west  by 
Maine. 

St.  Johns  is  a  large  and  beautiful  river,  abounding  with  fish,  sea 
wolves,  and  sturgeon.  Its  banks  are  verdant,  lined  with  lofty  trees  and 
fertalized  with  annual  inundations.  It  affords  an  easy  communication 
to  the  inhabitants  with  Quebec.  The  exports — timber,  fish,  and  furs — 
occupy  one  hundred  and  one  ships.  The  coribou,  moose,  catamount, 
bear,  and  other  Canadian  animals,  are  seen  here. 

Population — Toicns.  The  natives  are  almost  extinct.  The  white 
inhabitants  amount  to  150,000.  Fredericktown,  on  the  river  St.  Johns, 
is  the  chief  town.  St.  Johns,  or  St.  Ann,  also  on  St.  Johns,  contains 
8,000  inhabitants.  The  country  was  originally  settled  by  German 
troops  in  the  service  of  Great  Britain,  and  hence  it  was  called  New 
Brunswick.  The  coast  is  indented  with  a  great  many  deep  and  impor- 
tant bavs. 


GASPEE. 

Is  a  high  and  mountainous  country,  lying  between  the  river  St.  Law 
rence  and  Chaleur  bay.     Its  native  inhabitants  differed  much  from  the 
other  Indians,  and  had  some  traditions  of  Christianity  among  them.    Thev 
must  have  received  them  from  the  apostles  of  Greenland  in  1121. 


128  BRITISH     POSSESSIONS. 


LOWER   CANADA. 


Is  divided  by  the  great  river  St.  Lawrence;  and  is  bounded  north  by 
New  Britain ;  east  by  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence ;  south-east  and  south 
by  New  Brunswick,  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  New  York ; 
south-west  and  west  by  Upper  Canada. 

Divisions — Are  counties,  townships,  seigniories,  and  parishes. 

Rivers.  The  St.  Lawrence  is  the  second  river  in  North  America. 
In  point  of  width  and  depth,  below  Ontario  it  exceeds  the  Mississippi. 
It  begins  to  collect  its  waters  in  the  unknown  deserts  of  the  north-west, 
and  moves  on,  accumulating  water  through  all  the  great  chain  of  Cana- 
dian lakes.  Where  it  issues  from  lake  Erie,  it  is  called  Niagara.  It 
rushes  down  the  sublime  precipice  of  Niagara  falls,  and  is  lost  in  lake 
Ontario.  That  lake  disembogues  through  the  romantic  channels  of  the 
thousand  islands,  and  is  thence  called  St.  Lawrence.  From  this  point, 
the  scenery  along  the  river  is  exceedingly  romantic  and  picturesque. 
Numerous  villages  show,  as  the  points  are  doubled.  The  houses  seem 
placed  on  the  waters,  and  the  tin  covered  steeples  glitter  through  the 
trees.  The  scenery  varies  at  every  advancing  league.  It  is  from  two 
miles  to  a  league  in  breadth,  before  it  reaches  Montreal.  Below  Quebec 
it  is  of  such  immense  width,  that  its  banks  are  hardly  discernable  from 
one  shore  to  the  other. 

Ottawa  is  the  next  considerable  river.  It  is  a  broad,  deep,  and  beauti- 
ful stream,  passing  over  many  romantic  cascades  before  it  mingles  its 
waters  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  near  Montreal.  The  Sorel  is  the  outlet 
of  the  lake  Champlain.  The  St.  Francis  empties  through  the  south 
bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  between  Montreal  and  Quebec.  The  Chan- 
diere  also  empties  into  the  south  side  of  the  river,  near  Quebec. 

Montmorency  Cascade.  This  stream  twice  forces  itself  a  passage 
between  the  rocks  not  far  from  the  St.  Lawrence.  Its  rapidity  is  con- 
stantly accumulating  in  power  as  it  gradually  contracts  to  the  breadth  of 
one  hundred  feet,  when  at  length  it  falls,  almost  perpendicularly,  in  white 
clouds  of  rolling  foam,  from  its  rock,  down  a  descent  two  hundred  and 
forty-six  feet.  The  spray  is  so  divided  as  to  assume  the  appearance  of 
snow,  or  hoar  frost,  before  it  settles  in  the  abyss  below. 

Soil  and  Climate.  Though  a  high,  this  is  not  a  hilly  country.  The 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold  are  excessive.  The  range  of  the  thermometer 
of  Fahr.  is  from  102°  above  Zero,  to  36°  below.  Frost  commences 
early  in  October.  Snow  storms  begin  with  the  next  month;  and  the 
snow  continues  in  accumulate  till  spring.     The  faces  of  the  persona 


BRITISH     POSSESSIONS.  129 

walking  in  the  streets  of  Quebec  frequently  freeze  from  the  driving 
sleet  and  snow.  Europeans  cannot  long  endure  the  open  air  at  this  sea- 
son. Boisterous  winds  heap  the  snow  into  moderate  sized  hills.  By 
mid-winter  the  weather  generally  settles  into  a  severe  still  cold,  with  a 
clear  blue  sky.  The  surface  of  the  wide  and  rapid  St.  Lawrence  be- 
comes a  mass  of  floating  ice.  The  lesser  rivers  are  completely  frozen 
over,-  and  thus  furnished  with  glassy  bridges,  the  sleighs  and  sledges 
flit  over  the  icy  surface  in  every  direction.  The  breaking  up  of  the  ice 
is  accompanied  with  noise  as  loud  as  artillery,  and  the  sweeping  masses 
of  ice  carry  away  roots,  trees,  and  soil  with  them,  as  they  dash  against 
the  shore.  A  stranger  to  this  climate  is  surprised  to  see  the  earth  covered 
with  snow  one  day.  and  in  a  few  subsequent  days  to  note  the  verdure 
of  high  spring.  Here  the  empire  of  summer  and  winter  is  confounded. 
Agriculture.  The  extensive  chain  of  farms  along  the  St.  Lawrence, 
narrow  in  front,  and  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  width,  has  the  appear- 
ance of  one  immense  town.  Cornfields,  pastures,  clusters  of  trees,  snow- 
white  cottages,  and  ornamented  churches,  show  through  the  rich  foliage 
on  the  banks.  The  view  thence  rises  to  lofty  mountains,  and  is  length- 
ened out  to  interminable  forests.  Wheat,  pulse,  grain,  hay,  and  even 
tobacco,  are  cultivated  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  soil  improves  pro- 
I  gressively  as  we  ascend  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Upper  Canada,  which  may 
be  termed  a  fertile  country.  But  agriculture  is  little  understood.  The 
inhabitants  use  little  manure,  and  plough  shallow.  Of  course  their  grain 
is  diminutive,  and  the  soil  soon  exhausted.  They  do  not  give  themselves 
much  trouble  about  gardens,  orchards,  or  fruit.  Strawberries  and  rasp- 
berries are  produced  in  perfection  and  abundance.  Melons  grow  and 
ripen  well ;  but  apples,  pears,  and  peaches,  are  not  common  below  Mon- 
treal. Many  of  the  plants  resemble  those  of  the  Arctic  regions.  Wild 
rice,  zizania  aquatica,  grows  in  the  still  waters.  Forests  cover  the  coun- 
try, but  the  trees  are  dwarfish,  compared  with  those  of  the  United  States. 
The  terebinthines,  and  evergreens,  and  firs,  are  large,  numerous,  and 
varied.  The  sugar  maple  and  the  birch  are  common.  The  naval  tim- 
ber is  inferior.     The  beautiful  mountain  ash  is  abundant. 

Animals.  The  elk,  fallow  deer,  bear,  fox,  martin,  catamount,  ferret, 
weasel,  hare,  grey  and  red  squirrel,  are  found  here.  The  northern  re- 
gions furnish  plenty  of  buffaloes,  moose,  and  wolves.  Otters,  beavers, 
and  muskrats,  are  taken  for  their  furs,  in  the  lakes  and  marshes.  Few 
rivers  can  be  compared  with  the  St.  Lawrence  for  the  number,  variety, 
and  excellence  of  its  fish.  The  rattlesnake,  and  some  other  noxious  rep- 
tiles, are  also  seen  on  its  banks.  The  wild  pigeon,  grouse  ptarmigan, 
pheasant,  or  drumming  partridge,  and  quail,  are  seen  here.  The  hum- 
mingbird of  this  country  is  the  smallest  of  the  species  that  is  known. 
Vol.  II.  17 


130  BRITISH     POSSESSIONS. 

Metals — Are  not  found  in  abundance ;  though  iron,  copper,  and  lead, 
might  be  smelted  from  ores  discovered  in  this  region. 

Chief  Towns.  Quebec  is  on  the  north  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
where  the  river  St.  Charles  unites  with  it,  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  the  sea.  The  town  is  naturally  divided  into  the  upper  and  lower 
town.  The  upper  town  is  built  on  a  high,  precipitous  rock,  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  feet  above  the  lower;  and  is,  from  its  position  and  natu- 
ral fortifications,  the  strongest  military  fortress  in  America,  and  consider- 
ed almost  impregnable.  The  lower  town  is  situated  at  the  base  of  this 
rock,  far  below  the  upper,  which  seems  an  eagle's  perch  to  the  inhabi- 
tants below.  The  population  in  1800,  amounted  to  12,000.  A  traveller 
approaching  the  city  is  dazzled  with  the  glittering  of  the  tinned  spires, 
and  is  apt  to  form  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  extent  and  beauty  of  the  city. 
The  lower  town  is  dirty  and  unpleasant.  The  French  parish  church, 
the  college,  the  chapel  of  the  seminary,  the  barracks,  the  convents,  the 
hotel  dieu,  the  castle  of  St.  Louis,  the  esplanade  battery,  the  citadel,  the 
subterranean  passage,  and  Brock's  battery,  are  the  principal  buildings 
and  works  of  art  in  the  city  that  arrest  the  attention  of  a  stranger.  The 
plains  of  Abraham  show  a  battle  ground  of  intense  interest,  where,  in 
one  of  the  fiercest  battles  ever  fought,  Wolfe  fell  after  a  victory  which 
secured  the  possession  of  all  the  northern  divisions  of  North  America  to 
the  English.  The  brave  Montcalm  also  fell  in  the  battle,  and  was  buried 
in  the  chasm  made  by  the  bursting  of  a  bomb  that  killed  him.  In  this 
city,  in  a  struggle  still  more  interesting  to  us,  fell  the  brave  and  lamented 
Montgomery.  Various  points  of  splendid  scenery,  and  spots  fertile  in 
moral  interest,  are  visited  in  this  interesting  city  and  vicinity  by  the 
numerous  tourists  and  strangers  from  every  part  of  the  United  States, 
who  now  make  this  city  a  point  in  the  excursion  from  Niagara  falls  to 
Boston.  It  has  numerous  and  the  most  easy  communications  with  the 
country  above  and  below  by  the  beautiful  steam  boats  that  ply  on  the  St. 
Lawrence.  The  distance  between  it  and  Montreal,  one  hundred  and 
eighty  miles,  has  been  passed  in  a  steam  boat  in  twenty  hours  and  forty 
minutes.     In  1825,  it  contained  22,000  inhabitants. 

Montreal  is  built  upon  an  island  of  the  same  name  in  the  St.  Lawrence, 
thirty-two  miles  long,  and  at  its  centre  two  miles  in  width,  at  a  point  in 
the  river  just  below  the  junction  of  the  Ottawa.  The  river  is  here  two 
miles  wide,  and  capable  of  being  ascended  by  vessels  of  any  burden,  al 
though  five  hundred  miles  from  the  sea.  It  is  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  south-west  of  Quebec,  and  three  hundred  north  of  New  York.  The 
town  has  a  beautiful  position,  and  shows  to  great  advantage.  The 
mountain,  from  which  it  has  its  name,  rises  on  the  left  of  the  city,  and 
seems  placed  there  like  a  rampart  to  defend  it  from  the  blasts  of  winter. 


BRITISH     POSSESSIONS.  131 

A  thick  forest  covers  the  greater  part  of  it;  though  a  few  neatly  built 
houses  show  their  roofs  from  the  midst  of  the  mountain  groves.  The 
new  cathedral  is,  probably,  the  largest  church  in  America.  Its  front  is 
two  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet,  and  its  width  one  hundred  and  thirty-four. 
There  are  five  public  entrances,  and  the  interior  will  conveniently  con- 
tain ten  thousand  persons.  There  are  seven  altars,  and  the  eastern  win- 
dow over  the  high  altar  is  sixty-four  by  thirty-two  feet.  The  circuit  of 
this  vast  edifice  is  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet.  It  is 
built  of  hewn  stone  from  the  mountain.  The  college  is  the  next  most 
conspicuous  building,  extending  in  front,  with  the  wings,  two  hundred  and 
twenty  feet.  It  contains  on  an  average  three  hundred  students.  This 
is  a  Catholic  institution.  There  are  eighteen  or  twenty  public  buildings. 
The  French  style  of  building,  the  number  of  lofty  spiresand  towers,  and 
the  glittering  tin  covering  of  the  roofs,  give  the  city  a  majestic  and  impo- 
sing appearance  at  a  distance.  The  population,  by  a  census  of  1825, 
was  24,000,  and  is  now  supposed  to  amount  to  30,000,  having  advanced 
much  more  rapidly  than  Quebec. 

The  chief  article  of  its  commerce  is  furs.  It  is  the  emporium  of  the 
North-west  Company,  and  of  the  trade  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  This  company  employs  two  thousand  factors,  coureurs  du  bois, 
and  hunters ;  as  enterprising  people  of  the  kind  as  are  to  be  found  in  the 
world.  The  clerks  are  chiefly  adventurous  Scotchmen,  forced  by  penury 
to  encounter  the  cold  and  dangers  of  the  dreary  and  interminable  deserts 
of  the  north-west. 

Three  Rivers  is  situated  between  Quebsc  and  Montreal,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  2,000.  Sorel  was  built  by  American  loyalists  in  1787,  and 
contains  200  souls.     There  are  many  other  considerable  villages. 

Commerce.  The  exports  of  commerce  are  furs,  lumber,  potash,  flour, 
pork,  and  timber. 

Population — In  1814,  was  335,000,  chiefly  French  and  Roman  Cath- 
olics. The  number  is  now  probably  increased  to  600,000.  The  French 
colonists  are  said  to  have  originally  emigrated  from  Normandy.  They 
are  a  people  known  not  only  here,  but  in  the  north-west  and  south-west 
country,  from  the  Pacific  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  by  very  pecu- 
liar traits.  They  are  gay,  satisfied  with  a  little,  attached  to  their  religion 
and  native  country.  With  moderate  inducements,  they  will  undertake 
long  journeys,  and  encounter  inconceivable  dangers  and  hardships.  In 
the  management  of  periogues  and  canoes  on  the  lakes  and  long  streams, 
they  have  no  rivals.  They  are  remarkably  ingenious  in  finishing  their 
own  domestic  implements.  The  countenance  of  the  Canadian  is  long 
and  thin ;  his  complexion  sun-burnt  and  swarthy,  and  inclining  towards 
that  of  the  Indian;  his  eyes  black  and  lively,  with  lank  and  meagre  cheeks, 


132  BRITISH      POSSESSIONS. 

a  sharp  and  prominent  chin,  and  such  easy  and  polite  manners,  as  though 
he  had  always  lived  in  the  great  world,  rather  than  amidst  uninhabited 
forests.  Their  intercourse  with  each  other  is  to  the  last  degree  affectionate ; 
and  a  French  Canadian  village  constitutes  one  family.  They  are  sober* 
marry  young,  and  have  numerous  families.  Their  cheerfulness,  wheth- 
er in  prosperity  or  adversity,  is  inexhaustible,  and  more  valuable  to  them 
than  all  the  boasted  attainments  of  philosophy. 

Amusements — Society.  In  winter,  clothed  in  tanned  skins,  with  a 
woolen  capote,  the  head  piece  of  which  serves  instead  of  a  hat,  their  dress 
is  that  of  the  Russians.  Their  social  intercourse  is  that  of  the  age  of 
Louis  XlVth.  As  soon  as  the  penance  of  their  long  lent  is  ended,  their 
feasting  begins.  The  friends  and  relatives  assemble.  Turkies,  pies, 
joints  of  beef,  pork,  and  mutton,  tureens  of  soup,  thickened  milk,  fish, 
fowl,  and  all  the  fruits  that  can  be  procured,  decorate  the  board.  Coffee 
is  introduced.  The  violin  is  heard,  and  these  gay  and  simple  people  are 
the  most  inveterate  dancers  in  the  world.  Their  dress,  especially  that 
of  the  ladies,  is  gaudy ;  and  the  morning  shines  in  upon  their  unfinished 
hilarity.  These  people  are  called  'habitans',  and  they  are  generally  in 
comfortable  competence,  though  extremely  illiterate.  The  'Quebec  Mer- 
cury,' lately  gravely  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  seminary  for  the  in- 
struction of  those  members  of  their  parliament  that  could  neither  read  nor 
write. 

Government.  All  the  advantages  of  the  English  constitution  and  laws 
have  been  progressively  extended  to  them.  Two  houses  of  parliament, 
a  legislative  council,  and  a  house  of  assembly,  are  appointed  for  legisla- 
tion, which  requires  the  sanction  of  the  king.  Upper  and  Lower  Canada 
unite  in  forming  the  assembly.  Voters  must  be  possessed  of  a  domicil, 
five  pounds  income,  and  must  have  paid  not  less  than  ten  pounds  annual 
rent.  The  assemblies  are  quadriennial,  and  dissolved  without  day,  at 
the  will  of  the  governor.  The  executive  is  a  governor,  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor, and  seventeen  members  of  the  council. 

Revenue — Expenses.  The  civil  list,  £45,000,  maintenance  of  clergy, 
presents  to  the  Indians,  and  military  defence,  in  all,  £500,000.  The 
exports  are  increasing.  In  1810,  six  hundred  and  sixty-one  vessels 
were  employed;  burthen  143,893  tons;  exports- £1,500,000;  imports 
£1,050,000. 

Military  importance.  Canada  is  the  chief  link  in  the  chain  of  British 
possessions  in  North  America,  and  the  only  formidable  rival  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  in  these  regions. 

Savages  chiefly  belong  to  the  province  of  Upper  Canada. 

History.  Too  copious  an  article  to  be  here  discussed.  Quebec  was 
among  the  first  settled  places  in  North  America.     In  1759,  it  passed  from 


Bit  I  T  J. S  II      1'USS  ESS  I  ()  \  S.  133 

the  dominion  of  the  French  to  that  ol*  the  English.  In  uur  revolulionarv 
war  an  attempt  was  made,  unsuccessfully,  to  conquer  it  from  the  British. 
In  the  late  war,  the  frontiers  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada  were  the  chief 
scene  of  its  operations. 


UPPER  CANADA, 


Is  peninsulated  by  the  Ottawa,  lakes  Ontario,  Erie,  and  Huron;  and 
separated  from  the  United  States  by  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  east,  south, 
and  west.  Bounded  north-east  by  Lower  Canada  and  Ottawa  river, 
and  north-west  by  New  Britain. 

Divisions.     Districts,  counties,  and  townships. 

Population  is  advancing  with  great  rapidity.  It  has  hitherto  been  con- 
fined to  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  shores  of  the  lakes,  but  is  now  diffused 
over  all  the  interior.  New  towns  are  extending  in  the  fertile  forests,  some 
of  which,  in  rapidity  of  increase,  vie  with  those  of  the  United  States. 
Great  extents  of  fertile  land  are  yet  unoccupied,  and  the  parent  country 
is  furnishing  every  facility  for  transporting  to  these  forests  her  surplus 
population;  great  numbers  of  whom,  however,  finally  make  their  way  to 
the  United  States;  while  we  in  turn  furnish  many  emigrants,  particularly 
our  free  blacks  of  color,  for  this  country.  At  present,  it  is  probable  the 
number  of  inhabitants  equals  that  in  the  lower  province. 

Upper  and  Lower  Canada  taken  together  by  a  recent  census,  are  found 
to  contain  a  million  inhabitants,  two  Catholic  establishments,  two  hun- 
dred curates  and  missionaries,  and  one  Episcopal  Bishop  of  the  Church 
of  England,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  inferior  clergy.  The  Scotch 
Kirk  in  Canada,  contains  ten  ministers.  Not  more  than  one  of  five  of 
the  whole  population  can  read.  Immense  numbers  of  people  have  recent- 
ly emigrated  to  this  country;  and  great  districts  of  Upper  Canada  are 
peopling  with  the  same  rapidity  as  the  western  country  of  the  United 
States.  The  forests  in  all  directions  are  leveling,  and  large  and  com- 
pact villages  grow  up  in  two  or  three  years  from  the  building  the  first 
habitation. 

Rivers.  Besides  the  numerous  rivers  that  fall  into  the  lakes,  the  great 
rivers  St.  Lawrence  and  Ottawa  roll  along  the  two  frontiers  of  this  coun- 
try.    By  these  and  the  lakes  it  has  as  many  advantages  of  inland  water 


134  BRITISH     POSSESSIONS. 

intercommunication,  as  any  other  country  in  the  world,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

Soil  and  Productions.  The  soil  in  this  great  peninsula  is  generally  a 
vegetable  mould,  quickened  by  mixtures  of  pulverized  lime.  Many  of 
the  water  courses  have  rich  alluvial  banks.  The  country  is  fertile  in 
wheat,  grain,  fruits,  and  generally  the  productions  of  the  north  part  of 
the  United  States.  Excellent  peaches,  pears,  apples,  and  plums,  are 
raised,  and  great  quantities  of  maple  sugar  are  made  in  some  districts. 

Climate.  The  southern  parts  are  temperate,  compared  with  the  other 
British  provinces.  The  northern  shore  of  lake  Erie  compares  more 
nearly  with  Philadelphia  than  Quebec. 

Animals.  The  same  as  described  in  the  other  British  provinces,  with 
those  of  the  northern  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  fish  are  of  the 
greatest  excellence  and  abundance,  and  the  resort  of  sea  fowls  to  the 
lakes  during  the  summer  is  immense. 

Towns.  York,  on  the  north  shore  of  lake  Ontario,  is  the  metropolis. 
It  has  a  fine  harbor,  is  a  neat  and  growing  town,  and  has  between  3  and 
4,000  inhabitants.  Kingston,  situated  on  the  outlet  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
from  lake  Ontario,  is  a  handsome  and  thriving  town,  with  2,501  inhabi- 
tants. Niagara  is  a  considerable  village,  at  the  entrance  of  Niagara  into 
lake  Ontario,  and  contains  one  hundred  and  eight  houses.  Queenstown 
is  seven  miles  above,  on  the  Niagara.  It  contains  a  beautiful  monument 
to  General  Brock,  who  fell  here  in  the  late  war.  Chippeway,  a  league 
above  Niagara  falls,  is  famous  in  the  history  of  the  late  war.  Fort  Erie 
is  at  the  outlet  of  Niagara  from  lake  Erie.  Maiden  and  Sandwich  are  on 
the  strait  connecting  lake  St.  Clair  with  lake  Erie.  The  catalogue  might 
easily  be  increased  by  giving  the  names  of  fifty  new  and  considerable 
villages. 

Lakes.  Exclusive  of  the  great  lakes  which  have  been  already  noticed, 
there  is  a  Canadian  chain  of  smaller  lakes,  stretching  north  of  them. 
Simcoe,  Shallow,  Rice,  and  Nepissing,  are  the  chief.  Like  the  great 
lakes,  they  are  the  summer  resort  of  immense  numbers  of  water  fowls, 
that  come  to  them  to  feed  upon  the  wild  rice,  with  which  they  abound. 
Quinti  bay,  an  arm  of  lake  Ontario,  seventy  miles  long,  affords  fine  nav- 
igation. The  foreign  trade  of  this  vast  country  has  hitherto  passed  al- 
most entirely  by  Montreal  and  Quebec.  At  least  four  hundred  vessels, 
including  steam  boats,  already  navigate  the  northern  lakes;  and  although 
the  navigation  and  commerce  are  divided  between  two  countries,  the  ne- 
cessities of  business,  and  the  sense  of  the  utility  of  mutual  accommodation 
to  the  common  interest,  has  brought  about  an  understanding  of  a  good 
degree  of  amity  and  concurrence  between  the  Canadians  and  Amer- 
icans. 


BRITUSH     POSSESSIONS.  135 

Canals.  The  Welland  canal  commences  near  the  mouth  of  Grand 
river  on  lake  Erie,  forty  miles  north-west  of  Buffalo.  It  connects  lake 
Erie  and  lake  Ontario  by  canal  navigation,  overcoming  all  the  descent 
of  Niagara  falls  and  Niagara  river,  between  the  two  lakes.  It  admits 
vessels  of  one  hundred  and  twenty -five  tons,  being  wider  and  deeper  than 
any  other  canal  in  the  country,  except  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake. 
The  elevation  overcome  by  the  locks  is  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
The  canal  required  prodigious  excavations,  in  some  places  through  solid 
stone.  The  'Ravine  Locks'  are  said  to  be  the  most  striking  canal  spec- 
tacle to  be  seen  in  America.  It  is  thirty-eight  miles  in  length,  and 
through  it  large  schooners  have  already  ascended  from  the  New  York 
shore  of  Ontario  to  the  Ohio  shore  of  Erie.  The  Rideau  canal  is  inten- 
ded to  effect  a  navigable  communication  between  lake  Ontario  and  the 
river  Ottawa.  The  next  object  is  to  secure  the  transport  of  military 
stores  by  an  interior  route  less  exposed  to  American  assault,  than  that 
along  the  lakes.  A  line  of  frontier  fortresses  is  to  be  built  in  aid  of  this 
object;  the  whole  estimated  to  cost  between  five  and  six  million  of  dol- 
lars. This,  like  the  forementioned  canal,  is  a  prodigious  undertaking, 
carried  over  hills  and  rivers,  and  through  morasses.  These  vast  works 
have  wrought  the  same  results  as  in  the  United  States.  Towns  have 
grown  up  along  the  line  of  their  course,  even  before  they  were  comple- 
ted, as  by  enchantment.  Among  the  many  examples  that  might  be  cited, 
Bytown,  atfthe  junction  of  the  canal  with  Ottawa,  was  a  solid  wilderness 
in  1826.  In  1827,  it  contained  a  market,  a  school  house,  four  churches, 
and  two  thousand  inhabitants.  Magnificent  roads  and  bridges  are  con- 
structed ;  and  these  triumphs  over  nature  in  her  wildest  regions  of  Can- 
adian forests,  cascades,  vast  rivers,  and  precipices,  have  brought  to  view 
rivers  and  lakes,  the  existence  of  which,  previous  to  them,  were  hardly 
known.  The  Rideau  canal  is  a  work  of  greater  expense  than  the  Wel- 
land canal,  and  about  the  same  length. 


MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 


I 


Passing  from  the  British  possessions  in  North  America,  over  the  wide 
extent  of  our  own  republic,  the  first  country  we  meet,  south  and  west  of 
the  United  States,  is  the  Mexican  Republic,  a  country  of  deep  interest  to 
us  in  every  point  of  view.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  beautiful 
countries  on  the  globe.  The  inhabitants  had  long  been  servile  colonists 
of  a  great  but  declining  nation,  whose  boast  it  used  to  be,  that  the  sun 
never  went  down  upon  her  dominions.  The  vast  regions  of  Mexico  and 
New  Mexico  comprehend  all  the  countries  inhabited  by  descendants  of 
the  Spaniards,  and  by  their  conquered  and  converted  Indian  subjects,  and 
the  independent  aboriginal  Indians,  from  the  territories  of  the  United 
States,  east  and  north,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,-  and  across  the  isthmus  of  Da- 
rien  to  the  Atlantic ;  and  thence  down  the  gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  again.  The  various  states  of  this  immense  country 
have  passed  through  a  succession  of  revolutionary  contests  with  the  par- 
ent country.  The  Spanish  authority  has  been  totally  annihilated ;  and  al- 
though their  condition  is  far  from  seeming  to  be  a  settled  one,  and  they 
continue  to  be  afflicted  with  intestine  commotions,  having  designated  their 
government  a  republic,  they  have  a  claim  to  be  geographically  described 
as  such. 

Physical  Aspect.  This  great  country  comprises  all  the  varieties  of 
soil,  climate,  and  temperature,  on  our  globe.  Immense  level  tropical 
plains,  covered  with  a  gigantic  growth  of  evergreen  vegetation,  from  the 
shrub  to  the  loftiest  trees  in  the  world;  table  elevations  on  tropical  moun- 
tains, where  perpetual  spring  prevails,  and  where  productions  of  the 
tropics  grow  side  by  side  with  those  of  the  temperate  climates;  mountain 
summits  covered  with  unmeiting  snows,  or  throwing  up  volcanic  fires 
immense  prairies  clothed  with  ever  verdant  grass,  and  feeding  innumera- 
ble herds  of  buffaloes  and  wild  cattle  and  horses;  vast  tracts  of  sandy  de- 
sert, scorched  with  a  cloudless  sun  and  moistened  with  no  rain ;  other 
regions,  where  periodical  rains  deluge  the  country  for  weeks  in  succes- 
sion, such  are  the  contrasts  of  this  strange  country.     African  heats  arc 


MEXICAN      REPUBLIC. 


137 


contiguous  to  Arctic  snows;  the  wheats  and  fruits  of  the  United  States 
to  the  banana,  cocoa,  and  pine  apple,  of  the  tropics.  In  one  district  no- 
thing is  raised  except  by  artificial  irrigation.  In  another  the  rank  vege- 
tation is  thrown  up  by  the  richest  soil,  and  a  reeking  humidity.  Ancient 
and  deep  forests  untouched  by  the  axe,  groves  of  mahogany  and  logwood, 
the  palm  and  guava,  rear  their  columns  on  the  plains.  In  another,  moun- 
tains, whose  summits  were  never  pressed  by  mortal  foot,  pour  from  their 
cone-shaped  funnels  into  the  elevated  and  frosty  atmosphere,  the  flame  and 
lava  of  never  quenched  internal  fires.  It  is  a  scene  of  continual  wonders, 
strong  contrasts,  and  sublime  contemplations,  whether  we  view  the  gran- 
deur of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  or  the  diversity  of  the  animal  races,  par- 
ticularly the  splendor  and  variety  of  the  birds,  the  beauty  and  sublimity 
of  the  scenery,  or  the  grandeur  of  the  almost  numberless  mountain  peaks. 
The  Federal  Government  is  composed  of  a  great  number  of  states, 
which  send  representatives  to  the  general  congress  at  Mexico. 


Northern  Provinces. 

Sq.  Miles. 

Pop.in  1S03. 

Chief  Towns. 

Old  California, 

55,880 

9,000 

Loreto. 

'New  California, 

16,278 

15,600 

Monterey. 

•Sonora, 

146,  635 

121,400 

Arispe. 

IDurango, 

129,247 

159,700 

Durango. 

'New  Mexico, 

43,731 

40,200 

Santa  Fe. 

-San  Luis  Potosi, 

263,109 

334,900 

St.  Luis  Potosi 

654,880 

680,800 

^Southern  Provinces. 

Sq.  Miles. 

Pop.  in  1S03. 

Chief  Towns. 

Guadalaxara, 

73,638 

630,500 

Guadalaxara. 

/Zacatecas, 

18,039 

153,300 

Zacatecas. 

Gruanaxuato, 

6,878 

517,300 

Guanaxuato. 

Valladolid, 

26,396 

376,400 

Valladolid. 

Mexico, 

45,401 

1,311,800 

Mexico. 

Puebla, 

20,651 

913,300 

Puebla. 

Vera  Cruz, 

31,720 

156,000 

Vera  Cruz. 

Oaxaca, 

34,664 

534,800 

Oaxaca. 

xucatan  or  Merida, 

45,784 

465,800 

Merida. 

302,561 

5,159,200 

Northern  p'ovinces. 

654,880 

680,800 

jrand  Total,  957,441  5,840,000 

The  present  population  is  rated  at  8,000,000. 


Vol.  II. 


18 


138  MEXICAN     REPUBLIC. 

Divisions.  Two-thirds;  of  the  Mexican  republic  are  under  the  temper- 
ate, and  the  remaining  third  under  the  torrid  zone.  The  first  division 
comprehends  the  states  of  St.  Leon,  and  St.  Andero,  Durango,  Sonora, 
Coahuila,  Texas,  and  New  Mexico.  But  the  remaining  tropical  regions, 
from  a  variety  of  causes,  enjoy  for  the  greater  part,  a  cool,  rather  than  a 
torrid  temperature.  The  interior  of  New  Mexico  and  New  Biscay  forms 
an  immense  elevated  plateau,  from  six  thousand  five  hundred  to  eight 
thousand  two  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Consequently, 
these  regions  extend  from  the  delightful  temperature  of  the  city  of  Mexi- 
co to  the  regions  of  eternal  ice  and  snow.  This  plateau  may  be  classed 
into  four  divisions.  The  lower  division  is  adapted  to  the  sugar  cane,  the 
banana,  pine  apple,  and  agave.  The  second  is  appropriate  to  cotton  and 
plants,  that  require  the  same  temperature.  The  third  produces  the  wheat 
and  apples  of  the  United  States.  The  last  is  only  adapted  te  alpine  cul- 
tivation. 

Mountains.  They  a  re  called  in  this  country  Cordillera.  They  are  so 
numerous,  and  of  such  an  infinite  diversity  of  forms,  that  this  summary 
cannot  notice  all  the  ranges.  No  doubt,  they  might  be  traced  to  families, 
or  classes  of  mountains,  belonging  to  a  succession  of  ranges,  with  a 
certain  degree  of  parallelism.  The  most  noted  chains  are  the  Sierra  of 
the  Andes,  the  Sierra  Madre,  and  the  Sierra  Membre.  In  Guatimala 
these  chains  bristle  with,  such  frequent  volcanic  summits  that  volcanic 
mountains  in  Mexico  are  no  curiosity.  Popoca-Tepetl,  or  the  smoking 
mountain,  is  nearly  eighteen  thousand  feet  high.  Iztacci-Huatl,  or  the 
white  woman,  is  sixteen  thousand  feet  high ;  Citlal-Tepetl,  or  starry  moun- 
tain is,  seventeen  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven  feet  high.  Pe- 
rote  is  thirteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-three  feet  high.  Columns 
of  smoke,  and  frequent  explosions  ascending  from  them,  however  noted 
and  sublime  phenomena  in  other  countries,  are  here  too  common  to  be 
remarked,  as  occurrences  that  excite  wonder,  terror,  and  remembrance. 
Some  of  these  mountains  are  granitic,  and  some  porphyritic  in  structure. 
The  mountain,  called  by  the  natives  Citlal-Tepetl,  or  starry  mountain,  is 
so  called  on  account  of  the  luminous  exhalations  that  rise  from  its  crater 
and  play  round  its  summit,  which  is  covered  with  eternal  snow.  The 
sides  of  these  colossal  furnaces  of  the  internal  fires  of  nature,  are  often 
crowned  with  magnificent  forests  of  cedar  and  pine.  In  1759,  the  plains 
of  Jorulla,  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  experienced  one  of  the  most  tre- 
mendous catastrophes,  that  the  surface  of  our  globe  has  ever  witnessed. 
In  a  single  night  a  volcano  arose  from  the  earth,  fourteen  hundred  and 
ninety-four  feet  high,  with  more  than  two  thousand  apertures,  which  still 
continue  to  throw  up  smoke.  Messrs.  Humboldt  and  Bonpland  descend- 
ed into  the  burning  crater  of  the  largest,  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight 


MEXICAN      REPUBLIC.  139 

t'eet  in  depth.  The  adventure  was  most  daring  and  dangerous.  They 
found  the  air  strongly  charged  with  carbonic  acid. 

Mines.  Every  reader  knows,  that  those  of  the  precious  metals  are 
generally  found  among  the  mountains;  and  that  this  is  the  country  of  sil- 
ver and  gold.  The  annual  produce,  in  ordinary  years,  used  seldom  to  fall 
below  $22,000,000  of  silver.  The  gold  is  found  in  little  straw-like  frag- 
ments and  veins.  The  richest  mine,  in  its  yield  of  native  silver,  is  Bar- 
topilas  in  New  Biscay.  In  most  of  them,  the  metal  is  extracted  from 
red,  black,  muriated,  and  sulphureted  ores  of  silver.  In  South  America, 
the  chief  mines  are  found  on  the  summits  of  the  Andes-,  in  the  region  of 
perpetual  frost  and  ice.  In  Mexico,  on  the  contrary,  the  richest,  such  as 
those  of  Guanaxuato,  Zacatecas,  Tasco,  and  Real  de  Monte,  are  found 
between  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  six  thousand  five  hundred  feet 
high.  The  climate  is  delightful,  and  the  vicinity  abounds  with  forests, 
and  every  facility  to  work  the  mines  to  advantage.  A  catalogue  of  the 
names  of  fifty  mines  might  easily  be  given,  extending  from  Santa  Fe,  at 
the  sources  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  to  the  Pacific. 

Rivers.  Nature,  as  if  satisfied  with  her  ample  bestowment  of  mineral 
and  vegetable  riches,  has  denied  to  this  beautiful  country  the  numerous 
and  useful  rivers  of  the  United  States.  Scarcely  a  navigable  stream  is 
found  in  this  vast  country,-  and  but  two,  that  would  be  deemed  worthy  of 
name  in  the  United  States.  These  are  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  and  Rio 
Colorado.  Innumerable  torrents  pour  down  from  the  mountains.  ,  The 
smaller  streams  are  Rio  Huasaculaco  and  Alvarado,  south-east  of  Vera 
Cruz;  the  Rio  de  Montezuma  in  the  valley  of  Mexico,  Rio  de  Panuca  in 
the  same  vale,  Rio  do  Zacatala,  and  the  Rio  St.  Jago,  the  largest  of  the 
whole,  formed  by  the  union  of  the  Leorma  and  Las  Taxes. 

Lakes.  The  great  lake  of  Chapala,  in  New  Gallicia,  covers  nearly 
one  hundred  and  sixty  square  leagues.  The  lakes  of  the  valley  of  Mexi- 
co, and  the  lake  of  Pazcuasco,  in  the  intendency  of  Valladolid,  are  among 
the  most  picturesque  spots  in  the  world.  Lakes  Mexitlan  and  Parras,  in 
New  Biscay,  and  Micaragua,  are  large  collections  of  water. 

Circumstances  give  this  last  peculiar  interest.  This  lake  is  situated 
on  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  almost  equidistant  between  the  two  oceans, 
Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  is  reported  to  have  tides.  There  have  been  a 
hundred  different  projects  to  canal  this  lake  from  the  two  extremities,  and 
thus  unite  these  two  oceans  by  a  canal  of  seventy  or  eighty  miles  in  ex- 
tent; and  thus  save  a  passage  round  Cape  Horn  of  more  than  ten  thou- 
sand miles.  But  on  a  full  survey  of  the  elevation  of  this  lake  above  the 
two  seas,  the  difficulties  of  digging  a  ship  channel,  and  constructing  the 
necessary  locks  up  such  lofty  heights,  and  the  pestilential  autumnal  air 
of  the  river  St.  John,  by  which  this  lake  communicates  with  the  Atlantic, 


140  MEXICAN     KEFUBLIC. 

the  Spanish  government  deemed  the  project  impracticable,  and  forbade 
any  one  to  resume  it  on  pain  of  death.  Since  the  country  has  been  revo- 
lutionized, the  subject  has  been  resuscitated.  The  Isthmus  of  Tehuante- 
pec  presents  the  two  rivers  Huasacualco  and  Chimilapa,  which  empty, 
the  one  into  the  one  ocean,  and  the  other  into  the  other.  A  canal  of  eight 
leagues,  at  furthest,  would  unite  these  two  rivers,  and  bring  the  oceans 
into  communication.  The  Andes  at  this  point  have  disappeared,  and  the 
elevation  of  the  canal  above  the  two  seas  would  be  moderate. 

Harbors.  It  will  be  seen,  that  this  republic  has  an  immense  extent  of 
sea  coast  on  both  oceans.  But  there  are  few  good  harbors.  Most  of  the 
rivers  are  obstructed  by  bars  at  their  mouth.  Violent  storms,  for  consid- 
erable portions  of  the  year,  render  the  coast  inaccessible.  The  Los  Nor- 
tes  blow  from  the  autumnal  to  the  vernal  equinox,  and  render  the  coast 
unsafe  of  approach.  In  another  part  of  the  year  the  Papagayo  and  Te- 
huantepec  winds  render  the  roadsteds  dangerous.  But  these  circum- 
stances, unfavorable  to  the  navigation,  are  fortunate  to  the  republic  in 
another  point  of  view,  as  affording  protection  against  hostile  fleets. 

Climate.  The  country  is  divided  into  the  tierras  Calientes,  that  is  to 
say,  hot  countries,  that  produce  sugar,  indigo,  cotton,  bananas,  and  pine 
apples  in  abundance.  In  low  and  marshy  positions  in  these  countries, 
unacclamated  persons,  in  particular  seasons,  are  subject  to  what  is  here 
called  vomito  prieio,  black  vomit,  or  yellow  fever.  Acapulco,  Papagayo, 
and  Peregrino,  are  places  of  this  description,  on  the  Pacific;  and  Tampico 
on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  next  climate  under  the  tropics  is  at  an  elevation  from  four  to  five 
thousand  feet.  The  temperature  seldom  varies  more  than  eight  or  nine 
degrees.  Intense  heat  and  excessive  cold  are  equally  unknown.  The 
countries  of  this  description  are  called  Tierras  templades,  temperate  coun- 
tries. The  oak  is  a  native  tree  in  this  climate ;  and  the  yellow  fever  sel- 
dom prevails  in  Mexico,  in  the  region  where  the  oak  is  a  native.  This 
is  the  delicious  climate  of  Xalapa,  Tasco,  Chilpaningo,  and  of  Mexico 
still  more  elevated.  The  air  is  cool  and  salubrious,  and  the  fruits  and 
productions  rich  and  precious.  But  every  earthly  good  has  its  appendant 
evil.  These  regions  lie  in  the  ordinary  height  of  the  clouds,  which  float 
at  the  same  altitude  in  the  subjacent  plains,  and  envelope  these  charming 
and  elevated  abodes  in  frequent  and  dense  fogs.  The  third  belt  is  the 
Tierras  Frias,  or  cold  countries,  higher  than  seven  thousand  two  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean.  Even  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  in 
the  centre  of  the  tropics,  the  mercury  has  been  seen,  though  rarely,  to  fall 
below  the  freezing  point.  The  mountains  that  raise  their  summits  far 
above  these  elevations,  to  the  height  of  twelve  thousand  feet,  are  alwaya 
white  with  snow, 


MK.VIC'AX     KEl'UllLIC.  141 

Periodical  Rains.  In  the  equinoctial  regions  of  Mexico,  and  as  far 
as  28°  north,  only  two  seasons  are  known,  the  rainy  and  the  dry.  The 
rainy  commences  in  June  or  July,  and  ends  in  September  or  October. 
The  rain  begins  in  the  low  countries,  and  gradually  extends  to  the  eleva- 
ted regions,  descending  in  unremitting  torrents,  accompanied,  frequently, 
with  thunder  and  lightning.  At  the  elevation  between  six  and  seven 
thousand  feet,  snow  and  sleet  often  fall  with  the  rain.  Beyond  26° 
north,  the  ground  at  this  elevation  is  frequently  whitened  with  snow. 
But  such  snows  are  earnestly  wished.  They  are  deemed  salubrious,  and 
exceedingly  beneficial  to  the  wheat  and  pasture. 

New  Mexico.  The  vast  district  of  this  country,  formerly  known  by 
the  name  of  New  Mexico,  has  peculiar  claims  upon  the  interest  and 
attention  of  our  citizens,  as  bounding  for  vast  distances  upon  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States,  and  sustaining  a  great  and  increasing  trade 
with  some  of  the  western  states.  Under  the  ancient  Spanish  regime,  it 
was  designated  by  the  term  Provincias  Interims.  It  has  a  very  variable 
and  unequal  climate.  The  summers  are  sultry,  and  in  the  elevated  re- 
gions the  winter  is  unremitting,  and  often  severe.  On  the  whole,  the 
interior  of  all  this  vast  country  suffers  much  from  aridity,  and  the  want  of 
the  shelter  of  trees.  Muriates  of  soda  and  lime,  and  nitrate  of  potash,  and 
other  Saline  substances,  encrust  the  soil  so  as  to  bid  defiance  to  cultiva- 
tion. This  chemical  annoyance  is  extending  its  injurious  effects  in  a 
manner  inexplicable.  Happily,  this  incrustation  and  aridity  are  con- 
fined to  the  most  elevated  plains.  A  great  part  of  the  vast  republic,  sit- 
uated neither  too  high  nor  too  low,  may  be  classed  with  the  most  fertile 
countries  in  the  world.  The  lower  declivity  of  the  Cordilleras,  and  the 
heat  and  humidity  of  the  coasts,  favoring  the  putrefaction  of  a  prodigious 
mass  of  organic  substance,  display  a  grandeur  of  vegetation  inconceiva- 
ble, except  to  those  who  have  seen  it,  and  prove  a  cause  of  fatal  diseases 
to  unacclimatcd  strangers.  As  a  general  fact,  great  humidity,  insalubri- 
ty, and  fertility,  are  found  together.  Yet  on  the  whole,  the  greater  portion 
of  this  beautiful  country  may  be  considered  as  among  the  healthiest  re- 
gions in  the  world;  the  dry  atmosphere  being  singularly  favorable  to 
longevity.  Even  at  Vera  Cruz,  while  the  black  vomit  sweeps  away 
unacclimated  strangers,  the  natives  and  persons  used  to  the  climate  enjoy 
die  most  perfect  health,  and  live  to  extreme  old  age. 

Vegetable  Productions.  We  can  only  select  the  names  of  a  few  from 
thousands.  In  this  country,  where  all  climates  run  into  each  other,  all 
classes  of  trees  and  plants  might  be  expected  to  be  found.  In  the  low 
and  maritime  regions,  admiration  is  excited  by  the  number,  the  variety, 
and  the  grandeur  of  the  native  forests,  and  in  the  mountainous  regions  by 
the  infinite  diversity  of  the  plants  and  flowering  shrubs.     The  mohogany,. 


142  MEXICAN     REPUBLIC. 

the  logwood,  and  nicaragua  trees,  are  among  the  cabinet  and  dye  woods. 
The  pepper  and  cocoa  trees  are  among  the  native  fruits.  The  oak  is 
not  found  below  6,600  feet  of  elevation.  Pines  spread  from  the  eleva- 
tion of  5,700  to  12,300  feet. 

Edible  Plants.  Among  these,  the  banana  deserves  the  first  place. 
Three  species  are  common.  Two  are  indigenous.  The  third  was 
brought  from  Africa.  A  single  cluster  of  these  fruits  often  contains 
from  one  hundred  and  sixty  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  of  fruit. 
An  area  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  square  yards  will  produce  four  thou- 
sand pounds;  while  the  same  extent  will  scarce  produce  thirty  pounds  of 
wheat,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  potatoes.  The  manioc  is  cultivated 
in  the  same  region;  and,  with  maize,  forms  the  principal  nourishment 
both  of  animals  and  men,  in  temperatures  too  cool  for  the  banana.  The 
European  grains  are  grown  abundantly  in  the  temperate  regibns.  The 
sweet  potato  and  the  yam  are  more  common  in  the  warmer  regions.  The 
country  produces  indigenous  varieties  of  the  cherry  tree,  apple  tree, 
walnut,  mulberry,  and  strawberry.  Most  European  fruits  flourish  in  the 
greatest  perfection.  The  maguey,  a  species  of  the  agave,  furnishes  the 
most  profitable  cultivation  known  in  the  world.  It  produces  a  vinous 
drink,  of  which  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  drink  enormous  quantities. 
The  fibres  of  the  maguey  furnish  hemp  and  paper,  and  its  thorns  are 
used  for  pins  and  nails.  The  cultivation  of  the  sugar  cane  is  increasing. 
The  best  indigo  and  cocoa  are  produced  in  Guatimala.  The  cultivation 
of  this  latter  tree  is  exceedingly  profitable.  Nor  does  the  earth  produce 
a  more  useful  tree,  except  the  bread  fruit  tree.  The  nuts  of  the  cocoa 
are  of  such  prime  necessity  in  Mexico  that  they  pass  for  small  money. 
Our  term  chocolate,  made  from  this  nut,  is  derived  from  the  Mexican 
chocolatl.  The  nopal,  or  cactus  cochinilifer,  upon  which  the  insect  that 
produces  cochineal  feeds,  is  raised  on  a  large  scale  in  Oaxaca.  The 
jalap  of  medicine  grows  in  the  region  of  Xalapa,  from  which  it  derives 
its  name.  Vanilla,  imparting  its  delightful  and  spicy  flavor  to  chocolate, 
is  cultivated.  Here  also  are  produced  the  balsams  of  Copaivi  and  Tolu. 
Honduras  and  Campeachy  are  covered  with  forests  of  mahogony  and 
logwood.  A  species  of  arum  yields  a  black  dye.  Guiacum,  sassafras, 
and  tamarind  trees,  are  abundant  in  these  fertile  countries.  In  the  low 
lands  are  found  wild  ananas;  and  in  the  rich  rocky  soil  different  species 
of  the  aloe,  and  euphorbia.  This  country  has  yielded  to  flower  gardens 
the  most  rich  and  splendid  flowers. 

Zoology.  It  is  very  imperfectly  known.  Along  with  most  of  the  ani- 
mals common  in  the  United  States,  is  the  coendou,  the  conepalt  weasel, 
the  apaxa,  or  Mexican  stag,  and  a  new  species  of  striped  squirrel.  A 
species  of  wolf  dogs  is  entirely  without  hair;  and  another  species  without 


MEXICAN     KEI'UBLlC.  143 

voice,  which,  in  consequence  of  being  eaten  as  animal  food,  is  almost 
entirely  destroyed.  The  bison  and  musk  ox  are  found  in  immense  droves 
in  the  plains  of  New  Mexico.  The  reindeer  of  that  country  are  so  large 
and  strong  as  to  be  used  in  some  places  as  beasts  of  draught.  The 
prairie  dog  is  a  native  of  the  countries  near  the  Rio  del  Norte.  The 
antelope  and  mountain  sheep  are  found  in  California.  The  jaguar  and 
the  cougar,  which  are  fierce  animals,  bearing  a  resemblance  to  the  tiger 
and  lion  of  Asia  and  Africa,  are  seen  in  Guatimala,  and  the  hot  regions 
of  Mexico.  Hernandez  says,  that  the  Mexican  miztli  resembles  the  lion 
without  his  mane. 

Mexico  is  the  country  of  large  and  splendid  birds,  abounding  in  them, 
as  Africa  does  in  beasts.  Domestic  European  animals  have  multiplied 
in  an  incredible  degree.  Innumerable  droves  of  wild  horses  scour  over 
the  plains  of  New  Mexico.  Inconceivable  numbers  of  mules  are  raised. 
The  trade  between  Mexico  and  Vera  Cruz  alone  employs  seventy  thou- 
sand. There  are  families  that  possess  from  fifty  thousand  to  one  hun- 
dred thousand  oxen,  cows,  and  horses,  and  others  with  droves  of  sheep 
equally  numerous. 

Population.  It  is  well  known  that  Mexico  has  been  in  a  state  of  reven 
lution,  and  of  civil  and  intestine  commotion  for  many  years.  A  greater 
degree  of  freedom,  the  removal  of  monopolies  and  interdicts,  the  higher 
excitements  of  newly  created  motives  and  hopes,  the  new  scope  opened 
to  enterprise  by  free  institutions,  must  necessarily  be  highly  favorable  to 
increase  of  population,  and  must  tend  rapidly  to  repair  the  wastes  of  civil 
wars,  massacres,  and  assassinations.  All  things  considered,  and  taking 
the  basis  of  former  increase,  and  the  diminution  of  the  wars  and  troubles 
of  the  revolution  as  elements,  the  population  may  be  safely  rated  at 
8,000,000.  The  great  impediments  in  the  way  of  the  increase  of  popula-. 
tion,are  the  ravages  of  the  small  pox,  which  will  soon  be  laid  out  of  the 
calculation,  as  vaccination  has  been  successfully  introduced  into  the 
country.  The  next  impediment  is  a  pestilence  peculiar  to  the  climate, 
and  only  incident  to  the  Indian  race,  called  Matlazahuatl.  When  it  pre- 
vails, it  is  sweeping,  like  the  plague,  and  carries  dismay  and  death  into 
the  healthy  interior  regions  of  the  high  plateau.  Happily,  it  shows  itself 
only  at  long  intervals. 

Famine  sometimes  prevails  in  this  abundant  and  fertile  country.  Of 
all  people,  the  Indians  are  most  indolent  and  improvident.  They  seldom 
accumulate  more  than  suffices  for  subsistence  from  week  to  week.  Thou- 
sands of  the  poorer  classes  are  employed  in  the  operations  of  mining. 
Consequently,  the  occurrence  of  a  dry  season,  or  a  frost,  produces  a 
famine,  followed  too  frequently  by  epidemic  diseases.  In  1804,  a  frost 
in  August  destroyed  the  maize;  and  so  severe  a  famine  ensued,  that 


144  MEXICAN     REPUBLIC. 

more  than  300,000  people  perished  in  consequence  of  the  subsequent 
famine  and  disease.  In  the  revolutionary  movements,  46,000  are  calcu- 
lated to  have  perished  in  battle ;  but  those  who  so  fall,  always  constitute 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  mortality  that  is  necessarily  connected  with 
their  death. 

The  population  is  divided  into  four  great  classes,  subdivided  into  eight 
castes.  1.  Aboriginal  Americans.  2.  Spaniards  born  in  Europe.  3. 
Creoles  born  in  America.  4.  Negroes,  slaves,  and  descendants  of  ne- 
groes. 5.  Mixed  classes,  metis.  6.  The  offspring  of  whites  and  In- 
dians. 7.  Mulattoes,  the  offspring  of  whites  and  negroes.  8.  Zambos, 
the  mixture  of  Indians  and  negroes. 

The  Indians  are  copper  colored,  like  those  of  the  United  States.  They 
possess  great  muscular  strength,  and  an  almost  entire  exemption  from 
personal  deformity ;  and  generally  live  to  a  great  age.  They  are  supcr- 
stitiously  devoted  to  the  ceremonial  of  the  Catholic  church.  Everyone 
has  remarked  their  astonished  aptitude  to  carving  and  painting.  They 
seem  extremely  destitute  of  fancy  and  imagination.  Their  songs  and 
dances  have  a  tinge  of  melancholy.  Their  taste  for  flowers  is  carried  to 
a  passion;  and  the  Indian  shop  keeper  seats  himself  amidst  an  entrench- 
ment of  verdure,  and  decks  his  shop  with  the  most  beautiful  flowers. 
The  unsubdued  Indians  on  the  borders  of  New  Mexico  differ  little  from 
those  of  the  United  States. 

The  Spanish  from  Old  Spain,  called  Gauchupines,  formerly  enjoyed  all 
the  high  offices  and  consideration.  Since  the  revolution,  many  of  them 
have  perished.  The  remainder  are  subject  to  penalties  and  confiscations. 
The  country  born  descendants  of  the  Spanish  are  called  Creoles.  The 
descendants  of  the  Spanish  of  the  Canary  Islands,  who  are  numerous, 
are  called  Islenos.  The  natives  of  mixed  blood  comprehend  two  millions 
and  a  half.  All  the  shades  of  this  intermixture  are  expressed  by  particu- 
lar words,  incorporated  with  the  language.  The  child  of  a  white  and 
an  Indian,  is  called  Metis.  The  complexion  is  almost  a  perfect  while. 
He  has  a  scanty  beard,  and  small  hands  and  feet,  and  a  particular  obli- 
quity of  the  eyes.  The  offspring  of  the  whites  and  the  negroes  are  noted 
for  the  violence  of  their  passions,  and  their  volubility  of  speech.  The 
descendants  of  negroes  and  Indians  are  called  Chino,  or  Chinese.  The 
union  of  a  white  with  a  female  mulatto  originates  the  caste  of  quarteroons. 
When  a  female  quarteroon  marries  a  white,  the  offspring  is  called  quin- 
tcroon.  The  children  of  a  white  and  a  quarteroon  arc  considered  of 
pure  blood.  Those  mixtures,  by  which  the  child  becomes  darker  than 
the  mother,  arc  called  Saltra-Atras,  or  Back-Steps. 

These  distinctions  of  caste  enter  into  self-estimation  and  standing  in  soci- 
ety.    Innumerable  quarrels  and  litigations  grow  out  of  these  distinctions, 


MEXICAN     REPUBLIC.  145 

and  the  qualifications  or  disqualifications  annexed  to  them  It  frequently 
happens  that  those  suspected  of  having  mixed  blood,  claim  in  the  courts 
declarations  that  they  are  whites.  Rich  and  dark  colored  mulattoes  con- 
trive to  get  themselves  whitened,  as  the  phrase  is.  When  the  applicant 
is  palpably  dark  to  the  eye,  the  sentence  of  the  court  simply  states,  that 
such  or  such  a  one  may  consider  himself  white. 

There  are  no  hot  tropical  countries  where  there  are  so  few  negro 
slaves.  There  are  not  more  than  10,000  in  the  whole  country;  the 
greater  part  of  whom  are  confined  to  Vera  Cruz,  Acapulca,  and  the  hot 
country  in  their  vicinity.  There  are  also  considerable  numbers  of  slaves 
made  by  taking  prisoners  from  the  independent  Indians,  in  the  Mexican 
conflicts  with  them.  The  slaves  are  generally  well  treated,  and  are  pro- 
tected by  the  laws.  There  is,  comparatively,  little  other  than  free  labor, 
and  the  laws  have  made  provision  for  the  complete  emancipation  of  all 
children  born  after  a  certain  period. 

Languages.  More  than  twenty  original  languages  were  spoken  in 
Mexico.  The  Creoles,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  mixed  races,  speak 
and  write  Spanish.  The  native  languages  are  famous  for  terminations 
in  tli,  tla,  ttl,  atl,  &c.  Many  of  the  words  consist  of  eleven  syllables. 
The  complication  and  richness  of  the  grammatical  form  seem  to  prove 
the  high  original  intelligence  of  those  who  inverted  or  methodized  them. 

Topography.  New  California  borders  the  coast  of  the  Pacific  ocean 
from  Port  San  Francisco  to  the  settlement  of  San  Diego.  The  sky  here, 
though  often  foggy  and  humid,  is  extremely  mild.  This  picturesque 
country  displays  on  every  side  magnificent  forests,  or  verdant  savannas, 
where  the  herds  of  deer  and  elks  of  enormous  size  graze  undisturbed. 
The  soil  is  fertile.  The  vine,  olive,  and  wheat  prosper.  In  1802,  the 
missions  were  eighteen,  and  the  permanent  cultivators  fifteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  sixty. 

San  Francisco,  the  most  northern  presidio,  is  situated  upon  a  bay  of 
the  same  name,  into  which  the  Rio  San  Felipe,  which  rises  in  lake  Tim- 
panogas,  enters.  Wheat  here,  with  very  little  care,  yields  thirty-five  for 
one.  Beautiful  forests  of  oak,  intermingled  with  winding  prairies,  give 
the  country  the  appearance  of  an  artificial  park.  Monterey  is  the  seat 
of  government.  The  aspect  of  the  country  is  charming,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants enjoy  a  perpetual  spring.  Santa  Barbara  is  situated  on  a  pass 
between  the  continent  and  two  or  three  small  islands.  The  mission  of 
San  Bueneventura  is  a  fertile  district,  but  sometimes  exposed  to  severe 
draughts.  Vancouver  saw  in  the  gardens  of  the  missionaries,  apples, 
pears,  figs,  oranges,  grapes,  pomegranates,  two  species  of  bananas,  co- 
coa nuts,  sugar  canes,  indigo  plants,  and  several  leguminous  vegetables. 

Old  California,  or  the  peninsula  of  California,  is  bounded  south  and 
Vol.  H.  19 


146  MEXICAN     REl'UliLIC. 

west  by  the  Pacific,  the  gulf  of  California,  and  the  Vermilion  sea  on  the 
coast.  Its  climate  is  hot  and  dry.  The  sky,  of  a  deep  azure,  is  seldom 
obscured  by  clouds.  The  soil  is  arid,  and  the  cylindrical  cactus  is  often 
the  only  vegetable  that  relieves  the  barrenness  of  the  waste.  Where 
there  is  moisture  and  a  vegetable  mould,  grains  and  fruits  multiply  in  a 
most  astonishing  manner,  and  the  vines  yield  a  generous  wine,  like  that 
of  the  Canaries.  Tne  sheep  are  large,  and  yield  a  very  fine  wool.  A 
great  number  of  wild  quadrupeds  are  named,  and  a  great  and  beautiful 
variety  of  birds.  The  pearls  that  are  fished  on  this  coast  are  irregular 
in  figure,  but  have  a  beautiful  water.  There  are  gold  and  silver  mines; 
but  they  are  not  much  worked,  for  want  of  materials.  Native  salt  is 
abundantly  collected  on  the  plains.  The  inhabitants  may  amount  to 
9,000,  and  are  dispersed  over  a  country  larger  than  England.  Loretto 
is  the  chief  town.     The  inhabitants  of  all  classes  may  amount  to  1,000. 

The  Indians  of  these  countries  were  an  extremely  degraded  race.  The 
Jesuits  began  the  task  of  their  conversion  in  1698.  The  wise  fathers 
collected  these  wandering  tribes,  and  formed  them  into  a  stationary  and 
cultivating  people,  who  built  houses  and  erected  chapels  amidst  the 
rocks  and  brambles.  Here  the  fathers  diffused  order,  peace,  and  plenty 
among  their  numerous  subjects.  They  were  banished  by  an  unjust  and 
impolitic  decree.  The  Franciscans  have  succeeded  them  in  the  mission. 
Their  simple  dwellings  have  a  picturesque  appearance.  The  converted 
natives  are  treated  with  gentleness  and  affection. 

New  Mexico  includes  all  the  country  between  California  and  Louisi- 
ana. A  narrow  belt  of  country  along  the  Rio  del  Norte  is  thinly  peopled. 
The  town  of  Santa  Fe  contains  5,000,  Albuquerque  6,000,  and  Taos  as 
many,  inhabitants.  The  population  consists  of  poor  colonists,  whose 
scattered  hamlets  are  frequently  ravaged  by  the  powerful  and  fierce 
tribes  of  Indians  that  surround  them.  Their  principal  subsistence  is  by 
tending  their  cattle  and  flocks.  They  live  in  walled  towns,  built  as  fort- 
resses, to  defend  them  from  sudden  attacks  of  the  Indians.  The  houses 
and  walls  arc  built  of  unburnt  bricks,  in  continued  ranges,  in  the  form  of 
a  hollow  square.  The  soil  is  fertile;  but  the  rains  are  so  unfrequent 
that  the  cultivation  succeeds  only  by  artificial  irrigation.  The  environs 
of  the  Passo  del  Norte  produce  delicious  grapes  and  generous  wines. 
Many  of  the  inhabitants  number  their  cattle,  horses,  and  mules  by  thou- 
sands. The  plains  arc  naked  of  trees,  while  the  mountains  are  covered 
with  forests,  among  the  trees  of  which  pines  are  predominant.  Ante- 
lopes, mountain  sheep,  and  buffaloes,  arc  abundant  in  this  region. 
There  are  salt  springs,  and  numerous  mines  of  silver.  The  people  of 
the  United  States  carry  on  an  extensive  trade  with  this  country,  chiefly 
by  the  way  of  the  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri,  and  Santa  Fe,  in  New 


MEXICAN     REPUBLIC.  147 

Mexico.  The  mountains  at  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas  are  sublime 
elevations,  above  the  point  of  congelation.  Many  of  them  have  table 
summits.  That  the  soil  is  underlaid  with  strata  of  calcareous  rock,  is 
attested  by  a  most  singular  phenomenon.  In  1752,  the  bed  of  the  Rio 
del  Norte  became  dry  for  an  extent  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues.  It 
had  sunk,  and  passed  through  subterraneous  chasms,  and  so  continued  to 
flow  for  some  weeks,  when,  no  doubt,  the  chasm  became  choaked,  and 
the  river  resumed  its  former  course.  The  town  of  Matamoras,  contain- 
ing 8  or  10,000  inhabitants,  is  near  its  mouth. 

Savages.  Among  the  numerous  tribes  that  inhabit  New  Mexico,  the 
Appaches  and  the  Commanches  are  the  most  numerous  and  important. 
They  hunt,  fight,  and  almost  live  on  horseback.  They  are  exceedingly 
formidable  enemies  to  the  stationary  population,  and  the  shock  of  their 
charge  on  horseback  is  represented  as  being  irresistible,  at  least  by  their 
opponents,  the  timid  colonists.  Some  of  the  tribes  that  inhabit  the  Col- 
orado, that  flows  into  the  gulf  of  California,  are  represented  to  have  con- 
siderable towns.  A  more  rescent  traveller,  who  descended  the  river  from 
its  sources  to  its  mouth,  describes  them  as  barbarous  and  naked.  Arispe, 
the  chief  town  of  Sonora,  contains  7,000  inhabitants,  and  Cinaloa,  capi- 
tal of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  10,000.  In  this  province  are  rich 
mines.  Culiacan,  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  contains 
11,000  inhabitants.  Durango  is  the  chief  town  of  New  Biscay,  and 
contains  12,000  inhabitants,  with  some  splendid  edifices.  The  country 
abounds  in  silver  mines.  Batopilas,  and  Cosigirachui,  and  Chihuahua, 
are  considerable  towns,  containing  from  8  to  10,000  inhabitants.  Mon- 
clova  and  Santa  Rosa  are  neat  towns,  in  the  province  of  Coahuila.  Mon- 
terey, in  New  Leon,  is  a  considerable  place.  On  the  upper  courses  of 
the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  country  is  dry,  and  seldom  visted  with  rains.  The 
greater  part  of  the  cultivation  is  carried  on  by  irrigation.  In  Texas, 
San  Antonio  is  the  most  important  town.  Nacogdoches,  once  a  village 
of  some  importance,  has  suffered  from  the  troubles  of  the  country,  and  is 
in  ruins.  San  Felipe  de  Austin  is  the  chief  town  of  Mr.  Austin's  inter- 
esting settlement  on  the  Brasos.  The  lower  slope  of  this  country,  to- 
wards the  gulf,  has  deep  forests  along  the  water  courses,  and  much 
resembles  the  south-western  part  of  Louisiana.  This  province  is  chiefly 
peopled  with  adventurers  from  the  United  States.  Potosi  is  the  chief 
town  of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  and  contains  12,000  inhabitants. 
One  of  the  richest  mines  in  the  world,  that  of  Real  de  Catorce,  is  near 
this  city.  Zacatecas,  chief  town  of  a  province  of  the  same  name,  con- 
tains 33,000  inhabitants;  and  exceedingly  rich  mines  are  in  its  moun- 
tainous district.  Guadalaxara  contains  a  university,  is  a  bishop's  see, 
and  has  30,000  inhabitants.     Compostella  is  the  chief  town  of  a  district 


148  MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 

abounding  in  cocoa  nut  trees.  Tonala  and  Purification  are  towns  in  the 
south  of  New  Gallacia.  Their  districts  are  famous  for  sugar  and  cochi- 
neal. Cape  Corrientes  is  a  celebrated  promontory  on  the  coast,  where 
the  winds  seem  to  disperse,  and  change  the  direction  of  their  courses. 
The  port  of  San  Bias  is  surrounded  by  deep  and  beautiful  forests,  which 
furnish  ship  timber;  but  is  almost  uninhabited,  from  its  lowness,  and  its 
extreme  insalubrity.  The  intendencies  of  Guanaxuato  and  Valladolid 
are  picturesque  countries,  with  volcanic  mountains.  The  richest  silver 
mines  in  Mexico  are  near  Guanaxuato.  This  town  is  rich  and  flourish- 
ing, containing  70,000  inhabitants.  The  mine  of  the  Count  de  Valen- 
ciana,  in  1804,  had  been  dug  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
perpendicular,  making  it  the  deepest  cut  known  in  the  world.  Valla- 
dolid has  a  delicious  climate,  is  a  pretty  town,  and  contains  18,000 
inhabitants. 

The  intendency  of  Mexico  is  a  rich  and  delicious  country,  abounding 
with  mountains,  some  of  them  volcanic,  and  containing  mines  and  pre- 
cious stones.  The  level  country  is  replenished  with  the  most  delicious 
fruits,  anise  seed,  sugar,  and  cochineal.  A  remarkable  curiosity  in  this 
province  is  the  Ponte  Dios,  or  Bridge  of  God ;  a  rock,  under  which  the 
water  has  hollowed  itself  a  canal.  The  waters  have  here  cut  deep  and 
foaming  courses,  over  which,  at  a  vast  distance  above  them,  the  traveller 
crosses  by  bridges  suspended  by  ropes  of  the  agave. 

On  the  very  ridge  of  the  great  Mexican  plateau,  a  chain  of  porphyritic 
mountains  incloses  an  elliptical  valley,  the  general  level  of  which  is  six 
thousand  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Five  lakes  fill  the  middle 
of  this  valley.  The  ancient  city  of  Mexico  stood  north  of  the  united 
lakes  of  Xochimilco  and  Chalco,  and  to  the  east  of  lake  Tezcuco.  Much 
of  the  marshy  ground  that  surrounded  the  ancient  city  has  been  drained, 
or  filled  up.  A  canal,  dug  at  a  prodigious  expense,  under  the  mountains, 
contributes  still  farther  to  drain  it.  The  houses  are  built  on  piles;  and 
the  ground  is  still  soft,  and  by  no  means  firm.  The  streets,  though  wide, 
are  badly  paved.  The  houses  in  this  strange  and  rich  vale  on  the  sum- 
mits of  mountains,  are  as  magnificent  and  unique  as  the  position.  They 
are  spacious,  and  built  of  porphyry  and  amygdaloid.  Many  of  the 
palaces  and  private  mansions  have  an  imposing  show,  and  glitter  with 
metalic  riches.  The  cathedral  is,  perhaps,  the  richest  in  the  world.  Al- 
tars, candle-sticks,  and  images  of  (he  saints,  are  of  colossal  size,  and  solid 
silver,  and  ornamented  with  precious  stones.  Palaces,  mansions  of  great 
families,  beautiful  fountains,  and  extensive  squares,  adorn  the  interior  of 
this  city.  Near  the  suburbs,  to  the  north,  is  the  Alameda, or  chief  prome- 
nade. Round  this  walk  flows  a  rivulet,  forming  a  fine  square,  in  the 
centre  of  which  is  a  fountain,  with  a  basin.     Eight  alleys  of  trees 


MEXICAN     REPUBLIC.  140 

terminate  here,  in  the  form  of  an  altar.  The  detestable  Inquisition, 
finally  abolished  by  the  ex-emperor  Iturbide,  was  near  this  square. 

This  city,  in  the  centre  of  the  country,  is  the  seat  of  an  immense  com- 
merce between  Vera  Cruz  on  the  gulf,  and  Acapulco  on  the  Pacific.  The 
shops  glitter  with  the  abundance  of  gold,  silver,  and  jewels.  This  superb 
city  is  inhabited  by  101,000  people,  and  is  the  centre  of  more  scientific 
establishments,  than  any  other  town  in  Spanish  America.  The  Botanical 
Garden,  the  School  of  Mines,  the  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts,  and  the  Poly- 
technic School,  are  noble  establishments.  Excellent  draughtsmen, 
painters,  and  sculptors,  have  been  produced  in  them.  The  environs  pre- 
sent a  scene  of  pleasure  without  a  parallel  elsewhere  in  America.  Hun- 
dreds of  canoes  on  the  Canal  Chalcho,  full  of  Indians,  sitting  under  awn- 
ings, having  their  heads  crowned  with  the  gaudiest  flowers,  with  each  a 
musician  on  the  stern  playing  the  guitar,  and  some  of  the  party  singing, 
or  dancing,  present  a  scene  of  innocent  mirth.  The  people  of  the  city 
are  given  to  gambling  and  pleasure.  The  floating  gardens  on  the  lakes, 
where  flowers  and  vegetables  used  to  be  cultivated,  are  diminishing.  The 
most  important  arts  are  here  yet  in  their  infancy.  Saws  driven  by  water, 
or  hand,  are  unknown  and  their  planks  are  hewed  out  with  the  broad  axe. 
The  ascent  to  the  table  plain,  on  which  this  city  is  built,  is  of  immense 
height,  and  so  steep  as  to  require  nineteen  mules  to  draw  the  beam  of  a 
steam  engine  up  the  steeper  parts  of  the  ascent.  It  is  astonishing,  that  no 
such  thing  as  a  rail  road  to  this  city  has  yet  been  constructed.  A  noble 
road  of  the  common  kind  has  been  not  long  since  completed. 

Most  of  the  monuments  of  the  ancient  grandeur  of  this  country  have 
disappeared  from  about  the  present  city.  Some  grand  memorials  of  the 
empire  of  Montezuma  still  remain.  To  the  north-east  of  the  city  are  the 
ancient  temples  of  the  sun  and  moon.  They  are  pyramidal  in  figure,  and 
the  former  measures  at  its  base  six  hundred  and  forty-five  feet,  and  is  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high.  That  of  the  moon  is  somewhat  smal- 
ler.    They  are  incased  by  a  thick  wall  of  stone. 

Queretarois  north-east  of  Mexico,  has  40,000  inhabitants,  and  is  one  of 
the  handsomest  cities  of  the  new  world.  Zacatala  and  Acapulco  are  un- 
der a  burning  sky,  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific. 

Peubla  is  an  intendency,  very  populous  and  well  cultivated,  and  its 
chief  town,  called  Peubla  de  los  Angelos,  or  the  angels,  is  the  fourth  town 
in  Spanish  America,  in  comparative  importance,  containing  08,000  in- 
habitants. Cholula  contains  10,000  souls.  Tezcuco  contains  splendid 
ancient  remains,  and  5,000  inhabitants.  At  Atlisco,  the  traveller  is 
shown  an  enormous  cypress,  seventy-three  feet  in  circumference. 

Vera  Cruz  is  a  beautiful  town,  and  the  centre  of  the  foreign  trade  of 
Mexico.      Its  position  is  exceedingly  unpleasant,  being  surrounded  by 


150  MEXICAN      HEPTJHLIU. 

arid  sands,  or  ill  drained  marshes.      The  climate  is  hot  and  unhealthy ; 
and  the  only  water,  fit  for  drinking,  is  collected  in  cisterns.     The  harbor 
is  insecure  and  of  difficult  access.     It  is  often  desolated  with  yellow  fever; 
and  yet  the  position  is  so  important  to  commence,  that  10,000  people  in- 
habit this  disagreeable  position.     It  is  the  scat  of  an  immense  trade.     The 
inhabitants  often  repair,  for  coolness,  health,  and  the  beauties  of  nature, 
to  the  delicious  town  of  Xalapa,  situated  among  the  shelving  declivities 
of  the  mountains.      This  town  derives  its  name  from  the  medicinal  root 
called  Jalap,  growing  near  it.     The  province  of  Tabasco  is  thickly  wood- 
ed, abounding  with  the  Mexican  tiger,  and  when  cultivated,  is  fertile. 
Tehuantepec  has  a  harbor  on  the   Pacific,  with  noble  ancient  ruins  at 
Mitzla  in  its  vicinity.     Yucatan  has  a  healthy,  though  a  hot  and  dry  cli- 
mate, abounding  with  dye  woods,  and  in  ambergris.      The  coasts  are 
covered  with  forests  of  mangrove,  and  impenetrable  hedges  of  althea  and 
camwood.      In  the  dry  seasons,  the  people  obtain  their  drinking  water 
from  an  incision  in  the  wild  pines.      Merida,  the  chief  town,  contains 
10,000  inhabitants.     The  English  cut  logwood  and  mahogany  here,  and 
have  some  small  colonies   on  the  coast.      Guatimala  extends  along  the 
Pacific.     The  plains  are  exceedingly  fertile.     Maize  brings  three  hun- 
dred for  one;  and  the  country  produces  the  finest  indigo.     In  the  forests 
are  many  animals  imperfectly  known,  and  many  nondescript  balsamic 
shrubs.      Silver  mines   and  volcanoes  abound,  and  the  country  is  more 
subject,  than  any  other  known,  to  earthquakes.      The  ancient  city  of 
Guatimala  was  sunk  in  1777.     Never  was  earthquake  accompanied  with 
more  terrific  and  destructive  phenomena.   The  sea  rose  from  its  bed.   One 
volcano  poured  out  boiling  water,  and  another  waves  of  blazing  lava.  Eight 
thousand  families  were  swallowed  up  in  a  moment.     The  spot  is  now  in- 
dicated only  by  a  frightful  desert.     The  new  town  is  built  four  leagues 
from  the  old  one.     Fine  cocoa,  cotton,  and  figs  are  produced  here.     Chi- 
apa  is  a  cheerful  townj  inhabited  by  4,000  families  of  Indians.     The  capi- 
tal of  the  singular  province  of  Vera  Paz,  is  Koban.     It  rains  here  nine 
months  in  the  year.     Great  numbers  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  yield  differ- 
ent balsamic  resins.      Dragon's  blood  is  produced  among  them.      Reed 
canes  100  feet  in  length  are  found,  and  of  such  a  thickness,  that  from  one 
knot  to  another  twenty -five  pounds  of  water  were  contained.    The  bees  of 
this  region  make  an  uncommonly  liquid  honey.     Among  the  wild  ani- 
mals is  the  Tapir,  with  teeth  longer  than  those  of  the  wild  boar,  with  which 
it  is  affirmed,  tho  animal  can  cut  down  a  tree.     Its  skin  is  six  fingers 
thick,  and  when  dried,  resists  every  kind  of  weapon. 

The  province  of  Honduras  is  little  known.  To  the  west  it  contains  the 
little  Spanish  towns  of  Caymagua  and  Truxillo.  In  a  lake,  near  the 
latter,  there  arc  said  to  be  floating  islands,  with  large  trees  on  them.   Ca- 


MEXICAN     REPUBLIC.  151 

vcrns  have  been  hallowed  out  by  the  waters  under  several  of  the  moun- 
tains. The  Mosqueto  Coast  is  properly  so  named  from  the  intolerable 
annoyance  of  the  insect  of  that  name.  Some  years  since,  there  were 
exported  by  the  English  from  this  country  eight  hundred  thousand  feet  of 
mahogony,  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  sarsaparilla,  and  ten  thousand 
pounds  of  tortoise  shell,  beside  tiger  and  deer  skins. 

Nicaragua  is  a  large  and  important  province.  The  lake  of  the  same 
name  has  several  beautiful  islands,  on  one  of  which  is  a  volcano,  which 
continually  burns.  This  great  lake  discharges  into  the  Atlantic  by  tho 
river  St.  Johns,  on  which  there  are  a  great  many  inconsiderable  falls. 
Towards  the  outlet  of  the  river,  the  shore  is  marshy  and  pestilential,  and 
the  Indians  numerous,  and  pcrfidous.  It  is  well  known,  that  by  this  river, 
and  through  this  lake,  it  lias  been  proposed  to  unite  the  Atlantic  and  Pa- 
cific ocean  by  a  canal.  This  province  is  not  known  to  have  any  mines, 
but  is  exceedingly  fruitful  in  all  the  common  productions  of  tropical  cli- 
mates. Leon,  the  capital,  is  situated  on  a  lake  that  discharges  into  Ni- 
caragua. Its  harbor  is  at  a  distance  on  the  south  sea.  The  palm  trees 
grow  here  to  a  colossal  size.  Nicaragua,  Granada,  and  Xcres,  are  tho 
other  cosidcrablc  towns.     Little  is  known  of  them. 

Costa  Rica,  or  the  rich  coast,  is  so  called  in  derision,  as  having  no 
mines.  But  it  is  in  fact  rich  in  nature's  picturesque  scenery,  noble 
woods,  a  fertile  soil,  and  rich  pastures.  Cattle  and  swine  swarm  in  them. 
In  the  gulf  of  Salinas  is  found  the  muscle  yielding  the  rich  purple,  proba- 
bly the  ancient  purple,  the  dye  of  which  was  supposed  to  be  lost.  The 
capital,  Carthago,  is  a  flourishing  town  in  the  interior.  Nicoya  is  a  port 
on  the  Pacific,  where  vessels  are  built  and  refitted.  The  caoutchoue  or 
India  rubber,  is  a  well  known  production  of  this  country. 

Veragua  is  a  province  still  less  known  than  the  former.  It  has  be- 
longed at  one  time  to  the  government  of  Guatimala,  and  at  another  to  that 
of  Terra  Firma.  It  is  covered  with  mountains,  forests,  and  pasture 
grounds.  It  has  silver  mines,  that  are  not  wrought.  The  capital  is  San 
Yago.  The  descendants  of  Columbus,  in  the  female  line,  bear  the  title  of 
dukes  of  Veragua. 

History.  Our  plan  allows  no  place  for  detail  under  this  head.  Under 
the  empire  of  Montezuma  and  Guatimozen,  the  Mexican  empire  had  cities, 
towns,  temples — a  police — the  art  of  working  in  gold,  silver,  and  copper, 
a  kind  of  printing — and  no  small  measures  of  barbaric  splendor  along 
with  many  traces  of  art  and  civilization.  The  empire  was  conquered  by 
Cortes  with  a  few  Spaniards.  That  of  the  Spaniards  arose  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  Mexican  dynasty.  Stretching  over  an  immense  extent, 
embracing  a  greater  variety  of  soil,  climate,  and  position,  than  any  other 
country — more  of  nature's  wealth,  and  more  of  the  factitious  and  false 


152  SOUTH    AMERICA. 

wealth  of  the  precious  metals,  than  could  be  found  elsewhere  on  the  globe, 
their  establishments  extended  among  the  mountains,  valleys,  and  plains 
of  this  immense  country  in  silence,  and  hidden  from  the  world.  No- 
thing hindered  it  from  becoming  one  of  the  most  populous  and  powerful 
empires  in  the  world,  but  the  bigotry  of  the  religion,  the  ignorance  and 
mutual  jealousies  of  the  population,  and  the  odious  monopolies  and  inter- 
dictions of  a  fanatic  narrow  minded  government.  The  revolutions  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  old  world,  gradually  and  imperceptibly 
began  to  operate  in  Mexico.  The  assumption  of  the  crown  of  Spain  by  a 
brother  of  Napoleon,  who  was  not  recognized  in  the  new  world,  facilitated 
revolutionary  movements.  The  revolution  here  was  effected  with  less 
bloodshed  than  in  South  America.  After  a  variety  of  revolutionary 
movements,  Iturbide,  by  military  usurpation,  proclaimed  himself  emperor 
of  Mexico.  His  imperial  sway  was  of  short  date.  lie  was  banished 
the  country,  and  a  government  was  established  on  a  model  \jery  similar 
to  that  of  the  United  States.  The  ancient  provinces  and  intendencies 
form  states,  that  arc  represented  in  general  congress  at  Mexico,  in  a  legis- 
lature modeled  after  ours.  The  chief  officer  of  the  government  is  cal- 
led president.  The  last  place  which  Spain  held  in  the  country,  was  the 
castle  of  St.  John  d'Ulloa,  commanding  the  coast  of  Vera  Cruz.  There 
has  been  a  recent  and  bloody  revolution,  the  chief  scene  of  which  was 
the  capital.  Order  is  restored;  but  there  is  a  general  persuasion,  not 
only  abroad,  but  in  the  country  itself,  that  the  institutions  of  this  country 
are  as  yet  unsettled.  It  is  cause  for  regret,  that  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive and  beautiful  positions  of  the  globe,  calling  itself  free,  should  not 
have  the  stability  and  quiet  of  real  freedom.  The  great  evils  to  be 
banished  from  this  fair  country  are  the  twin  monsters  ignorance  and 
bigotry. 


SOUTH    AMERICA, 

Is  the  richest,  healthiest,  most  picturesque,  and  excepting  Africa,  the 
most  extensive  peninsula  on  the  globe.  Of  the  two  Americas,  the  north- 
ern division  ought  to  be  called  Columbia,  and  the  country  now  under 
consideration  simply  America.  This  vast  country  contains  one  hundred 
thousand  square  leagues.  Its  greatest  length  from  Point  Gallianas  in 
Terra  Firma,  in  12°  north  latitude,  to  Terra  del  Fuego,  in  56°  south 


SOUTH     AMERICA.  153 

latitude  is  nearly  five  thousand  miles.  Its  greatest  breadth  from  Cape 
St.  Roque,  in  Brazil,  to  Cape  Froward,  in  Patagonia,  is  four  thousand  eight 
hundred  miles. 

General  Aspect.  In  this  wonderful  country,  rivers  roll  through  an  ex- 
tent of  four  thousand  miles,  and  are  so  broad  that  the  eye  cannot  reach 
from  one  shore  to  the  other.  In  one  point  are  seen  mountain  summits 
above  the  clouds,  white  with  snows,  that  never  melt;  while  their  bases 
rear  the  banana  and  pine  apple.  In  a  day  a  man  can  pass  through  all 
climates,  from  that  of  the  equator  to  that  of  Nova  Zcmbla.  In  other  pla- 
ces, volcanoes,  too  numerous  to  be  classed,  throw  out  smoke  and  flames. 
Still  in  other  places,  are  vast  and  deep  forests,  abounding  in  all  the  grand 
flowering  and  gigantic  vegetation  of  tropical  climates,  which  spread  an 
immense  extent,  that  has  never  yet  resounded  with  the  wood  cutter's 
hatchet.  Nature  here  shows  herself  alternately  in  unexampled  magnifi- 
cence, beauty,  sublimity,  power,  and  terror.  To  the  west  spreads  an 
immense  chain  of  mountains,  with  a  plateau  twelve  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea.  East  of  this  is  a  belt  of  plains  and  marshes  three  times  as  broad, 
penetrated  by  immense  rivers  with  their  innumerable  branches.  To  the 
east  is  another  chain  of  mountains,  less  elevated  than  the  western.  De- 
scendants of  the  Spaniards  occupy  the  western  chain  and  belt,  and  the 
Portuguese  the  eastern.  Thus  South  America  is  arranged  into  two  great 
political  divisions. 

Rivers.  The  Amazon  has  undisputed  claims  to  be  the  first  on  the 
globe  in  length,  breadth,  and  depth.  Its  sources  are  in  the  Andes.  One 
of  its  chief  branches  is  the  Ucayal.  This  stream  is  formed  by  the  Mara- 
non  and  Apurimac.  The  other  branch  is  the  Lauricocha,  or  High  Mara- 
non.  From  San  Joaquin  d'Omaguas,  the  united  stream  rolls  its  broad 
wave  over  an  immense  plain,  to  which  great  numbers  of  rivers  bring 
down  their  tribute  from  the  mountains.  The  Napo,  Yupura,  Parana, 
Chuchivara,  Yuta,  and  Puruz,  would  be  viewed  as  great  rivers  in  any 
other  country.  Along  with  the  great  Rio  Negro  from  Terra  Firma,  they 
are  all  swallowed  up  in  the  Amazon.  This  prodigious  river  is  known 
by  authors  and  in  poetry  by  the  names  Orellana  or  Maranon.  But  the 
better  name  is  that  here  given,  which  had  its  origin  from  a  supposed  no- 
tion of  women  on  its  banks,  who  were  clad  in  arms,  and  considered  the 
males,  as  the  women  are  viewed  in  other  countries.  The  Madeira  is 
another  wide  branch  of  this  river.  The  Topayosand  Xingu,  also,  empty 
themselves  into  it.  But  Araguay  ought  to  be  considered  an  independent 
outlet,  united  to  the  Amazon  by  a  branch  of  communication.  In  its 
upper  courses,  this  river  varies  from  two  to  three  miles  in  width,  and  its 
depth  exceeds  one  hundred  fathoms.  Below  the  Xingu,  the  eye  cannot 
discern  the  opposite  bank.  The  tide  is  felt  between  seven  and  eight  hun- 
Voi.  II.  20 


154  SOUTH      AMEBIC  A. 

dred  miles  from  tho  sea.  At  the  mouth  the  conflict  between  the  waves 
of  the  sea  and  the  force  of  this  mighty  stream  produces  a  violent  and 
dangerous  ripple. 

The  second  river  of  the  country,  and  far  surpassing  in  breadth  and 
depth  any  other  in  the  world,  except  the  Amazon,  is  the  La  Plata,  or  Sil- 
ver river.  Its  chief  branch  is  the  Parana.  This  river  has  a  grand  cata- 
ract not  far  from  the  town  of  Guayra.  From  the  north  the  Parana  re- 
ceives the  Paraguay.  Tho  Paraguay  receives  the  Pilcomaya,  a  great 
river  rising  in  the  vicinity  of  Potosi.  The  La  Plata  receives,  also,  the 
Vermejo,  and  Salado,from  the  Andes,  and  the  Uraguay,  from  the  Brazils. 
Its  majestic  course  is  to  the  full  as  broad  as  the  Amazon;  and  its  estuary 
exceeds  the  British  channel  in  breadth.  The  Oronoco,  though  not  equal- 
ling either  of  these,  is  a  vast  river.  It  rises  in  the  lake  Ypava  in  5°  5' 
north  latitude.  It  passes  through  the  great  lake  Parima.  From  this  lake 
it  issues  by  two  mouths,  and  receives  the  Guyavari,  and  several  other 
rivers,  and  falls  into  the  sea,  after  a  course  of  nearly  one  thousand  miles. 
When  it  meets  the  sea,  its  green  colored  waves  strongly  contrast  with  the 
blue  of  the  ocean.  The  stream,  formed  by  this  river  along  the  gulf  of 
Paria,  is  a  place  of  most  formidable  navigation,  and  it  is  so  swift  that  ves- 
sels require  a  fresh  breeze  to  stem  it.  The  aspect  of  the  outlet  of  this  im- 
mense river  convinced  Columbus,  that  such  a  body  of  fresh  water  could 
only  issue  from  a  continent.  Here  it  was,  while  feeling  the  refreshing 
land  breeze,  charged  with  the  aromatic  fragrance  of  a  boundless  wilder- 
ness of  flowers,  and  contemplating  the  cthcrial  mildness  of  the  sky,  that 
the  famous  discoverer  imagined  himself  near  the  garden  of  Eden,  and 
that  the  Oronoco  was  one  of  the  four  great  rivers  mentioned  in  the  scrip- 
tures, as  issuing  from  Paradise.  Among  the  numerous  cataracts  of  this 
river,  Baron  Humboldt  distinguishes  two,  the  Maypures  and  Astures,  as 
extremely  grand  and  picturesque.  Between  the  Oronoco  and  the  Ama- 
zon, there  is  a  singular  communication,  by  means  of  the  Casiquiare.  In- 
numerable smaller  streams  water  this  vast  country. 

South  America,  like  Africa,  contains  both  rivers  and  lakes  that  have 
no  known  outlet.  Such  is  the  lake  Titiaca,  connected  with  the  lake  des 
Angelos.  In  Tucuman,  and  south-west  of  Buenos  Ayres,  there  is  an  im- 
mense level  chain,  furrowed  by  torrents  and  little  lakes,  which  lose  them- 
selves in  the  sands  and  lagoons. 

Mountains.  The  Andes  derive  their  name  from  the  Peruvian  word 
anti,  implying  copper.  These  mountains  commence  on  the  coast  of  the 
Pacific ,  ten  or  twelve  leagues  from  the  shore.  Near  Potosi  and  lake  Tit- 
iaca, the  chain  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  broad.  Near  Quito,  un- 
der the  equator,  are  the  loftiest  summits  of  this  chain,  which  until  some 
travellers  have  recently  pronounced  the  Himalaya,  in  Thibet,  highest, 


SOUTH      A  MERITA.  155 

were  universally  accounted  the  loftiest  on  our  globe.  At  Popayan,this 
great  belt  terminates,  and  divides  into  a  number  of  distinct  chains.  The 
Sierra  Nevada  de  Merida  has  a  height  of  fourteen  thousand  feet ;  the  Silla 
de  Caraccas  thirteen  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-six  feet.  Chhn- 
borazo,  in  Quito,  has  generally  been  reckoned  at  twenty-four  thousand 
feet  in  height,  and  is  higher  than  Mount  Etna  would  be  if  piled  on  the 
summit  of  St.  Gothard.  Cayambe,  Antisana,  and  Cotopaxi,  the  next 
highest  summits,  exceed  nineteen  thousand  feet.  The  natives  assert,  that 
Capa  Urcu,  at  present  an  extinguished  volcano,  was  once  higher  than 
Chimborazo.  After  a  continued  eruption  of  eight  years,  the  high  cone 
fell  in,  and  the  volcano  was  extinguished.  Near  Cuzco,  Ilimani  and 
Cucurana  shoot  up  their  summits  above  the  clouds. 

The  Andes,  of  Chili,  are  not  less  lofty  than  those  of  Peru,  and  volca- 
noes are  still  more  numerous.  The  most  frequented  pass  of  these  moun- 
tains is  the  Paramo  de  Guanacas.  But  Baron  Humboldt  preferred  that 
of  Quindiu,  between  Hagua  and  Carthago.  He  first  crossed  a  vast  and 
deep  forest,  generally  requiring  ten  or  twelve  days  to  traverse.  Not  a 
cabin  is  met  in  all  this  extent.  The  pathway  over  the  mountain  is  not 
more  than  one  or  two  feet  in  breadth;  and  resembles  a  hollow  gallery 
open  to  the  sky. 

The  Quebradas  are  immense  rents,  dividing  the  mass  of  the  Ande9, 
and  breaking  the  continuity  of  the  chain  which  they  traverse.  Moun- 
tains of  a  great  size  might  be  swallowed  up  in  these  almost  fathomless 
ravines,  which  seem  so  many  peninsulas  on  the  bosom  of  an  aerial  ocean. 
It  is  at  the  bottom  of  these  Quebradas,  that  the  eye  of  the  terrified  travel- 
ler can  best  comprehend  the  gigantic  magnificence  of  these  mountains. 
Through  these  natural  gates,  the  great  rivers  find  a  passage  to  the  sea. 

The  greater  part  of  the  population  of  these  countries  is  concentrated  on 
the  plateaus  of  these  prodigious  mountains.  Here  the  traveller  looks  round 
on  what  seems  to  be  a  wide  plain,  or  a  deep  valley.     He  forgets,  that  the 
villages  of  these  mountaineers,  these  pastures  covered  with  lamas  and 
sheep,  these  orchards  fenced  with  quickset  hedges,  these  luxuriant  fields 
occupy  a  position  suspended  in  the  high  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
can  hardly  bring  himself  to  believe,  that  this  habitable  region  is  more 
elevated  above  the  neighboring  Pacific,  than  the  summit  of  the  Pyrenees 
is  above  the  Mediterranean.     Antisana,  a  village  at  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain of  that  name,  is  the  highest  inhabited  spot  in  our  world,  being  thir- 
teen thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.     The  structure  of  these 
mountains  is  generally  granite  at  the  base,  and  the  crests  are  covered 
with  porphyries,   and   when   there   are   volcanoes,  with   obsidian  and 
amygdaloid. 
Temperature.     In  the  torrid  zone,  the  lower  limit  of  perpetual  snow  is 


15G  SOUTH      AMERICA. 

fourteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  feet.  In  the  temperate  zone 
it  is  from  six  to  ten  thousand  feet.  The  temperature  is  a  regular  and 
constant  warmth,  like  a  perpetual  spring.  Accordingly,  a  journey  from  the 
summit  of  the  Andes  to  the  sea,  or  vice  versa,  has  a  medicinal  operation 
upon  the  frame  sufficient  to  produce  the  most  important  changes.  But 
living  constantly  in  either  of  theso  unchangeable  zones  has  a  tendency  to 
enervate  both  body  and  mind  by  its  monotonous  tranquility.  Summer, 
spring,  and  winter,  are  here  seated  on  three  distinct  thrones,  which  they 
never  quit.  The  palm,  the  canana,  and  pine  apple,  together  with  the 
most  brilliant  and  fragrant  flowers,  inhabit  the  region  at  the  base  of  these 
mountains.  A  single  variety  of  the  palm  is  found  from  five  thousand  four 
hundred  to  eight  thousand  seven  hundred  feet  high.  Above  that  com- 
mences the  belt  of  the  arborescent  fern,  and  the  cinchona,  the  bark  of 
which  is  such  a  precious  remedy  in  fevers.  Between  three  and  four  thou- 
sand feet  is  a  most  rich  and  abundant  turf,  with  various  beautiful  plants, 
and  flowers,  and  mosses,  that  are  always  green.  Abroad  belt,  from  six  to 
twelve  thousand  feet,  is  the  region  of  Alpine  plants.  This  is  the  country 
of  grasses.  In  the  distance  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  gilded  carpet. 
Above  this  belt  to  that  of  perpetual  snow  only  lichens  cover  the  rocks. 
The  banana,  jatropha,  maize,  cocoa,  sugar  cane,  and  indigo  grow  in  the 
region  of  the  palm.  Coffee  and  cotton  extend  across  this  region  into  that 
in  which  wheat  grows.  This  is  found  in  full  perfection  at  four  thousand 
five  hundred  feet.  Barley  from  that  to  six  thousand.  It  is,  however,  be- 
tween six  and  nine  thousand  feet  high,  that  the  various  European  grains 
are  chiefly  cultivated.  The  chief  mines  of  the  Andes  are  higher  than 
those  of  Mexico,  and  are  generally  above  the  region  of  perpetual  snow, 
away  from  cultivation  and  wood,  and  of  course  are  not  so  much  wrought 
as  the  former. 

Animals.  In  the  hot  region  we  find  the  sloth ;  the  terrible  boa  serpent, 
the  crocodile,  and  the  cavia  hide  themselves  in  the  marshes.  The  tanaya, 
crax,  and  paroquet  mingle  the  brilliance  of  their  plumage  with  that  of 
the  flowers  and  leaves.  The  howlings  of  the  alouates  are  heard,  and 
tho  sapajou,  or  marmoset  monkeys  are  seen.  The  yaguar,  the  felix 
concolor,  and  the  black  tiger,  strive  to  satiate  their  sanguinary  appetite. 
Innumerable  mosquetoes  sting,  and  termites  and  ants  annoy  the  inhabit- 
ants ;  and  the  oestrus  punctures  the  flesh,  and  deposits  its  eggs  in  the  body. 
Still  higher  are  the  tapir,  sus  tajassu,and  the  felix  pardalis;  and  the  pulex 
is  more  numerous  and  annoying  than  lower  down.  Still  higher  we  find 
the  tiger  cat,  and  the  bear;  and  the  fleas  are  here  exceedingly  trouble- 
some. From  nine  to  twelve  thousand  feet  is  seen  a  small  species  of  lion> 
known  by  the  name  pouma,  the  lesser  bear  with  a  white  forehead,  and 
some  of  the  weasel  tribe.  In  the  region  of  the  grasses,  from  twelve  to  fifteen 


SODTH      AMERICA.  157 

p 

thousand  feet,  feed  Innumerable  herds  of  lamas,  vicunas,  and  paces.  In 
this  region,  culture  and  gardening  cease,  and  man  dwells  in  the  midst  of 
numerous  flocks  of  lamas,  sheep,  and  oxen,  which  sometimes  stray  away 
into  the  regions  of  perpetual  snow  and  perish.  Some  lichens  grow  under 
the  perpetual  snow.  Above  all,  above  even  the  solitary  mountaineer  in 
the  midst  of  his  flocks,  is  seen  the  prodigious  condor.  They  have  been 
observed  sailing  through  the  air  at  the  immense  height  of  twenty-one 
thousand  one  hundred  feet. 

Caraccas.  New  Grenada,  Quito.  These  countries  have  been  called 
Terra  Firma  and  Castile  d'or.  At  present  they  comprehend  the  provin- 
ces or  states  of  Varaguas,  Panama,  and  Darien.  New  Granada,  Carac- 
cas, Maracaibo,  Merida,  Truxillo,  Varinas,  Spanish  Guinea,  and  Cuma- 
na,  and  the  island  of  Margarita,  belong  to  this  general  division.  This 
country  has  been  the  scene  of  recent  and  desolating  revolutionary  wars. 

According  to  the  difference  of  the  level  and  elevation  of  Caraccas,  pre- 
vails either  perpetual  spring  or  perpetual  summer.  The  rainy  and  dry 
seasons  completely  divide  the  year.  The  rainy  commences  in  November, 
and  lasts  till  April.  During  the  dry  season,  the  rains  are  less  frequent; 
sometimes  even  none.  The  country  is  much  exposed  to  earthquakes. 
Mines  of  gold  and  copper  are  found;  but  owing  to  the  recent  troubles, 
not  much  worked.  The  pearl  fishery  en  the  coast  is  now,  in  consequence 
of  the  late  troubles,  nearly  abandoned.  The  forests  would  supply  to  a 
settled  and  active  government  inexhaustible  supplies  of  ship  and  building 
limber.  Dyeing  and  cabinet  woods  abound.  Cinchona  and  sarsaparilla 
are  collected.  The  lake  of  Maracaibo  furnishes  mineral  pitch  in  abun- 
dance, used  for  calking  ships.  The  lake  is  210  by  1)0  miles;  and  the  in- 
habitants prefer  living  on  islands  in  the  lake,  to  a  residence  on  its  arid 
and  unhealthy  shores.  The  water  of  the  lake  is  fresh,  though  it  commu- 
nicates with  the  sea,  and  is  of  easy  and  safe  navigation.  The  lake  Valen- 
cia is  a  more  attractive  sheet  of  water.  Its  banks  have  an  agreeablo 
temperature  from  the  luxuriant  vegetation  on  their  shores.  Being  forty 
miles  long  by  one  broad,  it  receives  the  water  of  twenty  rivers,  and  has  no 
visible  outlet.  Between  it  and  the  sea  is  a  belt  of  mountains  six  leagues 
in  width.  The  territories  of  Carracas  are  every  where  well  watered, 
and  furnish  abundant  facilities  for  irrigation.  In  some  places  the  river 
inundates  the  country,  during  the  rainy  season.  The  northern  valleys  are 
the  most  productive,  because  there  heat  and  moisture  are  most  equally 
combined.  The  southern  parts  produce  pasture,  which  rears  cattle, 
mules,  and  horses.  Cocoa,  indigo,  cotton,  and  sugar,  might  be  produced 
in  great  abundance.  Caraccas,  the  capital,  before  the  last  earthquake, 
contained  42,000  inhabitants.  The  valley  in  which  it  is  situated,  is  un 
«ven,  and  is  watered  by  four  small  rivers ;  nevertheless,  it  has  handsome 


158  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

streets,  and  well  built  houses.  Being  on  an  elevation  of  three  thousand 
feet,  it  enjoys  a  perpetual  spring.  La  Guayra,  fifteen  miles  distant,  is 
the  port.  The  sea  is  here  as  boisterous  as  the  air  is  hot  and  unhealthy. 
Porto  Cavallo,  in  the  middle  of  marshes,  and  an  insalubrious  air,  has 
some  trade.  Valencia,  half  a  league  from  the  lake  of  the  same  name,  is 
a  flourishing  place,  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  and  salubrious  plain.  Coro, 
an  ancient  capital,  is  built  near  the  sea,  on  a  dry  and  arid  level.  Cuma- 
na  has  28,000  inhabitants,  and  is  situated  on  an  arid,  flat,  and  sandy 
shore,  where  the  air  is  salubrious,  though  burning  hot.  Like  the  other 
town,  it  is  always  in  dread  of  earthquakes.  New  Barcelona  is  a  dirty 
town,  in  the  midst  of  an  uncultivated,  but  fertile  country.  Maracaibo, 
the  seat  of  government,  is  built  on  a  sandy  plain,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
lake  of  the  same  name,  six  leagues  from  the  sea.  The  air,  though  ex- 
cessively hot,  is  not  unhealthy.  The  country  houses  are  at  Gibraltar,  on 
the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  is  Merida,  in 
the  midst  of  a  well  cultivated  district.  Truxillo,  once  a  magnificent  town, 
was  ravaged  by  the  bucaniers.  In  the  ilse  of  Margarita  is  the  town  of 
Ascension,  formerly  celebrated  for  its  pearl  fishery,  and  still  more  for 
its  abundance  and  variety  of  fish. 

Population.  Before  the  late  revolution,  it  was  rated  at  near  a  million. 
The  people  present  nearly  the  same  mixtures  as  in  Mexico.  The  Span- 
ish immigrants  prefer  a  country  of  mines  to  one  of  agriculture,  however 
rich.  Hence  this  country  has  not  become  populous,  in  proportion  to  its 
fertility.  A  small  colony  of  French  and  Irish  lead  a  patriarchal  life  un- 
der the  shade  of  their  cocoa  trees,  on  the  promontory  of  Paria.  The 
Zambos,  or  descendants  of  Indians  and  negroes,  are  the  scourge  of  some 
parts  of  this  country,  by  their  numbers  and  hostility. 

Spanish  Guiana  extends  more  than  one  thousand  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Oronoco  to  Brazil.  It  is  between  three  and  four 
hundred  miles  broad.  The  population  is  sparse.  The  missionaries,  be- 
fore the  revolution,  had  20  or  30,000  Indians  under  them.  It  is  a  very 
fertile  country,  and  watered  by  three  hundred  branches  of  the  Oronoco. 
Situated  very  favorably  for  commerce,  it  will  one  day  become  a  country 
of  great  importance. 

Angostura  is  the  chief  town.  In  this  important  point,  communicating 
by  so  many  navigable  rivers  both  with  the  Oronoco  and  the  Amazon,  the 
English  have  established  some  military  posts,  on  islands  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  where  they  cultivated  an  alliance  of  the  savages,  and  secu- 
red for  themselves  the  monopoly  of  the  cabinet  and  the  dye  woods  of  the 
country. 

On  the  upper  country  of  the  Oronoco,  between  3°  and  4°  north  lati- 
tude, is  seen  the  astonishing  phenomenon  of  the  'black  waters.'    The 


SOUTH     AMERICA.  150 

water  of  the  Alabaco,  Temi,  Tuamini,  and  Guiainia,  is  of  a  coffee  color. 
Under  the  shade  of  the  palm  forests,  it  becomes  deep  black.  In  trans- 
parent vessels  it  show3  of  a  golden  yellow,  in  which  the  image  of  the 
southern  constellations  is  reflected  with  great  brilliancy.  In  the  black 
rivers  there  are  no  alligators,  nor  fish,  fewer  mosquetoes,  and  a  cooler  and 
healthier  air.  They  are  supposed  to  derive  their  colors  from  a  solution 
of  carburet  of  hydrogen,  from  the  multitude  of  vegetables  that  cover  the 
soil  through  which  they  flow. 

Llanos.  In  Guiana  and  New  Granada  are  seen  these  astonishing 
deserts.  Over  an  extent  of  more  than  a  thousand  square  leagues,  the 
burning  soil  no  where  varies  more  than  a  few  inches  in  level.  The  sand, 
like  a  vast  sea,  exhibits  curious  phenomena  of  refraction  and  mirage. 
The  traveller  is  guided  only  by  the  stars,  or  a  solitary  palm  trunk  seen 
at  an  immense  distance.  These  plains  change  their  appearance  twice 
every  year.  At  one  time  they  are  as  bare  as  the  Lybian  deserts;  and 
at  another  they  are  covered  with  a  verdant  turf,  like  the  steppes  of  Tar- 
tary.  They  have  begun  to  rear  cattle  on  these  immense  plains,  and  not- 
withstanding the  alternate  danger  of  the  dry  season,  and  the  inundation 
of  the  rainy,  the  cattle  multiply  to  an  amazing  extent.  These  plains 
are  surrounded  by  savage  and  frightful  solitudes.  Forests  of  impenetra- 
ble thickness  cover  the  humid  country  between  the  Oronoco  and  the 
Amazon.  Immense  masses  of  granite  contract  the  beds  of  the  rivers. 
The  forests  and  mountains  incessantly  resound  with  the  deafening  noise 
of  cataracts,  the  roaring  of  beasts  of  prey,  and  the  hollow  howling  of  the 
bearded  monkey,  which  prognosticates  rain.  The  alligator,  stretching 
himself  on  a  sand  bank,  and  the  boa,  concealing  in  the  mud  his  enor- 
mous coils,  anxiously  await  their  prey,  or  repose  themselves  after 
carnage. 

New  Grenada.  Under  this  head  we  include  not  only  the  country, 
properly  so  called,  but  the  provinces  of  Panama  and  Darien.  Quito 
contains  the  provinces  of  Quito,  Macas,  Quixos,  and  Juan  de  Bracamo- 
ras.  Guyaquil  is  also  subject  to  the  same  country;  and  contains  Santa 
Fe  de  Bogota,  and  Antioquia,  Santa  Martha,  and  Carthagena,  San  Juan 
de  los  Llanos,  and  Popayan,  Raposo.  Barbacoas  and  Choco,  Beriquelc, 
Novita  and  Roposo.  New  Grenada  contains  the  greatest  diversity  of 
climate;  and  is  temperate, and  even  cold  and  frosty,  but  very  healthy  on 
the  elevated  lands.  The  air  is  burning,  suffocating,  and  pestilential,  on 
the  sea  shore ,  and  in  some  of  the  deep  valleys  of  the  interior.  At  Car- 
thagena and  Guyaquil  the  yellow  fever  is  endemic.  The  town  of  Honda, 
though  elevated  nine  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  has  an  atmosphere  ex- 
cessively hot.  This  is  on  the  river  Magdalena.  The  nver  Cauca  is 
obstructed  by  rapids.    From  Honda  to  Santa  Fe  the  roads  are  dangerous, 


160  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

through  deep  forests  of  oak,  melastome,  and  cinchona.  The  unvarying 
nature  of  the  climate  in  each  belt,  the  want  of  an  agreeable  succession  of 
the  seasons,  perhaps  also  the  frequent  volcanic  explosions,  have  hindered 
tho  country  from  becoming  populous.  The  cocoa  of  Guyaquil  is  in 
great  estimation.  Cypress,  firs,  juniper,  the  passion  flower  tree,  the 
bambusas,  and  the  wax  palm,  are  common.  Cotton,  tobacco,  and  sugar 
are  abundant.  The  inhabitants  make  use  of  the  expressed  juice  of  the 
Uvilla  instead  of  ink.  It  is  a  blue  liquid,  more  indestructible  than  the 
best  ink  of  Europe.  Coal  is  found  at  an  elevation  of  seven  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty  feet.  Platina  is  met  with  at  Choco  and  Barbacoas. 
Choco  is  rich  in  gold  dust.  A  piece  of  gold  was  found  there  that  weighed 
twenty-five  pounds.  The  country  also  contains  extensive  and  rich  veins 
of  silver.  At  Muzo,  in  the  valley  of  Tunca,  are  the  principal  emerald 
mines  of  Peru.  Small  diamonds  are  also  found  here.  Sulphureted 
mercury  is  discovered  in  some  of  the  gold  mines. 

Chief  Towns.  Santa  Fe  dc  Bogota  is  the  seat  of  government,  and  of 
a  university.  It  contains  30,000  inhabitants,  many  churches,  and  mag- 
nificent houses,  and  five  superb  bridges.  The  air  is  constantly  tempe- 
rate. The  grains  of  Europe  here  produce  abundant  crops.  Near  this 
place,  in  the  Rio  de  Bogota,  is  the  cataract  of  Tequendama.  The  river, 
before  it  reaches  the  leap,  is  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  wide ;  but  at 
the  cascade  itself,  it  narrows  to  between  thirty  and  forty  feet.  But  still 
there  is  presented  in  the  driest  seasons,  a  surface  of  seven  hundred  and 
fifty-six  square  feet.  At  two  leaps  the  river  rushes  down  five  hundred 
and  thirty  feet.  There  is  no  where  in  the  world  another  so  large  a  body 
of  water  that  has  a  fall  to  compare  with  it.  Rainbows  glitter  with  the 
most  brilliant  colors.  An  immense  cloud  of  vapor  rises,  which  may  be 
distinguished  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles.  This  vapor,  condensed  in 
moisture,  conduces  to  the  exceeding  fertility  of  the  vale  of  Bogota.  The 
people  of  Santa  Fe  say,  in  describing  this  fall,  that  the  Tequendama  is 
so  high  that  the  water  leaps  at  one  fall  from  the  cold  region  Tierra  Fria 
to  the  hot  region  Tierra  Caliente.  There  is  an  astonishing  natural  bridge 
at  the  vale  of  Icononzo.  The  arch  is  forty-seven  feet  long  by  forty-one 
broad,  and  the  bridge  is  three  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  torrent,  that  has  pierced  its  way  under  the  rocks,  probably  by  the 
agency  of  an  earthquake.  Porto  Bello,  on  the  Atlantic,  and  Panama, 
on  the  Pacific,  were  formerly  more  flourishing  towns  than  at  present. 
The  precious  metals  that  now  find  their  way  abroad  from  Buenos  Ayres, 
used  to  be  shipped  from  these  places.  Although  they  are  situated  on  two 
oceans,  they  arc  not  more  than  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  in  a  right  line 
apart.  The  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation  is  surprising.  But  the  climate 
is  exceedingly  insalubrious.      In  the  narrowest  part  of  the  isthmus,  it  is 


SOUTH      AMERICA.  101 

only  eight  leagues  from  sea  to  sea.  But  the  rocky  and  rugged  nature  of 
the  soil,  probably  interposes  insurmountable  obstacles  to  a  canal.  Car- 
thagena,  on  the  Atlantic,  is  now  one  of  the  chief  towns.  It  has  25,000 
inhabitants,  a  bishop's  see,  a  university,  and  a  deep  and  safe  harbor.  The 
country  is  fertile  in  the  highest  degree;  but  the  air  exceedingly  insalu- 
brious. To  avoid  the  extremely  hot  air  of  summer,  unacclimated  per- 
sons take  shelter  in  the  village  of  Turbaco,  surrounded  by  limpid  springs, 
cooled  by  the  refreshing  and  deep  shade  of  colossal  trees,  and  nine  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea.  Various  splendid  trees,  plants,  and  flowers, 
adorn  the  vicinity;  and  not  far  from  this  place, are  the  celebrated  air  vol- 
canoes. They  issue  from  eighteen  or  twenty  volcanoes  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  feet  high.  These  cones  are  filled  with  water,  and  every 
eighteen  or  twenty  seconds,  a  vast  quantity  of  air,  and  sometimes  mud,  is 
ejected  with  great  force.  The  air  is  found  to  be  azotic  gas  of  a  pure 
quality.  Santa  Martha  has  an  excellent  harbor,  and  a  healthy  situation. 
The  district  to  which  it  belongs,  is  fertile,  and  has  mines  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver, and  salt  springs.  Rio  de  la  Hacha  was  formerly  enriched  by  being 
the  chief  seat  of  the  pearl  fishery.  Popayan  is  an  important  town,  con- 
taining 20,000  inhabitants,  chiefly  mulattoes.  Near  it  rise  two  volca- 
noes covered  with  snow.  Pasto  is  a  town  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  terri- 
ble volcano,  and  surrounded  by  forests  and  marshes.  It  is  a  high  tabic 
plain,  in  a  region  almost  too  elevated  and  cold  for  vegetation.  The  inhab- 
itants are  surrounded  by  ever  streaming  sulphur  pits,  and  can  raise  little 
beside  potatoes.  When  this  crop  fails,  they  eat  the  trunk  of  a  small  tree 
called  Achupallo.  The  bear  of  the  Andes  feeds  upon  the  same,  and  the 
inhabitants  and  the  bears  there  come  in  conflict  for  their  food. 

The  province  of  Choco  would  be  richer  in  the  fertility  of  its  hills,  and 
the  excellence  of  its  cocoa,  than  its  mines,  if  human  industry  were  not 
interdicted  by  its  cloudy  and  burning  climate.  Dark  forests,  thick  clouds, 
howling  winds,  the  roar  of  thunder,  perpetual  torrents,  dashing  between 
bristling  rocks,  the  hollow  groans  of  the  waves,  torn  by  tempests,  the 
howling  of  wolves,  the  roaring  of  tigers,  the  hissing  of  enormous  snakes, 
crawling  under  the  humid  grass  of  the  marshes,  and  with  their  vast  coils 
encircling  the  trunks  of  the  trees,  innumerable  insects,  engendered  by 
the  heat  and  stagnant  air — such  is  the  picture  which  M.  Marmontel 
draws  of  this  country.  Gorgona  and  the  Pearl  islands,  in  the  bay  of  Cho- 
co, are  more  inhabitable.  4 

Quito,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  second  Peruvian  monarchy,  is  cele- 
brated for  its  manufactures.  It  is  situated  nearly  ten  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  too  high  for  the  region  of  perpetual  spring.  The 
atmosphere  is  chilly  and  lowering,  and  the  climate  rather  severe.  In 
1797,  an  earthquake  overwhelmed  this  province  and  in  a  moment  de- 
Vol.  II.  21 


162  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

stroyed  40,000  people.  Since  that  time  earthquakes  have  been  continu- 
ally repeated.  Yet  the  population,  00  or  70,000  in  number,  breathes 
gaity,  luxury,  and  pleasure,  on  this  earth  heaving  under  their  feet. 

Guyaquil  is  a  sea  port,  with  a  dock-yard  and  abundance  of  ship  timber 
in  its  vicinity.  It  contains  18  or  20,000  inhabitants,  and  is  a  port  of 
interchange  between  the  productions  of  Mexico,  and  those  of  Chili  and 
Peru. 

The  provinces  of  Quixos  and  Macas  in  2°  south  longitude,  have  their 
winter  from  April  to  September.  The  vast  province  of  Maynas  extends 
along  the  Amazon.  It  contains  a  very  few  Spanish  establishments — the 
principal  one  is  San  Joaquin  de  Omaguas. 

Ibarra,  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles  from  Quito,  contains  12,000  in- 
habitants, with  considerable  manufactories.  Otavola,  south-west  of  this 
place,  contains  from  18  to  20,000  inhabitants.  The  district  of  Quito  is 
noted  for  its  large  caves,  the  excellence  of  its  cocoa,  the  variety  and  beau- 
ty of  its  cabinet  woods,  and  the  terribly  efficacious  poison  of  the  Manza- 
nillo  tree,  under  which,  if  a  person  sleep,  sickness  and  death  would  ensue 
in  consequence.  The  caoban  is  a  beautiful  species  of  mahogany.  The 
ebony  is  a  very  large  tree,  and  yields  a  wood  of  a  deep  black,  while  the 
porsilde  nearly  resembles  ivory.  The  guayacan  is  a  green  wood.  The 
bark  of  the  caoutchouc  is  used  for  mattrasses,  curtains,  or  sails.  There 
is  a  wood  that  petrifies  in  a  few  months,  to  a  degree  of  hardness,  that,  it 
is  asserted,  pieces  of  it  are  used  for  gun  flints.  There  are  bees  here, 
which  make  their  nests  under  ground,  from  which  great  quantities  of  wax 
are  extracted.  Fine  thread  is  made  in  great  quantities  from  the  leaf  of 
the  Aloe.  There  is,  also,  a  tree  from  which  a  rich  purple  dye  is  extract- 
ed. There  is,  probably,  no  place  on  the  earth  where  the  vegetable  king- 
dom is  richer  than  in  Quito. 

Volcanoes.  Pinchina  is,  probably,  the  greatest  volcano  on  the  globe. 
The  mouth  of  the  crater  is  circular,  and  nearly  a  league  in  circumfer- 
ence. The  interior,  when  not  on  fire,  is  deep  black.  The  tops  of  several 
mountains  are  seen  inside  of  it.  Their  summits  are  three  hundred  fath- 
oms deep  in  the  centre.  The  crater  is  probably  on  a  level  with  the  city 
of  Quito.  Cotopaxi  is  the  highestof  the  volcanoes  of  the  Andes,  and  the 
most  destructive  in  its  eruptions.  In  1758,  flames  arose  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  feet  above  its  summit.  The  roaring  was  heard  at  a  town 
on  the  Magdalena,  a  distance  of  six  hundred  miles.  The  sky  continued 
as  dark  as  night,  after  noon  day.  Another  eruption  occasioned  destruc- 
tive torrents  of  melted  snow.  M.  Humboldt  heard  the  roarings  of  this 
volcano,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  a  right  line,  like  the  repeated  dis- 
charges of  artillery. 

The  group  of  the  Gallipagos,  of  which  twenty-two  islands  are  known, 


SOUTH     AMERICA.  103 

ia  situated  five  or  six  hundred  miles  from  this  coast.  They  are  directly 
heneath  the  equator,  and  contain  volcanic  peaks.  The  Cactus  and  Aloo 
cover  their  sides,  and  a  deep  and  black  mould  furnishes  the  nutriment  of 
large  trees.  Flamingoes  and  turtle  doves  fill  the  air,  and  enormous 
turtles  cover  the  shore.  No  trace  of  mortal  foot,  save  that  of  the  crews 
of  ships  occasionally  touching  them,  seems  ever  to  have  left  its  print  on 
the  soil. 

Peru.  This  country  is  penetrated  by  two  chains  of  the  Andes,  nearly 
parallel  to  each  other.  The  one  is  called  the  Cordillera  of  the  coast,  the 
other  is  the  central  chain.  Lower  Peru  is  situated  between  the  coast 
Cordillera  and  the  sea,  sloping  from  the  one  line  to  the  other.  The  soil 
suffers  from  excessive  aridity.  Neither  rain  or  thunder  are  known.  The 
only  fertile  lands  are  those  capable  of  irrigation.  Nothing  can  exceed 
the  fertility  and  beauty  of  such  plains.  The  climate  is  remarkable  for 
its  mildness.  The  mercury  seldom  falls  below  G0°,  and  seldom  rises 
above  86°. 

Upper  Peru  is  between  these  two  ridges.  It  is  covered  with  rocks 
and  mountains,  with  some  fertile  valleys.  This  region  contains  the 
richest  veins  of  silver  in  the  world.  The  longevity  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  region  is  proverbial. 

Interior  Peru  slopes  in  an  eastern  direction  towards  the  banks  of  the 
Ucayal  and  Maranon.  The  inhabitants  denominate  it  Montana  Reale. 
This  country  is  as  humid  as  the  other  division  is  dry.  The  forests  are 
charmingly  verdant,  but  subject  to  the  drawback  of  inundations,  marshes, 
noxious  reptiles,  and  innumerable  insects.  Peru  is  thinly  peopled,  and 
not  much  adapted  to  become  an  agricultural  country.  There  are  neither 
roads  nor  canals.  All  conveyance  is  by  packing  on  mules.  Hence  the 
fragrant  gums,  the  medicinal  plants,  the  precious  woods,  the  musk  nut, 
and  the  Peruvian  cinnamon,  the  oil,  cocoa,  cotton,  and  silk,  will  not  pay 
the  expense  of  transporting  them  to  the  coast.  So  much  cinchona  has 
been  exported,  however,  as  to  have  given  the  article  the  name  of  Peru- 
vian bark. 

But  it  is  chiefly  for  its  precious  metals,  that  Peru  is  celebrated ;  abound- 
ing in  them  to  such  a  degree,  as  to  be  the  figurative  term  for  wealth.  A 
projecting  portion  of  Mount  Ilimani  gave  way  near  La  Paz,  and  a  piece 
of  gold  was  detached  from  it,  that  weighed  fifty  pounds.  Most  of  the 
gold  obtained  at  present  is  by  washing  the  sands.  The  richest  silver 
mines  are  those  of  Pasco,  near  Laurichocha.  They  furnish,  annually, 
two  millions  of  dollars.  They  are  elevated  over  thirteen  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  next  richest  mines  are  those  of  Chota, 
Fuentestiana,  Camolacha,andPampa  dc  Navar. 

Guanca  Velica, not  far  south-west  from  Lima,  yields  quicksilver.    Tin, 


164  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

lead,  and  copper  mines  abound.  None  but  the  wretched  Indians  can 
support  working  in  these  cold,  damp  mines,  on  such  miserable  provisions 
as  the  snowy  regions  furnish.  The  business  of  mining  is  shared  between 
three  classes,  the  speculatores,  the  habilitadores,  and  the  rescatiri.  The 
exports  of  Peru  consist  of  gold,  silver,  wine,  brandy,  pimento,  cinchona, 
salt,  vicunna  wool,  and  course  woolen  goods. 

Towns.  Lima  is  situated  on  the  broad  and  fertile  vale  of  the  Rimac, 
and  commands  a  view  of  the  whole  vale,  with  the  Andes  in  the  distance. 
The  Rimac  flows  beneath  its  walls.  The  form  of  the  city  is  triangular, 
and  it  extends  two  miles  in  length.  It  is  surrounded  with  walls  fortified 
with  bastions.  The  streets  are  clean,  well  paved,  and  cross  each  other 
at  right  angles.  They  are  watered  ard  cleansed  by  aqueducts  from  the 
river.  There  are  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  streets.  The  houses  of 
the  rich  have  gardens  attached  to  them,  watered  by  canals  from  the  Ri- 
mac. It  is  the  seat  of  an  university,  and  has  many  churches,  convents, 
and  hospitals.  It  is  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  chief  tribunals.  The 
prison,  the  Archbishop's  Palace,  and  Cathedral  form  the  greater  part  of 
the  side  of  the  great  square.  They  now  have  coffee  houses  and  a  theatre. 
But  the  people  are  still  fond  of  bull  fights  and  gambling;  and  superstition, 
bigotry,  and  vice  prevail.  The  inhabitants  are  computed  at  fifty-four 
thousand. 

Cuzco  is  nearly  equal  in  extent  to  Lima.  It  contains  32,000  inhabi- 
tants, three-fourths  of  Indian  extract.  Several  of  the  ancient  Peruvian 
monuments  remain.  The  stones  in  one  of  these  buildings  are  so  immense, 
and  so  well  joined,  as  to  excite  astonishment,  how  the  work  could  have 
been  done  by  a  people  not  acquainted  with  masonry.  The  better  build- 
ings are  of  stone,  among  which  churches  and  convents  are  most  conspicu- 
ous. The  Dominican  monastery  occupies  the  site  of  the  ancient  temple 
of  the  sun.  The  residence  of  the  virgins  of  the  sun  has  been  converted 
into  a  dwelling  for  the  nuns  of  Cuzco.  Priera  and  Lambayeque  are 
considerable  towns.  Each  contains  8  or  9,000  inhabitants.  Canetis, 
Parta,  and  Arica,  are  also  places  of  some  importance.  At  Caxamarca, 
in  upper  Peru,  are  shown  the  ruins  of  the  palaces,  where  the  last  of  the 
Incas  was  strangled  by  order  of  Pizarro.  The  population  exceeds  12,000. 
Huanco,  Pasco,  Frontera,  Atanjauja,  and  Guanca  Velica,  are  towns  of 
importance  in  Upper  Peru.  The  latter  town  is  elevated  more  than  twelve 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea ;  and  though  near  the  equator,  rain,  snow, 
and  sleet,  frequently  fall  in  the  same  day.  Santa  Barbara  is  still  higher, 
being  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  thousand  feet  high.  The  materials 
for  building  in  this  town  are  unlike  those  of  any  other.  The  water  of  a 
warm  spring  is  cooled;  and  the  calcareous  matter  held  in  solution,  falls 
during  the  process.     The  sediment  is, put  into  vases,  which  shape  it,  and 


SOUTH      AMERICA.  1G5 

it  gradually  hardens  into  stone.  Guamarga  has  2(5,000  inhabitants,  and 
a  favorable  position,  but  is  unhealthy.  The  inhabitants  of  Condomoni 
are  affected  during  thunder  storms  with  sensations,  as  if  stung  by  insects, 
produced,  probably,  by  a  high  state  of  electricity.  Arequipa  is  situated 
six  or  seven  hundred  miles  south-east  of  Lima;  it  is  a  large  and  well 
built  city,  watered  by  the  Chile,  with  24,000  inhabitants.  The  lake 
Titiaca  is  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  in  circumference,  and  subject  to 
violent  storms,  that  rush  down  from  the  Andes. 

La  Plata,  in  southern  Peru,  has  its  name  from  a  silver  mine  near  it.  It 
contains  15,000  inhabitants.  La  Paz  has  a  mild  and  salubrious  climate, 
with  snowy  mountains  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Its  population  is  num- 
bered at  20,000. 

Potosi,  famous  for  its  silver  mines,  once  contained  100,000  souls.  The 
population  is  now  dwindled  to  30,000.-  The  discovery  of  these  rich 
mines  is  described  by  tradition,  as  follows:  An  Indian  named  Diego 
Fluasco,  pursued  a  vicunna  on  the  mountain  hard  by.  To  prevent  him- 
self from  falling,  he  seized  a  shrub.  It  gave  way  with  a  quantity  of  turf 
attached,  and  disclosed  to  the  astonished  Indian  a  large  mass  of  silver. 
He  entrusted  the  secret  to  a  slave,  who  disclosed  it.  Oropesa  is  the  chief 
town  of  a  district,  called  from  its  fertility,  the  granery  of  Peru.  Farija 
is  the  capital  of  a  country  abounding  in  grain  and  wine.  Atocama  is  a 
small  town,  capital  of  a  province  of  the  same  name.  Santa  Cruz  de  la 
Sierra  is  a  considerable  town,  and  capital  of  a  large  province  of  the  same 
name. 

We  have  no  space  for  details  of  the  empire  of  the  Peruvians  over- 
thrown by  Pizarro.  Mango  Capac,  according  to  their  traditions,  was  the 
founder  of  their  worship  and  civil  polity.  They  certainly  had  reached 
very  considerable  degrees  of  civilization  before  the  arrival  of  the  Span- 
iards. They  had  built  a  road  from  Quito  to  Cuzco,  nearly  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles.  Another  of  equal  length,  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  country, 
extended  from  the  centre  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  empire.  The  as- 
cent of  hills  was  graduated  by  mounds.  Graneries  were  built  at  equal 
distances,  and  charitable  houses  were  ever  open  to  the  weary  traveller. 
Temples,  fortresses,  and  canals,  varied  and  improved  the  aspect  of  the 
country.  Some  ancient  monuments  were  adorned  with  gold  to  the  value 
of  several  million  dollars.  Under  the  empire  of  the  Spanish,  they  have 
become  indolent,  and  addicted  to  drunkenness,  but  rigid  observers  of  the 
rules  and  ceremonies  of  the  Romish  church.  Since  the  conquest  of 
Peru,  they  have  much  decreased  in  numbers.  Intoxication  has  been  ex- 
ceedingly fatal  among  them.  And  the  small  pox  formerly  carried  off  im- 
mense numbers,  before  the  introduction  of  vaccination.  The  most  recent 
information,  bofore  the  revolution,  gave  to  Peru,  in  all  its  extent,  inclu- 


1G0  SOUTH      AMERICA. 

ding  Quito,  Tucuman,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  3,500,000  souls.  As  instances 
of  the  extreme  longevity  in  this  country,  there  were  eight  individuals  in 
Caxamarca,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  one  hundred  and  fourteen,  and 
the  eldest  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  years.  A  Spanish  Creole  decea- 
sed, aged  one  hundred  and  forty-four  years  and  seven  months.  The  va- 
rious savage  tribes  that  roam  over  the  more  unsettled  parts  of  these  vast 
countries,  like  the  Indians  of  North  America,  have  various  languages 
and  customs.  They  generally  admit  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  be- 
lieve in  the  metempsychosis,  and  receive  with  strong  incredulity  the  doc- 
trine of  eternal  punishment  in  hell. 

The  Sustillo,  or  paper  insect  of  the  Pampantico  and  the  banks  of  the 
upper  Uallaga,  is  a  great  curiosity.  It  lives  exclusively  on  the  leaves  of 
the  Pacol.  The  paper  which  they  make  varies  according  to  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  their  food.  A  yard  and  a  half  of  this  paper  was  carried  to 
Madrid.  It  is  superior  in  thickness  and  durability  to  the  best  sort  that 
is  made  in  China.  A  Jesuit  informs,  that  he  had  written  several 
letters  on  this  kind  of  paper.  Chili,  Paraguay,  Terra  Magellanica,  or 
Patagonia. 

Precipices  and  snow-covered  mountains  form  a  boundary  between 
Chili  and  Peru.  The  climate  is  mild  and  salubrious;  the  natives  health- 
ful and  robust.  The  coast  consists  of  a  narrow  beach,  abruptly  termina- 
ted by  lofty  hills.  Their  ridges  have  a  fertile  table  plain,  watered  by 
many  streams,  and  covered  occasionally  with  orchards,  vineyards,  and 
meadows.  However  hot  the  days,  the  nights  are  delightfully  cool.  Rain 
seldom  falls,  except  between  July  and  August;  and  the  number  of  days 
in  which  it  falls,  does  not  exceed  twenty  in  a  year.  In  the  central  parts 
of  Chili,  thunder  showers  happen  in  the  winter,  and  lightning  is  remarka- 
bly vivid  and  terrific.  Like  Peru,  it  is  subject  to  earthquakes,  which 
counterbalance  its  fertility  and  fine  climate.  The  volcanoes  of  the  An- 
des, burning  in  the  midst  of  snows,  heighten  the  sublimity  of  the  natural 
scenery.  Gold  and  silver  mines  are  discovered  in  the  Andes.  There 
are  whole  hills  of  magnetic  iron  ore.  Vegetation  is  of  surprising  gran- 
deur. The  mountain  forests  are  full  of  lofty  trees.  All  the  fruits  of  Eu- 
rope, and  a  great  many  aromatic  shrubs,  grow  in  the  valleys.  In  no  coun- 
try in  America  has  the  culture  of  the  grape  ever  succeeded  so  well. 
There  are  incredible  numbers  of  odoriferous  shrubs  and  plants ;  and  the 
cedars  of  the  Andes  are  compared  to  those  of  Lebanon.  Every  thing  of 
wood  that  belonged  to  a  chapel  sixty  feet  long,  was  made  from  one  colos- 
sal tree.  The  olive  tree  grows  nine  feet  in  circumference.  The  ap- 
ples arc  remarkable  for  their  size ;  and  of  the  great  number  of  kinds  of 
peaches,  one  sort  weighs  sixteen  ounces.  There  are  also  many  plants 
and  shrubs,  useful  in  dyeing. 


SOUTH      AMERICA.  167 

Animals.     Molina  describes  thirty-six  classes  of  quadrupeds,  that  are 
indigenous  to  this  country. 

Tou-ns.  The  province  of  Copiapo  is  one  hundred  leagues  in  extent. 
Copiopa,  twelve  leagues  from  the  sea,  has  a  population  of  12,000.  The 
streets  of  Coquimbo  are  shaded  with  myrtle  trees.  Quillota  is  in  a  fertile 
valley  on  the  banks  of  the  Aconcagua.  Valparaiso  is  the  chief  town.  It 
is  a  flourishing  and  rich  place.  Santiago  has  wide  and  well  paved  streets. 
There  are  a  number  of  respectable  public  buildings.  Before  the  revolu- 
tion, the  inhabitants  amounted  to  50,000.  They  are  gay  and  hospitable; 
there,  as  elsewhere  in  South  America,  music  and  dancing  are  the  favorite 
amusements.  Petrorca,  celebrated  for  its  gold  mines,  is  situated  above 
the  region  of  perpetual  snow.  Talca  is  the  chief  town  of  a  district  abound- 
ing in  wine,  corn,  and  cattle.  In  the  province  of  Purchacay,  the  fertility 
in  corn  and  wine  is  very  great.  A  fat  ox  is  sold  for  four  crowns;  and  the 
price  of  a  sheep  is  less  than  a  dollar.  New  Conception  is  in  the  valley  of 
Mocha.  The  population  exceeds  12,000.  The  island  of  Chileo  is  the 
chief  of  a  group  of  forty-seven.  The  population  of  the  whole  island  is 
25,000.  The  capital  is  San  Juan  de  Castro.  The  whole  group  is  sub- 
ject to  earthquakes.  The  two  islands  of  Juan  Fernandez  are  eight  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  coast  of  Chili.  The  chief  has  mountains,  woods,  and 
fertile  valleys,  and  is  a  resting  place  for  ships.  Two  persons,  whose  ad- 
ventures gave  rise  to  the  novel  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  resided  on  one  of 
them.  Alexander  Selkirk,  being  left  there  by  his  fellow  sailors,  subsisted 
five  years  by  hunting.  The  other,  a  Mosquito  Indian,  was  abandoned 
by  bucaniers. 

Cuyo  is  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  country  by  the  Andes,  and  is 
for  that  reason  called  Transmontano.  It  is  only  recently  that  its  mines 
of  silver  and  gold  have  been  wrought.  It  is  not  a  very  fertile  country. 
Some  parts  are  parched  with  heat,  and  others  blasted  with  cold.  A  re- 
markable species  of  cocoa  palm  is  not  uncommon  in  the  valleys.  The 
centre  of  its  trunk  is  so  soft,  that  the  inhabitants  use  it  for  making  cloth, 
which,  if  it  be  not  very  fine,  is  at  least  strong  and  flexible. 

The  province  of  Tucuman,  a  country  little  frequented,  lies  to  the 
north-east  of  Cuyo.  The  Andes  penetrate  it  in  the  north,  and  the  rest  is 
one  immense  plain.  Many  of  the  rivers  that  water  the  country,  spread 
into  lagoons,  and  are  lost.  The  country  abounds  in  fossil  salt.  Saltpetre 
is  abundantly  collected  on  the  plains.  The  climate  is  considered  salu- 
brious. The  forests  abound  with  wild  animals  and  swarms  of  wild  bees. 
The  aramos  weaves  on  the  trees  a  beautiful  silver  colored  silk.  The 
quebracho  tree  is  so  hard  that  the  ax  sometimes  breaks  in  cutting  it. 
The  products  are  corn,  wine,  and  cattle.  One  valley  fattens  sixty  thou- 
sand  mules  for  the  fair.     The  chief  town  is  Cordova.     San  Felipe  and 


168  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

Jujui  are  inconsiderable  places.     A  few  villages  are  scattered  over  these 
immense  plains.     The  people  live  a  moral  and  arcadian  life. 

The  whole  country,  watered  by  the  La  Plata,  has  generally  been  cal- 
led Paraguay.  The  valleys  of  Chaco,  west  of  that  river,  are  impregnated 
with  salt  and  nitre.  These  plains  are  sometimes  covered  with  moving 
sands,  or  rendered  unwholesome  by  marshes,  where  the  smaller  rivers 
are  lost.  The  Uraguay  flows  down  lofty  and  steep  mountains,  before  it 
reaches  the  sea.  It  is  more  than  three  miles  broad  four  hundred  miles 
from  the  sea.  The  country,  to  which  Buenos  Ayres  is  central,  is  fertile, 
but  almost  destitute  of  wood.  Its  sandy  soil  is  mixed  with  a  rich,  black 
mould.  To  the  south  the  "pampas  are  boundless  to  the  vision.  Not  a 
shrub,  not  a  marine  plant  is  seen,  in  traveling  long  distances.  In  1530, 
horses  and  oxen  were  imported  into  the  country.  They  now  cover  the 
plains  in  a  wild  state.  Sometimes  ten  thousand  are  seen  in  a  single  herd. 
The  horses  are  dark  sorrel,  easily  broken,  and  no  ways  inferior  to  the 
common  horse.  The  oxen  and  cattle  are  of  a  number  of  varieties,  and 
are  as  useful  to  the  inhabitants  as  camels  to  Arabs,  or  reindeer  to  the 
Laplanders.  They  supply  almost  every  thing,  in  the  circle  of  their 
wants.  Dragon's  blood,  cinchona,  nux  vomica,  and  vanilla,  are  com 
mon  productions  of  the  country.  The  pomegranate,  peach,  fig,  orange, 
and  a  variety  of  palms,  flourish.  The  matte,  or  paraguay  tea,  is  made 
from  the  leaves  of  a  species  of  ilex.  If  the  laborers  are  not  supplied  with 
this  tea,  they  refuse  to  work  the  mines.  Paraguay  tea  is  more  used  in 
those  countries  than  Chinese  in  England.  Two  million  dollars  worth 
are  sold  in  South  America.  An  infusion  of  the  leaves  and  twigs  is  drunk 
through  a  glass  or  silver  tube.  Different  kinds  of  apes  are  seen  in  the 
woods.  The  armadillo  burrows  in  the  forests.  The  guazou  is  a  new 
species  of  wild  deer.  The  jaguar,  felis,  pardalis,  and  the  erva,  are 
species  of  the  tiger-cat  seen  here. 

Toions.  There  are  no  large  towns  in  Paraguay.  Ascension  is  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Paraguay,  eighteen  miles  from  the  first  mouth  of  the 
Pilcomayo.  The  population  may  amount  to  6  or  8,000  inhabitants. 
Curaguaty  and  Neembuco  contain,  the  one  2,250,  and  the  other  1,800 
souls.  The  parishes  consist,  for  the  most  part,  of  country  houses  in  the 
vicinity  of  a  church  or  chapel.  In  the  year  1804,  the  population  was 
less  than  100,000  souls.  The  government  is  divided  into  three  districts. 
The  first  is  that  of  Corientet,  and  the  missions  between  the  Parana  and 
Uraguay.  The  second  Uraguay  between  that  river  and  the  Rio  Negro 
and  the  ocean.  The  vegetable  productions  of  all  these  colonies  are  val- 
uable. Sugar  succeeds  remarkably.  Ship  timber,  dye  woods,  and  the 
vegetables  common  in  the  Brazils,  are  found  here.  The  population  has 
been  calculated  from  50  to  60,000,  including  the  civilized  Indians  and 


SOUTH     AMEHICA.  109 

savages.  The  Guaranis  extended  their  settlements  to  these  remote  re- 
gions. The  Charruas  long  and  bravely  defended  the  banks  of  the  La 
Plata  against  the  Europeans.  They  are  a  silent,  stern  people,  who  do 
not  practice  the  universal  Indian  amusement  of  dancing. 

Towns.  Monte  Video  has  its  name  from  a  mountain  near  the  town.  It 
is  situated  on  the  La  Plata,  sixty  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  population 
is,  perhaps,  20,000.  Maldonado  is  a  place  of  some  importance,  on  the 
same  side  of  the  river. 

Missions.  The  Catholic  Missions  of  Paraguay  have  been  the  theme 
of  eloquence,  of  history  and  song.  The  Jesuits  were  certainly  enlight- 
ened and  humane ;  and  no  parallel  to  their  missionary  success  is  recorded 
in  history.  On  these  beautiful,  but  remote  and  unfrequented  plains,  they 
had  gathered  a  hundred  thousand  from  these  ignorant,  wandering,  and 
fierce  tribes,  who  lived  under  their  sway,  paying  them  a  homage  border- 
ing on  adoration.  They  were  baptized,  learned  the  decalogue,  and  a  form 
of  prayer.  They  spun  and  wove  the  cloth  they  wore.  But  the  Jesuits 
were  banished.  Part  of  their  country  was  ceded  to  the  Portuguese. 
They  are  now  reduced  to  less  than  half  their  former  number. 

Towns.  Buenos  Ayres  was  so  named  on  account  of  the  salubrity  of 
its  climate.  It  is  on  a  plain,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  La  Plata,  two  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  town  is  fortified,  and  the  streets 
broad  and  well  paved.  But  the  harbor  road  is  exposed  to  the  winds,  and 
full  of  rocks  and  shallows.  Meats  are  very  cheap,  though  living  is  not  so. 
Two  fowls  cost  as  much  as  an  ox.  This  town  is  the  great  outlet  from 
the  interior;  and  of  the  produce  of  Chili  and  Peru.  The  population 
amounts  to  60,000  souls.  It  has  been  computed  that  the  shepherds  of 
these  plains  tend  twelve  millions  of  oxen.  But  in  this  delicious  climate, 
and  on  this  luxuriant  soil,  the  people  degenerate  to  demi-savages,  and  are 
ignorant,  indolent,  and  miserable.  They  live  in  mud  cottages,  and  ga- 
ming is  their  predominant  passion.  A  pasturage  of  five  square  leagues  is 
not  thought  a  large  pasture  farm.  They  are  always  on  horse-back,  and 
are  strong  and  healthy,  attaining  often  to  extreme  old  age.  They  are 
brave,  and  fearless  of  danger,  and  reckless  of  life.  Often  they  form 
themselves  into  guerrilla  bands  of  banditti,  and  subsist  by  plunder,  carry- 
ing off  the  women  from  Buenos  Ayres,  who  frequently  show  no  disposi- 
tion to  return.  The  Guachos  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  the  Guasos  of  Chili, 
make  admirable  soldiers ;  and  when  led  by  able  officers,  no  Europeans 
can  withstand  them.  At  Mendoza,  there  are  extensive  vineyards,  where 
excellent  wine  is  made.  The  population  is  rated  at  13,000.  San  Juan 
at  8,000,  San  Luis  at  2,500,  and  Cordova  at  10,000.  The  country  south 
of  Valdivia  and  Buenos  Ayres,  is  thinly  peopled  by  independent  tribes. 
The  country  between  Biobio  and  Valdivia,  in  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  the 
Vol.  II.  22 


170  SOUTH      AMERICA. 

abundance  of  its  springs,  and  the  temperature  of  its  climate,  is  even 
more  delightful  than  that  of  Chili.  The  river  Biobio  rises  in  the  Cordil- 
lera, and  enters  the  sea  six  miles  west  of  Conception.  It  is  a  wide  and 
deep  stream.  The  Araucanian  Indians,  who  possess  these  countries, 
have  remained  invincible  and  independent.  The  Spanish  have  even  cel- 
ebrated their  heroism  in  epic  poems.  The  province  of  Tuya  is  situated 
south  of  Buenos  Ayres,  between  the  two  rivers  Saladillo  and  Hucuque. 
It  is  covered  with  marshes  and  small  lakes.  It  is  probable,  that  the  pam- 
pas extend  from  Tucuman  to  40°  south  latitude.  The  Colorada  and  Ne- 
gro rise  in  the  Chilian  Andes,  and  flow  through  these  vast  and  unknown 
regions.  The  Indians  are  as  expert  horsemen  as  the  Tartars.  The  Co- 
marca  Deserta  is  placed  on  the  Spanish  maps  from  40°  to  45°  south 
latitude. 

Patagonia.  It  seems  now  to  be  generally  admitted,  that  the  In  dians 
who  inhabit  the  storm  beaten  shores  of  Patagonia,  are  of  gigantic  size. 
Their  mean  height,  it  is  said,  varies  from  six  to  seven  feet.  They  have 
had  little  communication  with  other  people,  and  have  adhered  to  their 
immemorial  customs  and  rude  fare.  The  climate  of  Patagonia  is  more 
rude  and  stormy,  than  in  the  same  latitude  north  of  the  equator.  Three 
vast  oceans  detach  it  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  Winds  and  opposite  cur- 
rents here  meet  in  conflict.  It  is  traversed  by  a  broad  belt  of  mountains. 
The  atmosphere  on  the  east  of  this  belt  is  unclouded  and  serene,  and  the 
soil  generally  sterile  West  of  them,  the  country  is  covered  with  for- 
ests, and  subject  to  incessant  rains.  Birches,  and  other  trees  of  northern 
climates,  are  common.  Herds  of  wild  oxen  are  seen  in  the  interior. 
The  armadillo  and  a  species  of  jaguar  have  been  observed  on  the 
coast. 

Straits  of  Magellan.  They  were  discovered  by  a  navigator,  whose 
name  they  bear,  in  1519.  The  length  of  the  strait  is  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  and  the  breadth  varies  from  two  to  fifteen  leagues.  The 
country  near  Port  Famine,  on  these  straits,  notwithstanding  its  ill-omened 
name,  abounds  in  game,  and  produces  different  sorts  of  fruit.  Lofty  trees 
are  not  uncommon.  The  Archipelago  of  Toledo  is  situated  farther  to  the 
north,  and  the  largest  island  upon  it  is  Madre  de  Dios.  To  the  south  of 
Patagonia,  there  is  a  number  of  cold,  barren,  and  mountainous  islands. 
Volcanoes,  which  cannot  melt,  brighten  and  illumine  the  perpetual  snow 
in  these  dismal  regions.  The  country  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  strait, 
was  called  Terra  del  Fuego,  from  the  circumstance,  that  the  Spanish 
when  they  discovered  the  country  saw  fires  on  its  shores.  Narrow  chan- 
nels, strong  currents,  and  boisterous  winds,  render  it  dangerous  to  enter 
this  desolate  labyrinth.  Phoci  sport  in  the  bays,  or  repose  their  un- 
wieldy bodies  in  the  sand.     Flocks  of  penguins  and  other  antarctic  fowls 


SOUTH      AMERICA. 


171 


consort  here.     Most  ships  now  double  Cape  Horn,  as  affording  an  easier 
and  safer  passage  to  the  Pacific. 

Towards  the  Atlantic  ocean,  a  rich  verdure  decks  the  valleys,  and  use- 
ful animals  are  found  in  the  woods  and  pastures.  The  Indians  are  so 
excessively  dirty,  that  travelers  can  with  difficulty  distinguish  the  color 
of  the  skin.  The  Falkland  islands  are  three  hundred  miles  eastward  of 
these  straits.  They  are  destitute  of  trees,  but  covered  with  long  grass, 
in  which  bask  the  sea  lions,  sea  calves,  and  sea  wolves.  The  Spaniards 
left  cattle  there,  which  increased  rapidly.  Georgia,  situated  twelve  hun- 
dred miles  from  Cape  Horn,  is  a  dreary  and  frozen  country.  New  South 
Shetland,  and  another  chain  of  islands  in  62°  south  latitude,  were  discov- 
ered in  1820.  The  ground  is  sterile,  and  the  hills  and  rocks  covered 
with  snow.  The  sea  abounds  with  seals,  and  other  animals  common  to 
the  Atlantic  regions. 

History.  The  regime  of  the  Spaniards  in  this  vast  country  was  ex- 
ceedingly rigid  and  oppressive.  Trading  with  foreigners  was  punished 
with  death.  No  native  born  Americans  were  intrusted  with  any  places 
of  trustor  importance.  Individuals  were  imprisoned  for  instructing  the 
poor.  A  viceroy  gave  offence,  by  establishing  a  naval  school.  Whole 
tribes  of  Indians  perished  by  working  in  the  mines.  The  troubles  in  old 
Spain,  under  the  regime  of  Bonaparte,  first  roused  the  inhabitants  of  Span- 
ish America  to  a  sense  of  their  condition  and  their  strength.  A  sedition 
broke  out  in  Venezuela,  in  1797.  The  authority  of  Bonaparte,  or  his 
brother,  was  never  recognized.  The  independence  of  that  state  was  de- 
clared in  Tucuman,  in  1S16.  The  South  American  countries  had  long 
and  severe  struggles  with  the  royalists.  In  1818,  the  best  troops  of  Spain 
were  annihilated  by  San  Martin,  on  the  plains  of  Maipo.  The  freedom 
of  South  America  has  been  dated  from  that  victory.  The  rights  of  the 
people  were  purchased  by  blood,  toil,  exposure,  and  sacrifices  of  property, 
and  of  every  kind.  Slavery,  after  a  limited  period,  is  to  cease.  The 
mita  and  tribute  money  are,  also,  abolished.  Liberty  of  the  press  was 
enacted.  Public  measures  have  been  adopted  for  the  advancement  of  a 
general  system  of  common  school  education.  The  censorship  of  the 
press  has  been  abolished.  The  New  Testament  in  Spanish,  has  been  dis- 
tributed among  the  people.  There  can  be  no  more  arbitrary  and  illegal 
imprisonments,  nor  opening  of  letters,  nor  violation  of  the  private  sanc- 
tuary of  the  dwelling  house.  Monopolies  are  abolished,  and  trial  by  jury 
will,  probably,  soon  be  adopted;  and  it  is  hoped,  that  religious  freedom 
will  shortly  make  a  part  of  their  institutions. 

Government.  The  electors  are  chosen  by  the  people  on  a  fixed  ratio 
of  the  population,  and  the  members  of  Congress  are  taken  from  the  elec- 
toral assemblies.     The  legislative  forms,  bodies,  officers,  and  chiefs,  axe 


172  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

modeled  much  after  the  pattern  of  the  United  States.  Bolivar,  who  was 
long  the  master  spirit  of  Spanish  South  America,  was  styled  Liberador, 
and  the  powers  intrusted  to  him  were  in  a  measure  despotic.  He  has  de- 
ceased, leaving  history  uncertain  whether  to  class  him  among  deliverers 
or  usurpers. 

In  regard  to  the  question,  whether  they  will  be  able  to  defend  their  in- 
dependence, no  country  on  the  globe  is  so  strongly  fortified  by  nature 
against  invasion.  The  immense  mountains  are  impregnable  barriers, 
where,  in  a  healthy  air,  the  inhabitants  have  only  to  guard  their  defiles, 
and  cause  the  armies  of  their  invaders  to  waste  away  with  sickness  on 
the  scorching  and  humid  plains.  The  river  Plate  has  its  peculiar  diffi- 
culties of  ascent  j  and  the  eastern  coast  of  Mexico  is  inaccessible  to  a  hos- 
tile fleet.  The  inhabitants  enjoy  the  blessings  of  plenty,  industry,  and 
wealth.  Private  property  is  held  sacred;  and  these  blessings  have  the 
zest  of  being  entirely  new.  The  inhabitants  are  easily  trained  to  become 
good  soldiers,  and  in  many  of  their  battles  with  their  invaders,  and  with 
each  other,  have  fought  with  great  gallantry.  The  population  of  the  Re- 
public of  Colombia  is  rated  at  2,500,000,  and  the  annual  revenue  at  some- 
thing more  than  three  millions  dollars. 

Brazil.  The  boundaries  of  this  immense  country  are  still  in  question. 
It  stretches  almost  from  the  Amazon  to  the  La  Plata;  and  Guyana,  and 
the  Atlantic,  are  the  northern  boundaries.  The  Atlantic  bounds  it  on  the 
east.  On  the  south  it  comes  to  a  point.  On  the  west  it  is  bounded  by 
Peru  and  Buenos  Ayres.  It  constitutes  two-fifths  of  all  South  America, 
and  a  territory  ten  times  larger  than  France. 

Inhabitants.  The  population  is  reputed  to  amount  to  four  millions, 
and  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  coast,  and  the  mining  districts. 

Soil.  The  maritime  districts  consist,  for  the  most  part,  of  clay,  cover- 
ed with  a  rich  mould.  Great  part  of  the  country  is  of  extraordinary  and 
inexhaustible  fertility.  On  the  northern  coast  is  the  great  chain  of  Itia- 
paba  mountains.  The  Marcella  forms  an  interior  range.  In  the  very 
centre  of  South  America  are  the  immense  plains  and  heights  of  Parexis, 
covered  with  sand  and  a  light  earth,  and  resembling  at  a  distance  the 
waves  of  a  stormy  sea.  Yet  the  streams  Madera,  Topayos,  Xingu,  Jaura, 
Sypotoba,  and  Cuioba,  descend  in  different  directions  from  this  arid 
ridge,  to  feed  the  Amazon,  the  Paraguay,  and  their  tributaries.  Most 
of  these  rivers  roll  auriferous  sands ;  and  at  the  sources  of  the  Paraguay 
is  a  bed  of  diamonds.  Different  salines  and  salt  lakes  in  the  interior,  sup- 
ply great  quantities  of  salt.  The  Paraguay,  in  its  long  and  mighty  course, 
forms  by  its  inundations  the  great  lake  Xarayes.  The  noble  cataract  of 
tho  Parana  constitutes  a  most  sublime  spectacle.  The  spectator  ob- 
serves six  rainbows  rising  above  each  other,  and  the  atmosphere  is  cir- 


SOUTH     AMERICA.  173 

cumfused  with  the  vapor.  The  coast  adjoining  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon 
and  Tocantins  is  low  and  marshy.  Many  of  the  streams  are  precipitous 
torrents  during  the  rainy  season,  and  completely  disappear  in  the  dry. 
The  Maranhao,  Rio  Grande,  and  Pariaba,  are  important  rivers.  The 
Rio  Grande  de  San  Pedro  is  broad  near  the  sea ;  but  has  not  a  long 
course. 

Climate.  In  a  country  so  extensive,  and  so  diversified  by  elevations, 
the  climate  must  be  various.  The  regions  along  the  streams,,  and  near 
the  elevated  plains  and  mountains,  are  delightful  for  their  temperature. 
San  Paulo  is  a  town  twelve  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
has  all  the  charms  of  a  tropical  climate,  without  any  of  the  inconveniences 
of  excessive  heat.  Large  tracts  of  the  table  lands  are  of  this  character. 
The  west  wind,  passing  into  the  interior,  over  swamps  and  marshes,  is 
considered  unhealthy.  But  the  fragrance  of  the  aromatic  plants  in  the 
woods  partly  corrects  this  unhealthfulness.  The  rainy  season  commences 
in  March,  and  sometimes  in  February.  The  north  wind  blows  with 
little  remission,  during  the  dry  months.  The  soil  of  the  mountains  is 
then  parched.  The  nights  are  cool,  and  hoar  frosts  are  not  uncommon. 
During  the  sultriest  season,  the  air  along  the  coast  is  tempered  by  the 
refreshing  sea  breezes.  Dews  are  excessive.  At  Rio  Janeiro,  in  17S1, 
the  heat  averaged,  by  Fahrenheit,  72°.  There  fell  forty-two  inches  of 
rain.  The  cloudless  days  were  one  hundred  and  twelve.  The  cloudy 
days  without  rain  were  one  hundred  and  thirty-three;  and  the  days  of 
rain  were  one  hundred  and  twenty.  There  were  thunder  storms  during 
seventy-seven  days,  and  dense  mists  during  forty-three. 

Minerals,  Preciotis  Stones,  Sfc.  The  chief  diamond  district  in  Brazil 
is  that  of  Cerro  de  Frio,  a  territory  of  the  loftiest  and  most  rugged  moun- 
tains in  Brazil,  and  in  extent  sixteen  leagues  from  north  to  south,  by  eight 
from  east  to  west.  The  precious  stones  found  there  were  considered 
bright  crystals,  and  used  as  card  counters.  They  were  sold  to  the  Dutch 
before  their  value  was  known.  In  twenty  years  one  thousand  ounces 
were  imported  into  Europe  from  Brazil.  So  great  an  amount,  in  so  short 
a  time,  diminished  their  value,  and  caused  them  to  be  sent  from  Brazil 
to  India,  instead  of  being  imported  from  that  country,  as  formerly.  Cerro 
de  Frio  has  few  attractions  for  settlers.  Sterile  mountains  and  desert 
plains  inform  the  traveler  that  he  is  in  the  diamond  district.  Between 
1801  and  1806  the  diamonds  imported  from  Brazil  to  Lisbon  weighed 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-one  carats. 
A  great  amount  was,  no  doubt,  sent  abroad  clandestinely,  and  many  were 
circulated  privately  through  the  country,  and  received  instead  of  money. 
They  differ  in  weight  from  a  grain  to  seventeen  carats.  If  a  slave  find 
one  weighing  seventeen  and  a  half  carats,  he  is  crowned  with  flowers, 


174  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

and  manumitted.  Topazes  of  different  colors,  and  chrysoberyls,  suscep- 
tible of  a  most  beautiful  polish,  are  found  in  this  country.  There  are  gold 
mines  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Paulo  and  Villa  Rica,  but  they  have  not  yet 
been  much  worked.  Most  of  the  gold  from  this  country  is  supplied  by 
washing  the  soil.  A  bowl  full  is  washed  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  and  yields,  on  an  average,  sixteen  pence  worth  of  gold.  A  fifth 
part  goes  to  the  crown.  Humboldt  supposes  that  the  annual  value  does 
not  exceed  five  millions  of  piastres. 

Plants.  This  country,  as  might  be  expected,  is  extremely  rich  in 
tropical  plants.  The  tribe  of  the  palms  is  numerous  and  splendid.  Seve- 
ral of  these  kinds  are  more  lofty  and  splendid  than  even  those  of  India. 
No  words  can  reach  the  richness  and  splendor  of  many  of  the  fruit  and 
flowering  trees.  Some  flower  many  times  in  a  year.  The  lecythis 
ollaria  grows  in  the  woods  of  S.  Yoao  Baptista  to  the  height  of  one  hun- 
dred feet.  Its  summit  is  covered  with  rose  colored  leaves  and  white 
blossoms.  Its  nuts  are  as  large  as  a  cannon  ball ;  and  it  is  not  safe  to 
remain  under  the  trees  when  these  nuts  are  falling.  The  Indians  eat  the 
seeds  roasted,  as  a  substitute  for  bread.  A  writer  of  the  country  affirms 
that  no  country  possesses  so  excellent  wood  for  ship  building.  A  mer- 
chant ship  may  be  had  in  Brazil  for  half  the  sum  it  costs  in  Europe.  The 
trade  of  Bahia,  and  several  other  seaports,  consists  chiefly  in  ship  building. 
The  royal  navy  of  Portugal  consists  chiefly  of  Brazilian  timber.  There 
is  an  endless  variety  and  profusion  in  the  species  of  trees  and  plants, 
compared  with  those  of  more  northern  countries.  But  the  trees  are  easily 
blown  up  by  the  wind;  and  being  of  an  immense  length,  destroy  many 
others  in  their  fall. 

There  are  many  dyeing  woods  and  vegetables  in  Brazil.  The  famous 
Brazil  wood  is  of  three  species,  mirim,  rozado,  and  Brazilletto.  Cassada 
is  the  principal  nourishment  of  the  inhabitants.  Ignames,  rice,  wheat, 
and  maize  are  also  cultivated.  Maize  yields  two  hundred  for  one.  Each 
plant  of  the  mandioca  produces  from  six  to  twelve  pounds  of  bread.  The 
marobi  yields  a  great  quantity  of  oil.  Melons,  gourds,  and  bananas 
abound.  Lemons,  guavos,  and  different  kinds  of  oranges,  grow  along  the 
coast.  From  the  fruit  of  the  mangaba  they  make  an  agreeable  beverage. 
Pine  apples  grow  abundantly  in  some  provinces.  The  culture  of  sugar, 
coffee,  cotton,  and  indigo,  has  of  late  years  made  considerable  progress. 
The  finest  tobacco  is  cultivated  in  some  parts  of  the  country.  The  banks 
of  the  rivers  are  covered  with  immense  forests  of  cocoa  trees,  and  the 
tendrils  of  vanilla  are  seen  clinging,  like  ivy,  round  the  highest  branches. 
The  country  produces  different  sorts  of  pepper,  the  wild  cinnamon,  and 
the  Brazilian  cassia.  The  country  is,  also,  prolific  in  medicinal  plants. 
All  the  quadrupeds  common  to  Peru  are  found  here;  and  a  number  of 


SOUTII      A  M  ERICA.  175 

others  that  are  peculiar  to  this  region.  Various  species  of  apes  are  seen 
in  the  woods.  The  vampyre  bat  fixes  on  the  jugular  vein  of  animals, 
and  is  supposed  to  lull  the  pain  of  its  bite  by  flapping  its  wings  all  the 
time  it  sucks  the  blood.  Two  species  of  sloths  inhabit  the  country;  and 
of  all  lands  under  the  sun,  Brazil  has  the  largest  and  gaudiest  butterflies. 

Birds.  The  Brazilian  birds  are  distinguished  for  the  variety  and  splen- 
dor of  their  plumage.  The  red,  blue,  and  green  parrots  frequent  the  tops 
of  the  trees.  The  gallinaceous  and  pigeon  tribes  haunt  the  woods.  Ori- 
oles and  manakins  resound  their  songs  through  the  forest.  The  toucan 
is  prized  for  its  feathers,  which  are  lemon,  bright  red,  and  black  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  body.  The  different  species  of  humming  birds  are  more 
numerous  than  in  any  other  country  in  America.  There  are  ten  species 
of  wild  bees,  most  of  which  produce  honey  of  an  aromatic  flavor. 
Cochineal  might  be  produced  in  abundance.  A  species  of  murex  i3 
found  on  the  coast  of  St.  Catherine's,  of  the  size  of  a  nut,  which  yields  a 
color  at  first  yellow,  but  on  exposure  to  the  air  a  rich  crimson,  supposed 
to  be  identical  with  the  purple  of  the  ancients. 

Departments.  Brazil  is  divided  into  nine  governments,  called  capi- 
tanias,  as  follow:  Rio  Janeiro,  Para,  Maranhao,  Pernambuco,  Bahia, 
San  Paulo,  Mattogrosso,  Goyaz,  and  JMinas  Geraes.  The  primate  of 
Brazil  holds  the  highest  ecclesiastical  office.  There  are  two  supreme 
courts  of  justice,  one  at  Bahia,  the  other  at  Rio  Janeiro.  There  are  also 
twenty-four  comarcas,  in  which  are  established  subordinate  courts. 

Chief  Towns.  Rio  Janeiro  has  been  called  by  some  writers  Saint 
Sebastian.  This  town  has  an  excellent  harbor,  defended  by  the  castle  of 
Santa  Cruz.  The  hills  in  the  vicinity  are  adorned  with  houses,  churches, 
or  convents.  The  entrance  to  the  harbor  is  confined  by  several  islands, 
adorned  with  houses.  The  beautiful  bay  is  a  great  ornament  to  the  town. 
Its  calm  and  transparent  waters  reflect  on  all  sides  the  images  of  steep 
rocks,  thick  forests,  churches,  and  houses.  The  most  remarkable  public 
buildings  are  the  convents  of  St.  Antonio  and  St.  Theresa,  the  ancient 
college  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  church  of  Nossa  Senhora  da  Gloria.  The 
town  is  well  supplied  with  water  by  an  aqueduct.  In  1817  it  contained 
one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants.  It  has  been  recently  rated  to 
contain  two  hundred  thousand.  It  is  very  favorably  situated  for  trade 
with  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Its  exports  are  numerous,  rich,  abun- 
dant, and  under  an  enlightened  administration  it  would  be  a  great  mart 
for  the  most  distant  countries. 

Rio  Grande,  the  most  southern  captaincy,  is  watered  by  many  rivers, 
with  well  wooded  banks ;  and  some  of  them  are  rich  in  gold.  Numerous 
flocks  of  ostriches  wander  in  the  plains,  and  the  forests  abound  in  game. 
If  a  better  system  of  agriculture  were  established,  Rio  Grande  might  soon 


176  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

become  the  granary  of  the  kingdom.     Rio  Grande,  the  chief  town,  is  a 
city  of  importance. 

The  island  of  St.  Catharine  is  embellished  by  beautiful  scenery  of 
rocks  and  woods.  Refreshing  breezes  temper  the  solstitial  heats.  The 
soil  in  the  interior  is  of  extraordinary  fertility.  An  exuberant  profusion 
of  flowers  indicates  a  genial  climate.  The  jessamine  and  the  rose  are 
in  bloom  through  the  year.  The  delightful  vale  of  Picada  is  thickly 
studded  with  white  cottages,  in  the  midst  of  orange  groves  and  coffee 
plantations. 

The  plain  of  Corritiva,  perhaps  the  richest  in  the  world,  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  ocean,  by  a  road  made  across  a  lofty  ridge  of  mountains, 
four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Rio  Janeiro  and  San  Paulo 
are  supplied  with  cattle,  horses,  and  mules  from  this  fertile  district. 

The  best  rice  in  Brazil  is  raised  in  the  district  of  Santos.  A  paved 
road  has  been  made  from  Santos,  the  port  town,  to  San  Paulo  in  the 
interior.  It  is  cut  in  many  places  through  solid  rocks,  and  in  others 
along  the  edge  of  precipices.  Fine  springs  form  romantic  cascades  in 
the  midst  of  the  rocks.  The  traveler  ascends  under  arbors  of  shade,  and 
halfway  up  the  ascent  looks  down  upon  the  clouds.  The  summit  of  the 
mountain  is  six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  which,  though 
twenty  miles  distant,  seems  to  wash  the  base. 

On  this  mountain,  in  a  wide  plain,  is  situated  the  city  of  San  Paulo, 
with  a  climate  the  most  delightful  in  the  world.  Its  streets  are  broad  and 
clean;  and  its  population,  with  its  dependent  parishes,  thirty  thousand. 
The  inhabitants  are  famous  for  ornamenting  their  gardens ;  and  the  ladies 
are  equally  renowned  for  their  beauty  and  sprightliness.  The  term 
Paulista  is  one  of  compliment  to  a  lady,  as  implying  that  she  looks  as  if 
she  might  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  city.  The  people  are  noted  for  their 
spirit,  enterprise,  and  patriotism. 

The  population  of  Minas  Geraes  has  been  rated  at  half  a  million.  The 
country,  though  almost  unexplored,  is  rich  in  agricultural  products  of 
almost  every  sort.  The  grape  yields  a  delicious  wine;  but  the  people 
in  the  gold  and  diamond  districts  neglect  their  vines,  and  drink  water. 
Many  of  the  trees  are  adapted  for  dyeing  and  tanning.  The  adracanth 
is  here  of  the  best  quality,  and  the  sugar  cane  grows  in  its  wild  state. 

Villa  Rica,  the  chief  town,  has  been  improved  of  late  years.  It  is  well 
supplied  with  water,  and  its  principal  street  is  half  a  league  in  length. 
From  its  elevated  situation,  it  happens  that  the  thermometer  seldom 
reaches  above  82°  in  the  shade,  and  its  range  is  between  this  point  and 
48°.     The  population  amounts  to  twenty  thousand  souls. 

The  capitania  of  Goyez,  on  account  of  its  inland  situation,  is  seldom 
visited.     Its  rivers  are  well  stocked  with  fish,  and  its  woods  abound  with 


SOUTH     AMERICA.  177 

game.  But  the  inhabitants  are  scattered  over  a  vast  extent  of  country. 
Some  of  the  mines  are  rich  in  gold.  The  diamonds  are  larger,  though 
not  of  so  pure  a  water  as  those  of  Cerro  del  Frio.  Cotton  is  cultivated 
near  the  frontiers.  Villa  Boa,  the  chief  town,  is  built  in  a  low  situation, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Vermelho. 

The  government  of  Bahia  stretches  along  the  coast.  The  soil  is  prin- 
cipally a  rich  vegetable  mould,  is  watered  by  many  streams,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar  cane.  Its  tobacco,  coffee,  and  rice 
are  famous..  The  beautiful  Brazil  wood  growing  here,  is  equal  to  that 
from  Pernambuco.  San  Salvador  de  Bahia,  the  chief  city,  is  nearly  four 
miles  in  length,  from  north  to  south.  The  lower  part  of  the  town,  inha- 
bited chiefly  by  mechanics  and  tradesmen,  is  considered  unhealthy.  The 
wealthy  inhabit  the  higher  part,  nearly  six  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  The  population  has  been  estimated  at  eighteen  thousand 
souls,  of  which  colored  people  constitute,  perhaps,  two-thirds.  The  city 
is  well  built.  The  chief  occupation  of  the  people  consists  in  ship  building. 
The  town  is  better  supplied  with  provisions  than  Rio  Janeiro.  Oranges, 
water  melons,  pine  apples,  and  different  sorts  of  fruit,  are  plentiful 
throughout  the  district.  The  excessive  heat  of  the  climate  is  moderated 
by  the  sea  breeze,  and  by  the  circumstance  of  the  shortness  of  the  days, 
and  the  equality  of  the  nights. 

The  government  of  Pernambuco  is  famed  for  its  dye  woods,  vanilla, 
cocoa,  rice,  and  sugar.  Its  cotton  was  a  long  time  considered  the  best  in 
the  world.  The  lower  part  of  the  city  is  built  on  two  islands,  and  is 
called  Recif,  or  Pernambuco.  The  other  part,  built  on  an  eminence 
three  miles  distant,  has  received  the  name  Olinda.  The  population  of 
the  two  towns  amounts  to  sixty-five  thousand  souls. 

Piauhy  is  four  hundred  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  seventy  in  me- 
dium breadth.  Gold,  iron,  and  lead  have  been  discovered  in  this  district. 
The  province  has  been  more  recently  termed  Maranham,  and  is  impor- 
tant for  the  value  of  its  productions.  Annato,  capsicum,  pimento,  ginger, 
and  the  best  fruits  of  Europe  grow  in  great  abundance  throughout  the 
province.  The  chief  town,  Maranham,  contains  thirty  thousand  inha- 
bitants. 

Grand  Para  and  Rio  Negro  form  the  largest  government  in  Brazil, 
extending  eight  hundred  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  four  hundred  in 
breadth.  Grand  Para,  the  chief  town,  is  sometimes  called  Belem.  The 
population  amounts  to  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  who  are  poor  and 
destitute  of  employment.  The  capitania  of  Mattogrosso  abounds  with 
forests  of  wild  cocoa  trees,  and  the  different  kinds  of  wood  which  grow 
in  the  lower  parts  of  Brazil.  Small  pieces  of  gold  are  collected  from  the 
beds  of  the  rivers.  The  city  of  Cuiabu  is  the  chief  town,  and  is  situated 
Vol.  II.  23 


178  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

on  a  river  of  that  name,  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  its  junction 
with  the  Paraguay.  The  population  amounts  to  thirty  thousand,  and  is 
well  supplied  with  fish,  fruits,  and  all  sorts  of  vegetables. 

Natives.  Various  tribes  are  scattered  over  this  immense  country. 
They  are  strong,  and  well  made,  and  of  the  usual  copper  complexion. 
They  are  represented  by  the  Portuguese,  as  being  mostly  cannibals. 
The  Jesuits  had  multitudes  of  these  wandering  savages  completely  sub- 
jected to  their  rule.  The  Guarini  is  a  language  very  generally  known 
by  the  natives.  But  there  are  fifty-one  dialects,  spoken  by  different  tribes 
of  the  interior,  that  have  no  affinity  with  the  Guarini. 

Government.  This  country  at  present  takes  the  proud  name  of  an 
empire.  The  two  crowns  of  Portugal  and  Brazil  are  separated.  A  revo- 
lution has  recently  induced  the  emperor  to  abdicate  his  crown ;  and  the 
government  is  in  an  unsettled  state.  There  are  even  hopes  that  it  will 
throw  off  its  miserable  pageant  of  an  emperor,  and  become,  like  the  other 
American  states,  a  republic.  This  country,  independently  of  its  military 
resources,  which  are  respectable,  might  be  a  great  state,  both  on  account 
of  its  position,  and  the  extent  and  fertility  of  its  soil.  Its  population,  like 
that  of  Russia,  or  the  United  States,  might  be  doubled  in  a  few  years. 
But  before  this  can  be  effected,  this  naturally  fine  country  must  have  a 
Czar  Peter,  or  free  institutions.  It  has  been  hitherto  bowed  down  under 
a  yoke  of  iron. 

Guiana  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Amazon,  on  the  west  by  the 
Rio  Negro,  and  on  the  north  and  north-west  by  the  Orinoco  and  the 
Atlantic  ocean.  The  coast  is  low,  and  at  several  leagues  from  tbc  shore, 
subject  to  inundation.  On  these  low  grounds  grow  the  mangrove,  in 
which  the  water  remains  stagnant.  The  marshes  and  fens  are  covered 
with  reeds,  and  afford  resorts  to  innumerable  wild  fowls,  and  caymans, 
or  crocodiles.  No  calcareous  rocks  have  hitherto  been  observed  in  this 
country.  The  highest  inland  mountains  are  not  more  than  one  thousand 
eight,  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  mouths  of  the  rivers 
are  broad  and  shallow.  At  a  distance  in  the  interior  they  abound  in 
cascades.  No  fewer  than  thirty-eight  have  been  counted  on  the  Esse- 
quibo.  They  are  observed,  also,  on  the  Demarara,  Oyapok,  Maroni, 
Berbice,  Corentins,  Sinamari,  and  the  Arouri. 

Seasons.  The  dry  season  lasts  from  the  end  of  July  to  November; 
and  the  rainy  season  corresponds  to  the  winter  months  in  Europe.  The 
most  violent  rains  sometimes  fall  in  January  and  February.  The  weather 
is  dry  and  agreeable  during  the  month  of  March  and  the  beginning  of 
May.  April  and  the  latter  part  of  May  are  subject  to  continual  rains. 
The  climate  is  not  liable  to  the  excessive  heat  of  the  East  Indies,  Africa, 
or  the  West  Indies.     The  winds,  passing  over  a  vast  extent  of  ocean, 


SOUTH     AMERICA.  179 

temper  the  sultriness  and  the  oppressive  heats.  Europeans  affirm,  that 
the  morning  and  evening  breezes  are  cold  in  many  parts  of  the  interior. 
Diseases.  Guiana  has,  perhaps,  been  thought  more  sickly  than  it 
really  is.  The  climate  is  certainly  humid,  and  the  air  rendered  insalu- 
brious by  thick  woods  and  uncultivated  lands.  It  is  supposed,  that  the 
cutting  down  the  trees  is  unfavorable  to  the  health  of  the  first  colonists. 
Tertian  and  quartan  agues,  though  common,  are  not  dangerous.  Epi- 
demic diseases  are  rare. 

Inundations.  This  country  is  subject  to  annua!  overflow  of  the  rivers. 
Quadrupeds  are  forced  to  take  refuge  on  the  highest  trees;  lizards, 
agoutis,  and  pecaris  quit  their  watery  dens,  and  remain  on  the  branches. 
Aquatic  birds  spring  upon  the  trees,  to  avoid  the  cayman  and  serpents 
that  infest  the  temporary  lakes.  The  first  forsake  their  ordinary  food, 
and  live  on  the  fruits  and  berries  of  the  shrubs  through  which  they  swim. 
The  crab  is  found  upon  the  trees,  and  the  oyster  multiplies  in  the  forest. 
The  Indian,  who  surveys  from  his  canoe  this  confusion  of  earth  and  sea, 
suspends  his  hammoc  on  an  elevated  branch,  and  sleeps  without  fear  in 
the  midst  of  the  danger.  Oranges,  lemons,  the  guava,  the  laurus  persea, 
the  sapota,  the  amiona,  and  other  fruits,  grow  in  the  cultivated  lands  all 
the  year.  The  wild  fruits  bear  but  once  in  a  year.  The  most  remark- 
able of  these  are  the  grenadilla,  and  the  different  species  of  the  palms. 
The  mango,  and  other  East  India  plants,  thrive  in  Guiana  j  but  the  fruits 
of  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  the  grape,  fig,  and  pomegranate,  are  not 
adapted  to  the  climate.  Three  species  of  the  coffee  tree  were  found  here 
indigenous.  The  Arabian  was  afterwards  added.  The  country  produces 
in  abundance  cloves,  cinnamon,  and  different  sorts  of  pepper.  The  cocoa 
tree  in  some  places  grows  spontaneously.  Indigo  and  vanilla  are  indi- 
genous to  the  soil.  Manioc  and  cassada  are  considered  the  most  impor- 
tant alimentary  plants.  The  potato,  the  igname,  two  kinds  of  millet,  and 
the  tayove,  are  also  very  nutritive. 

Medicinal  Plants.  The  quassia  wood  is  brought  from  this  country. 
Various  other  medicinal  vegetables  abound.  The  country  is,  also, 
equally  prolific  in  poisonous  vegetables.  The  duncane  is  said  to  occasion 
instant  death.  The  Indians  dip  their  arrows  in  a  solution  of  the  bark  of 
the  woorari  tree.  A  negro  woman,  whose  skin  had  been  grazed  by  one 
of  these  arrows,  expired  in  a  short  time,  and  her  infant,  though  not  woun- 
ded, lost  its  life  from  sucking  her  breast. 

Forest  Trees.  The  bananas  and  mangles  are  soft  and  porous.  Some 
of  the  trees  are  susceptible  of  a  fine  polish,  though  it  is  difficult  to  cut 
them,  on  account  of  their  excessive  hardness.  Various  kinds  of  beautiful 
cabinet  woods  are  found  in  the  forests,  which  abound  in  varied  and 
romantic  scenery.     Great  varieties  of  flowering  creepers  and  shrubs 


180  SOUTH     AMERICA. 

diffuse  fragrance  through  the  air.  Parasitical  plants  in  many  places 
render  the  forests  impassable.  The  simira  yields  a  rich  crimson  dye. 
The  largest  canoes  are  made  from  the  wild  cotton  tree. 

Quadrupeds.  The  same  as  those  of  Brazil  and  Paraguay.  The  red 
tiger  of  Surinam  is  less  than  the  jaguar,  but  resembles  it  in  habits,  and 
is  equally  ferocious.  The  tiger  cat  is  a  beautiful  animal,  not  much  larger 
than  the  domestic  cat,  and  is  lively,  mischievous,  and  untamable.  There 
are  two  species  of  the  ant  bear.  One  of  the  species  is  almost  eight  feet 
in  length,  attacks  the  jaguar,  and  seldom  leaves  its  hold  without  destroying 
it.  The  dog  crab  frequents  the  sea  shore,  and  uses  its  feet  very  dexter- 
ously in  drawing  shell  fish  out  of  their  cavities.  There  are  many  species 
of  monkeys  in  Guiana.  The  guata  is  considered  to  be  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  man,  or  rather  to  an  Indian  old  woman.  Three  species  of  deer 
are  indigenous.  The  agouti  and  paca  are  considered  the  best  game  in 
Guiana.  The  cabiai  is  an  amphibious  animal,  armed  with  strong  tusks, 
and  covered  with  bristles.  The  peccary,  or  Mexican  hog,  has  an  orifice 
on  his  back,  containing  a  fetid  liquor  not  unlike  musk.  The  coati-monda 
is  a  great  destroyer  of  poultry,  and  is  said  to  be  as  cunning  as  a  fox. 
The  vampyre  bat  is  the  most  destructive  in  the  country.  The  boa,  or, 
as  it  is  called  in  the  language  of  the  country,  aboma,  is  a  large  amphibious 
snake,  forty  feet  in  length,  and  four  or  five  in  circumference.  It  is 
indifferent  as  to  its  prey,  and  destroys,  when  hungry,  any  animal  that 
comes  within  its  reach.  The  negroes  consider  it  excellent  food,  and  its 
fat  is  converted  into  oil.  The  rattlesnake  anddipsas  are  the  most  noxious 
reptiles  in  Guiana.  The  sting  of  the  latter  is  not  always  fatal,  but  pro- 
duces fever,  accompanied  with  excessive  thirst,  whence  its  name.  Gui- 
ana is  infested  with  serpents,  lizards,  and  caymans.  Of  the  fresh  water 
fish,  the  pacoun  and  aymara  are  said  to  be  the  best.  The  warapper  has 
been  found  on  the  trees.  It  feeds  on  them,  during  the  inundations,  and 
remains  entangled  among  the  branches  when  the  waters  have  subsided. 

The  Dutch  settlements  of  Essequibo,  Demarara,  and  Berbice,  form 
what  has  been  called  British  Guiana,  which  is  inhabited  by  nine  thousand 
whites,  and  eighty  thousand  negroes.  The  harbor  of  the  city  of  Esse- 
quibo, though  situated  at  the  confluence  of  two  large  rivers,  has  not  been 
hitherto  considered  of  much  importance.  Most  of  the  settlers  reside  on 
the  banks  of  the  river,  near  the  plantations.  Since  the  thick  woods  have 
been  cut  down,  the  refreshing  sea  breeze  is  not  obstructed  in  its  course, 
and  the  climate  is  milder  and  more  salubrious  than  that  of  Surinam. 

Demarara  is  the  most  flourishing  of  the  British  settlements  in  Guiana. 
The  population  of  Strabock,  the  capital,  amounts  to  ten  thousand  souls. 
Many  of  the  inhabitants  are  very  wealthy,  and  the  people  still  retain 
several  Dutch  customs.    Foreign  commodities  are  very  dear.     A  guinea 


SOUTH      AMERICA.  1S1 

is  frequently  given  for  a  pound  of  tea.  New  Amsterdam,  the  chief  town, 
in  the  colony  of  Berbice,  is  situated  on  the  river  of  the  same  name.  The 
marshy  ground  extends  two  or  three  leagues  into  the  interior,  and  the  laud 
is  supposed  to  be  better  adapted  for  cocoa  and  coffee,  than  for  sugar  plan- 
tations. 

The  fine  colony  of  Surinam  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Dutch;  and  is, 
perhaps,  the  best  monument  of  that  industrious  people.  No  part  of  the 
West  Indies  is  so  extensively  or  so  well  cultivated.  Parimarabo,  the 
chief  town,  is  built  on  the  right  side  of  the  beautiful  river  Surinam.  The 
streets  are  lined  with  orange,  shaddock,  tamarind,  and  lemon  trees,  which 
appear  in  bloom,  while  their  branches  at  the  same  time  are  weighed  down 
with  fruit.  The  walks  are  covered  with  gravel  and  sea  shells.  The 
houses  are  sumptuously  furnished.  The  number  of  whites  in  Surinam 
amounts  to  10,000;  the  negroes  to  80,000,  and  the  exports  to  £100,000 
sterling.  The  Dutch  and  British  settlements,  in  Guiana,  present  a  vast 
plain,  covered  with  plantations,  or  enameled  with  rich  verdure,  bounded 
on  one  side  by  a  dark  ridge  of  impenetrable  forests,  and  bounded  on  the 
other  by  the  azure  billows  of  the  ocean.  The  garden  between  the  sea 
and  the  desert  is  intersected  by  a  great  many  streams,  confined  by  dikes, 
and  separated  from  each  other  by  excellent  roads  or  navigable  canals. 

The  revolted  negroes  have  established  many  petty  republics  in  the  inte- 
rior. Although  they  go  naked  they  live  in  abundance.  They  make 
their  butter  from  the  fat  of  the  palm-tree  worm,  and  extract  good  oil  from 
the  pistachio  nut.  They  are  expert  huntsmen  and  fishermen,  and  under- 
stand the  art  of  curing  their  provisions.  They  obtain  salt  from  the  ashes 
of  the  palm,  and  when  a  sufficiency  cannot  be  procured,  season  their  food 
with  red  pepper.  The  palm  tree  furnishes  them  with  plenty  of  wine. 
Their  fields  are  covered  with  rice,  manioc,  ignames,  and  plantains.  The 
manicole  supplies  them  with  all  the  materials  from  which  their  huts  are 
constituted.  Their  cups  are  made  from  the  calubash  tree,  and  a  sort  of 
net  work,  woven  by  an  insect,  furnished  them  with  their  hats.  The 
nebees,  so  common  in  the  forest,  are  converted  into  cordage.  They  kindle 
a  fire  by  rubbing  two  pieces  of  hard  wood,  which  they  call  bi-bi,  together. 
Candles  are  made  of  their  tallow,  and  their  oil  is  burnt  in  lamps.  The 
numerous  swarms  of  wild  bees,  with  which  their  country  abounds,  yield 
them  plenty  of  wax  and  honey.  Such  are  these  simple  republics  of 
negroes,  reduced  in  other  respects  to  a  state  of  nature. 

France  has  never  derived  any  advantage  from  its  colony  in  Guiana. 
Cayenne,  from  its  position,  and  the  thickness  of  the  surrounding  woods, 
and  the  depth  of  its  marshes,  is  almost  inaccessible.  The  whole  number 
of  whites  in  the  colony  amounted  to  2,000,  and  the  remainder  of  the 


182  WEST     INDIES. 

inhabitants  to  18  or  20,000.     The  exports,  however,  have  been  tripled 
since  1789. 

Indians.  A  great  many  tribes  inhabit  the  deep  forests  of  the  interior. 
They  are  affectionate,  hospitable,  and  simple  in  their  manners  to  each 
other,  but  fierce  and  warlike  to  strangers,  and  unconquerable  in  their 
efforts  to  retain  their  independence.  In  the  interior  of  this  country  was 
the  fabulous  El  Dorado  of  adventures,  aboutthe  year  1540. 


WEST   INDIES,   OR   COLOMBIAN    ARCHIPELAGO 


This  is  a  numerous  group  of  islands,  that  stretch  in  the  form  of  an 
tireh,  or  bow,  between  the  two  American  continents.  They  have  been 
called  Antilles  from  the  Latin  ante  insulas.  They  are  often  called 
Carribees,  and  by  the  North  Americans  the  West  Indies.  They  extend 
from  the  gulf  of  Florida  to  that  of  Venezuela,  and  are  divided  into  the 
greater  and  less  Antilles,  and  sometimes  into  the  windward  and  leeward 
islands.  Cuba,  Jamaica,  St.  Domingo,  and  Porto  Rico,  are  the  great 
Antilles.  A  remarkable  current,  called  the  gulf  stream,  sets  through 
this  group  of  islands.  It  passes  from  the  gulf  of  Florida,  like  a  swift  river, 
immensely  broad,  with  most  singular  ripples  in  calm  weather,  along  its 
points  of  contact  with  the  still  waters.  After  passing  from  this  chain  of 
islands,  it  diverges  from  the  American  continent,  increasing  in  breadth  as 
it  diminishes  in  velocity.  The  waters  of  the  gulf  are  warmer  than  those 
of  the  still  ocean. 

This  sea  is  generally  in  a  profound  calm,  whence  the  Spaniards  call  it. 
the  Ladies  sea,  and  the  water  is  then  so  transparent  that  the  mariner  can 
discern  fish  and  coral  at  sixty  fathoms  below  the  surface.  The  ship  seems 
to  float  in  air,  and  the  spectator  is  often  seized  with  vertigo,  while  he 
beholds  through  the  crystaline  fluid,  submarine  groves,  and  shining  or 
monstrous  fishes  darting  among  them,  or  beautiful  shells  glittering  among 
turfs  of  fucus  and  sea  weed.  Fresh  water  springs  issue  from  the  sea  ,on 
both  sides  of  the  channel,  between  Yurcatan  and  Cuba.  They  rush  with 
such  violence  from  the  deep,  that  it  is  dangerous  for  small  vessels  to 
approach  thence.  Boats  have  been  dashed  to  pieces  by  the  violence  of 
the  surges  that  ensue.     The  seamen  sometimes  here  draw  their,  supplies 


WEST     INDIES.  183 

of  fresh  water  from  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.     Humboldt  says,  that  some 
of  the  fish  in  these  springs  have  never  been  found  in  the  salt  water. 

There  are  mountains  on  all  the  larger  islands  of  this  Archipelago. 
The  highest  are  on  the  west  of  St.  Domingo,  the  east  of  Cuba  and  the 
north  of  Jamaica.  Volcanoes  have  been  observed  in  Gaudaloupe,  and 
some  other  islands.  Their  general  geological  feature  is  abrupt  transition 
from  mountains  to  plains,  marked  by  steep  and  craggy  rocks.  Coral  and 
madrepore  rocks  are  common  on  the  different  coasts.  Cuba  and  the 
Bahamas  are  surrounded  by  labyrinths  of  low  rocks,  several  of  which  are 
covered  with  palm  trees. 

These  islands  are  generally  situated  under  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  and 
there  is  very  little  difference  in  the  climate;  so  that  the  observations 
touching  one  of  them  will  generally  apply  to  the  whole.  The  periodical 
rains,  which  give  birth  to  the  spring  of  the  country,  commence  in  May, 
and  the  brown  of  vegetation  changes  to  a  deep  verdure.  The  periodical 
rains  fall  about  noon,  and  cause  a  luxuriant  vegetation.  The  medium 
standing  of  the  thermometer  is  78°  Fahr.  These  showers  are  followed 
by  the  splendor  of  tropical  summer.  The  sky  is  nearly  cloudless,  and 
the  heat  would  be  almost  insupportable,  but  for  the  sea  breeze.  The  moon 
emits  a  light,  by  which  a  person  can  see  to  read  the  smallest  print  by  night. 
The  thermometer  now  often  rises  above  90°,  and  suffocating  calms 
announce  the  re-approach  of  the  great  periodical  rains.  Fiery  clouds 
are  seen  in  the  atmosphere,  and  the  mountains  seem  nearer  than  at  other 
times.  The  rain  falls  in  torrents.  It  is  said  that  eighty-seven  inches  fell 
in  one  year.  Iron  rusts  rapidly;  humidity  is  great,  and  the  inhabitants 
live  in  a  kind  of  vapor  bath.  The  climate  is  then  relaxing,  unwholesome, 
and  dangerous  to  an  European.  Putrid  and  yellow  fever  ensue,  as  some 
say  from  miasm,  and  others  whimsically  affirm  from  lunar  influence.  It 
is  now  generally  believed  not  to  be  contagious,  and  less  dangerous  on 
elevated  than  marshy  districts.  The  temperate  zone  of  the  Antilles 
commences  at  one  thousand  four  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
The  mountains,  at  an  elevation  of  four  thousand  feet,  are  subject  to  mists 
and  rains. 

Animals.  Most  of  the  wild  animals  indigenous  to  this  climate  arc  of 
a  smaller  size.  The  scorpion  is  found  only  in  the  large  islands.  Ne- 
groes are  sometimes  exposed  to  the  murderous  bite  of  the  cayman  or 
crocodile.  Parrots  of  various  species  glitter  in  the  woods,  and  innumer- 
able aquatic  birds  congregate  on  the  shores.  Humming  birds,  darting 
along  the  bright  flowers,  vie  in  their  plumage  with  the  flowers,  the  eme- 
rald, and  ruby.  All  the  tropical  plants,  shrubs,  and  trees  are  natives  of 
this  climate.  A  canoe  made  from  a  single  trunk  of  a  cotton  tree,  has 
been  known  to  contain  a  hundred  persons;  and  the  leaf  of  one  species  of 


184  WEST     INDIES. 

palm  will  shade  five  or  six  men.  The  palmetto,  or  mountain 
cabbage  tree,  grows  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  its  verdant  summit 
trembles  from  the  slightest  breeze.  A  splendid  variety  of  the  noblest 
trees  graces  the  plantations.  Lemon,  orange,  and  pomegranate  trees 
perfume  the  air  with  the  aroma  of  their  flowers ;  while  their  branches 
are  loaded  with  fruit.  The  apple,  peach,  and  grape  ripen  in  the 
mountains.  The  date,  sapota,  sapotilla,  mammee,  rose  apple,  guava, 
mango,  different  species  of  spondias  and  annonas,  and  most  of  the  oriental 
tropical  fruits,  ripen  on  the  sultry  plains. 

We  should  not  have  space  to  enumerate  the  splendid  varieties  of 
flowering  shrubs,  opuntias,  thistles,  and  lianes.  The  polypodium  arboreum, 
at  a  distance,  might  be  mistaken  for  the  palm  tree,  on  account  of  its  lofty 
trunk,  and  the  broad  leaves  on  its  summit.  Lignumvitae,  wintera-canela, 
cinchona  caribea,  wild  vanilla,  aloes,  arnatto,  and  pimento,  are  all  either 
indigenous,  or  cultivated  here.  The  igname,  and  potato,  monioc  and 
angola  peas  are  the  food  of  the  negroes.  Sugar  cane,  of  the  various 
species,  is  the  well  known  and  most  abundant  production  of  these  islands. 
No  conflagration  is  more  rapid  or  alarming  than  a  fire  in  a  dry  cane  field, 
which  frequently  occurs.  Two  varieties  of  the  cotton,  the  green  seed, 
and  the  small  seed,  are  the  most  common  kinds  cultivated.  The  coffee  of 
the  country  is  a  native  of  Arabia  Felix.  It  seldom  bears  before  the  third 
season ;  sometimes  not  till  the  sixth.  It  never  lasts  more  than  thirty 
years,  and  frequently  decays  before  that  time.  A  single  plant  produces 
from  one  to  four  pounds. 

Inhabitants.  The  Charibs,  represented  so  fierce  and  indomitable, 
and  the  mild  and  timid  races,  first  seen  by  Columbus,  are  nearly  all 
extinct.     The  following  may  serve  as  a  table  of  the  present  population. 


Square 

Miles. 

Whites. 

Blacks.     1 

Whole  Pop. 

Cuba, 

54,000 

234,000 

198,000 

432,000 

Hayti, 

28,000 

650,000 

650,000 

Jamaica, 

6,000 

40,000 

350,000 

390,000 

Porto  Rico, 

4,140 

94,000 

6,000 

100,000 

Guadaloupe, 

670 

13,000 

88,000 

101,000 

Martinico, 

2C0 

10,000 

78,000 

88,000 

Barbadoes, 

166 

16,000 

65,000 

81,000 

Antigua, 

93 

2,100 

33,000 

35,100 

Santa  Cruz, 

100 

3,000 

30,000 

33,000 

St.  Christopher, 

70 

4,000 

26,000 

30,000 

Dominica, 

291 

1,600 

25,000 

26,600 

Trinidad, 

1,600 

2,000 

23,000 

25,000 

Grenada, 

109 

1,100 

20,000 

21,100 

V     INDIES. 

185 

20 

5,000 

15,000 

20,000 

140 

900 

15,000 

15,000 

131 

1,500 

13,500 

15,000 

220 

2,400 

11,700 

14,100 

350 

8,000 

6,000 

14,000 

St.  Eustatia, 

Tobago, 

St.  Vincent, 

St.  Lucia, 

Margarita, 

The  Bahamas,  5,000  3,000       11,000  14,000 

Nevis,  20  1,000       10,000  11,000 

Montserrat,  47  1,000       10,000  11,000 


Total,  443,000  1,683,000      2,126,000 

Cuba  is  the  largest  and  most  important  of  these  islands.     It  commands 
the  windward  passage,  as  well  as  the  entrance  into  the  gulfs  of  Mexico 
and  Florida,  and  is  called  with  reason  the  key  of  the  West  Indies.     It  is 
seven  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  on  a  medium  seventy  in  breadth.     It 
is  equal  in  size  to  Great  Britain.      Its  population   is  rated  at  750,000, 
though  we  have  reason  to  think  it  exceeds  that  number.     A  small  belt  of 
the  island  only  has  yet  been  cultivated.     A  chain  of  mountains,  not  very 
lofty,  extends  through  the  whole  island.     The  soil  is  exceedingly  fertile; 
the  climate  more  temperate  than  most  of  the  other  islands;  and  Cuba  is 
justly  considered  the  healthiest  and  most  fruitful  settlement  in  the  Antilles. 
It  is,  probably,  the  richest  island,  all  things   considered,  in  the  world. 
Gold  was  formerly  found  in  the  island,  and  copper  and  iron  abound.     It 
is  famed  also,  for  mineral  waters,  and  salt  springs.      Its  chief  wealth  is 
derived  from  its  extensive  sugar  plantations.      Coffee  is  its  next  most 
important  product.      Its  tobacco  is  the  best  in  the  world.     It  abounds  in 
trees,  among  which  are  many  fitted  for  ship  timber.      Bees  have  multi- 
plied to  a  great  extent.     Cattle,  as  in  New  Spain,  have  become  wild  in 
the  woods,  and  are  killed  for  their  hides  and  tallow.      The  people  are 
active  and   enterprising,  and  the  revenue,  formerly  reckoned  at  two 
millions  of  piastres,  is  now  much  more  than  double  that  sum.   The  military 
force,  chiefly  militia,  consists  of  twenty  thousand,  most  of  whom  are  ill 
disciplined. 

Havana,  the  capital  of  the  island,  is  on  the  north  coast,  and  was 
founded  by  Velasquez,  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Its  population  is  rated 
at  70,000,  and  from  that  to  100,000.  The  largest  fleet  may  ride  in  its 
fine  harbor;  but  the  entrance  into  it  is  narrow,  and  one  ship  only  can 
pass  in  at  a  time.  Two  forts,  one  of  them  the  famous  Moro  castle,  defend 
it.  The  city  contains  many  fine  buildings,  and  especially  some  noble 
and  splendid  churches,  and  is  by  far  the  largest  mercantile  port  in  Span- 
ish America,  having  always  a  great  show  of  vessels  from  all  quarters  of 
the  world.  Puerto  del  Principe,  situated  in  the  midst  of  rich  savannas, 
Vol.  II.  24 


186  WEST     INDIES. 

contained  thirty  years  ago,  20,000  inhabitants.  St.  Yago  was  formerly 
the  chief  town  of  the  island.  Matanzas  is  a  place  of  considerable  and 
growing  importance.  La  Vega,  and  Trinidad,  may  each  contain  5,000 
inhabitants.  The  exports  of  Havana  have  been  estimated  at  twenty 
million  dollars  a  year. 

Jamaica,  although  the  third  of  the  Antilles,  in  point  of  size,  has  been 
rendered,  by  English  industry,  the  first  in  point  of  consequence.  It  is 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long,  by  sixty  broad,  and  towards  its  extremi- 
ties much  narrower,  resembling  an  ellipse. 

The  Blue  Mountains  extend  from  one  extremity  of  the  island  to  the 
other.  They  are  rugged,  with  naked  rocks  heaped  together  by  earth- 
quakes. From  the  rocks  spring  up  lofty  trees  and  evergreens.  Cas- 
cades, fed  by  a  thousand  mountain  rills,  rush  down  the  hills,  emerging 
from  the  deep  and  verdant  forest,  and  add  to  the  beauty  and  freshness  of 
the  landscape.  From  the  summits  of  the  hills,  most  splendid  views  are 
afforded  of  the  distant  sugar  plantations.  The  soil  of  the  savannas  is  rich, 
and  affords  excellent  pasturage  for  cattle.  The  mountains  near  Spanish 
Town  are  resorted  to  on  account  of  their  mineral  waters.  Lead  is  the 
only  metal  which  has  hitherto  been  discovered  in  Jamaica.  The  low- 
lands in  this  island  are  decidedly  unhealthy,  on  account  of  heat  and 
humidity.  The  morning  sea  breeze  renders  the  climate  less  oppressive, 
and  the  refreshing  air  of  the  mountains  is  salutary  to  invalids.  The 
summit  of  the  highest  mountain  is  seven  thousand  eight  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Sugar  is  the  great  staple  of  this  island,  and  although  much  more  abun- 
dant in  some  seasons  than  in  others,  is  more  uniform  than  in  the  other 
islands.  But  the  colonists,  of  late,  have  directed  their  attention  much  to 
the  cultivation  of  cotton.  Pimento  and  ginger  are  among  the  products. 
The  finest  mahogany  abounds.  The  soap  tree  is  common.  The  bread 
fruit  tree  has  been  transplanted  here,  and  all  the  tropical  fruits  and  pro- 
ductions come  to  maturity. 

Jamaica  contains  three  counties,  Middlesex,  Surry,  and  Cornwall. 
The  government  is  composed  of  the  legislative  assembly,  and  a  governor 
and  council,  appointed  by  the  king.  Port  Royal,  once  the  capital  of  the 
island,  was  destroyed  by  a  tremendous  earthquake.  Kingston,  the  pre- 
sent capital  of  Jamaica,  contains  thirty  thousand  inhabitants.  Many  of 
the  houses  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town  are  spacious,  although,  like 
others  in  these  islands,  and  the  neighboring  continent,  they  consist  only 
of  one  story.  St.  Jago  de  la  Vega,  or  Spanish  Town,  at  no  great  distance 
from  Kingston,  is  still  the  seat  of  government.  Its  population  exceeds 
six  thousand  souls.  In  1815,  the  whole  population  amounted  to  three 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  souls,  of  whom  fifteen  thousand  were  mulat- 


WEST     INDIES.  187 

toes,  and  thirty  thousand  of  European  origin.  Thus  the  blacks  were  in 
a  ratio  to  the  whites  of  more  than  ten  to  one.  The  staple  exports  in  the 
same  year  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  hogsheads  of 
sugar,  fifty-three  thousand  puncheons  of  rum,  and  twenty-seven  million 
three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  pounds  of  sugar.  Many  of  the  planters 
are  immensely  rich. 

St.  Domingo,  or  Hayti.  Columbus  gave  to  this  island  the  name  of 
Hispaniola,  or  Little  Spain.  It  extends  three  hundred  and  thirty  miles 
from  east  to  west,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  from  north  to  south.  The 
centre  of  the  island  is  marked  by  the  lofty  mountains  of  Ciboa,  consisting 
of  three  chains.  Most  of  these  summits  admit  of  cultivation,  and  are 
comparatively  healthy.  The  low  and  marshy  grounds  are  exceedingly 
unhealthy  to  European  constitutions.  The  stormy  season  lasts  from  April 
to  November.  The  soil  is  well  adapted  to  all  kinds  of  cultivation  proper 
to  the  climate.  Gold  and  silver,  and  the  other  metals  and  fossils,  used  to 
be  found  here.  A  very  large  lump  of  native  gold  was  found  in  the  moun- 
tains; and  the  Maroon  negi'oes  still  carry  on  an  inconsiderable  trade  in 
gold  dust.  Before  the  late  revolution,  the  Spanish  part  of  the  island 
contained  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  thirty  thousand  of  whom 
were  slaves,  and  they  worked  two  hundred  thousand  oxen. 

San  Domingo  was  the  first  town  founded  by  Europeans  in  America. 
In  the  Cathedral  of  this  city  are  deposited,  in  two  leaden  coffins,  the  ashes 
of  Christopher  Columbus  and  his  brother.  Hence  issued  the  expeditions 
that  conquered  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  performed  the  other  Spanish 
exploits  upon  the  two  American  continents.  The  other  principal  towns 
in  the  Spanish  part  of  the  island  are  San  Yago  and  La  Vega. 

The  French  formerly  possessed  in  this  island  an  extent  of  territory 
equal  to  one  thousand  seven  hundred  square  leagues.  We  may  judge  of 
the  former  value  of  this  colony  to  France,  when  we  are  informed,  that 
on  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  square  leagues,  the  value  of  the  staples 
raised  was  supposed  to  be  worth,  in  France,  seven  million  four  hundred 
and  eighty-seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy -five  pounds.  At  that 
time  there  were  in  this  part  of  the  island,  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
negroes.  Cape  Francois  has.  been  denominated  Cape  Henry  by  the 
negro  King  Christophe.  Every  one  has  read  of  the  terrible  revolution, 
in  which  the  negroes  and  mulattoes  in  turn  desolated  this  island,  in  throw- 
ing off  the  yoke  of  their  former  masters.  The  whole  island  is  now 
understood  to  be  united  under  one  head.  The  colored  people  have 
established  schools,  and  sound  political  regulations,  and  have  managed 
with  great  wisdom  and  discretion  of  policy,  and  have  given  unquestionable 
proofs  that  they  are  capable  of  self-government.  The  government  carries 
on  trade  with  the  Americans,  English,  and  Danes;  and  possesses  a  well 


188  WEST     INDIES. 

disciplined  army,  and  efficient  revenues,  and  is  supposed  to  be  rapidly 
growing  in  wealth  and  political  power. 

Porto  Rico,  situated  eastward  of  Hispaniola,  is  the  next  island  in  the 
chain  of  the  Antilles.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  length  by 
forty  in  breadth.  Its  mountains  are  not  so  high  as  those  of  St.  Domingo. 
Herds  of  wild  dogs  roaming  on  the  mountains,  are  supposed  to  be  remains 
of  the  same  race  that  the  Spaniards  employed  in  hunting  down  the  natives. 
The  wide  savannas,  in  the  interior  and  near  the  northern  coast,  are  fer- 
tile. Many  cascades  in  the  mountains  add  to  the  beauty  of  these  healthier 
districts.  The  low  lands  are  unhealthy  during  the  rainy  season.  But 
the  land  is  fruitful,  and  well  watered  with  numerous  rivulets.  Gold  was 
formerly  found  in  considerable  abundance.  Excellent  timber,  ginger, 
sugar,  coffee,  cotton,  flax,  hides,  and  the  different  kinds  of  incense  so 
much  used  in  Catholic  countries,  are  among  the  productions  of  the  island. 
Its  mules  are  very  valuable,  and  it  carries  on  a  very  considerable  trade 
in  tobacco,  salt,  rice,  maize,  cassia,  oranges,  gourds,  and  melons.  The 
capital,  St.  Juan  de  Porto  Rico,  is  built  on  a  small  island  on  the  northern 
coast.  It  has  a  convenient  harbor,  and  is  a  town  of  considerable  impor- 
tance. Aguadilla  is  a  place  comparatively  salubrious.  San  Germano  is 
inhabited  by  the  ancient  and  rich  families.  A  few  years  since,  the  popu- 
lation of  the  island,  slaves  and  freemen,  amounted  to  thirty-one  thousand. 
It  has  remained  firmly  loyal  to  the  king  of  Spain. 

Bahamas  are  separated  from  the  continent  by  the  Gulf  of  Florida, 
between  which  and  these  isles  sweeps  the  broad  and  rapid  current  of  the 
Gulf  Stream.  What  has  been  called  the  old  channel,  divides  them  from 
Cuba.  Their  number  exceeds  five  hundred.  Many  of  them  are  no 
more  than  barren  rocks.  But  twelve  of  the  most  populous  and  fertile 
contain  thirteen  thousand  inhabitants.  The  larger  islands  are  fertile, 
and  the  soil  not  unlike  that  of  the  Carolinas.  The  slaves  are  used  with 
great  humanity.  Cotton,  indigo,  tortoise  shell,  ambergris,  mahogany, 
logwood,  and  different  kinds  of  fruit,  are  exported  from  these  islands. 
In  time  of  war,  these  islands  are  situated  favorably  for  the  entanglement 
of  prize  vessels,  and  these  labyrinths  of  shoals  and  rocks  at  all  times 
bring  up  vast  numbers  of  wrecks.  Turk's  Island  is  owned  by  the  Eng- 
lish, and  is  famous  for  its  salt.  The  Virgin  Islands  of  this  group  were 
so  named  by  Columbus,  in  honor  of  the  eleven  thousand  virgins  of  the 
Romish  ritual. 

Santa  Cruz  belongs  to  the  Danes,  whose  industry,  wisdom,  and  good 
policy  have  rendered  their  possessions  in  these  seas  of  great  value.  St. 
Thomas  is  also  an  important  commercial  station.  The  two  islands  are 
supposed  to  contain  from  thirty-six  to  forty  square  leagues,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  one  thousand  souls  to  each  square  league.     The  net  revenue 


WEST     INDIES.  189 

amounts  to  one  hundred  thousand  rix  dollars.  Some  of  the  plantations 
are  supposed  to  be  worth  sixty  thousand  pounds.  The  storehouses  are 
loaded  with  merchandise,  brought  from  Europe  and  America.  Christian- 
stadt  is  the  capital  of  Santa  Cruz.  The  small  island  of  St.  John  is  fertile, 
and  comparatively  healthy.  There  are  said  to  be  seventy-one  thousand 
four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  acres  of  good  land  in  the  Danish  islands,  of 
which  thirty-two  thousand  and  fourteen  are  in  sugar  plantations,  and  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-eight  in  cotton.  The  sugar  is  of  the 
finest  quality,  and  the  rum  equal  to  that  of  Jamaica. 

Anguilla,  or  Snakes  Island,  so  called  from  its  long  and  crooked  form, 
belongs  to  the  English.  The  inhabitants  raise  maize  and  cattle,  and 
make  considerable  salt.  It  is  ten  leagues  long,  by  three  in  average 
breadth. 

St.  Martin's  belongs  partly  to  the  French,  and  partly  to  the  Dutch. 
Its  chief  revenue  arises  from  its  salt.  Many  of  the  settlers  are  of  English 
origin. 

St.  Bartholomew  belongs  to  Sweden.  It  lies  between  St.  Christopher, 
Anguilla,  and  St.  Eustatia.  Gustavia  is  the  chief  town.  The  exports 
consist  of  cassia,  tamarinds,  and  sassafras. 

St.  Eustatia  is  about  two  leagues  long,  by  one  in  breadth,  and  belongs 
to  the  Dutch.  The  population  on  this  small  spot  amounts  to  nearly  twelve 
thousand,  including  slaves.  Saba,  adjoining  St.  Eustatia,  is  twelve  miles 
in  circumference,  and  is  difficult  of  access,  except  for  small  vessels.  On 
the  hills  in  this  island  is  an  agreeable  valley,  watered  by  frequent  show- 
ers, which  render  it  in  the  highest  degree  fertile.  The  climate  is  healthy, 
and  the  Dutch  affirm,  that  the  European  women  retain  their  complexions 
longer  than  in  any  other  of  the  West  India  islands.  The  following  islands 
all  belong  to  the  British. 

Antigua  is  seven  leagues  long,  by  as  many  in  breadth.  It  contains 
fifty-nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight  acres,  of  which  thirty- 
four  thousand  are  pasturage,  or  sugar  plantations.  This  island  has 
recently  been  fortified,  and  has  become  of  importance.  The  inhabitants 
amount  to  forty  thousand,  of  whom  thirty-six  thousand  are  slaves.  The 
chief  town  is  St.  John,  in  which  resides  the  English  governor  of  the 
Leeward  Islands.  The  exports,  which  consist  of  sugar,  ginger,  and 
tobacco,  are  very  variable,  as  regards  quantity.  In  1788,  no  rain  fell 
for  seven  months,  and  the  inhabitants  would  all  have  perished  of  famine, 
had  they  not  been  supplied  from  abroad.  Barbuda  is  twelve  leagues 
north  of  Antigua,  and  contains  one  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants. 
The  air  is  so  salubrious,  that  it  is  a  resort  for  invalids.  Turtles  are  found 
on  the  shore,  and  deer  and  different  sorts  of  game  in  the  woods. 

St.  Christopher's  is  forty-two  miles  in  circumference.     It  affords  the 


190  WEST     INDIES. 

finest  sugar  land  of  any  in  the  West  Indies.  It  contains  twenty-eight 
thousand  souls,  and  the  proportion  of  freemen  to  slaves  is  as  one  to  thir- 
teen. Nevis  and  Montserrat  are  two  small,  and  very  fertile  adjacent 
islands. 

Guadaloupe  consists  of  two  small  islands,  separated  by  a  narrow  chan- 
nel. Grand  Terre  is  six  leagues  long  by  fourteen  in  breadth;  and  Basse 
Terre  is  fifteen  leagues  long  by  fourteen  broad.  Three  small  islands, 
Desiderade  on  the  east,  Marie  Galante  on  the  south-east,  and  Isles  des 
Saintes  on  the  south,  are  subject  to  the  governor  of  Gaudaloupe.  All 
these  islands  contain  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  thousand  one  hundred 
and  forty-two  acres,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  thousand  souls. 
There  are  several  volcanic  mountains  in  Basse  Terre,  of  which  one  only 
emits  clouds  of  smoke.  Basse  Terre  is  agreeably  diversified  by  hills, 
woods,  gardens,  and  enclosures,  which  form  a  striking  contrast  with  the 
marshy  and  sterile  land  on  the  eastern  island.  There  is  a  warm  spring 
near  Goave,  whose  temperature  is  sufficient  to  boil  eggs.  The  bees  in 
this  island  are  black,  and  their  honey  of  a  purple  color. 

Basse  Terre,  the  chief  town,  is  adorned  with  many  fine  buildings, 
fountains,  and  public  gardens.  Point  a  Petre,  the  metropolis  of  Grand 
Terre,  is  unhealthy,  from  the  contiguity  of  marshes;  but  it  has  one  of 
the  finest  harbors  in  the  West  Indies.  Desiderade  is  famed  for  its  cotton. 
Coffee  and  sugar  are  cultivated  on  the  hills  of  Marie  Galante.  Dominica, 
so  called  by  Columbus,  from  being  discovered  on  the  Sabbath,  is  situated 
between  Guadaloupe  and  Martinico.  The  soil  is  well  adapted  for  the 
growth  of  coffee.  The  hills,  from  which  several  rivers  descend,  are 
covered  with  the  finest  woods  in  the  West  Indies.  On  account  of  its 
importance,  this  island  has  been  raised  to  a  distinct  government.  The 
staples  are  maize,  cotton,  cocoa,  and  tobacco. 

Martinico,  formerly  the  most  important  French  island  in  these  seas, 
now  belongs  to  the  British.  The  extent  of  cultivable  surface  is  about 
two  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-two  acres.  It 
has  many  steep  mountains  and  rugged  rocks.  Pitou  de  Corbet  is  the 
highest.  The  loftiest  and  most  abundant  palm  trees  are  near  its  summit. 
This  island  is  better  supplied  with  water,  and  less  subject  to  hurricanes, 
than  Gaudaloupe.  The  productions  of  both  islands  are  nearly  the  same. 
Its  population  is  estimated  about  one  hundred  thousand.  Port  Royal,  the 
chief  town,  has  a  spacious  harbor.  St.  Peter's  town,  in  this  island,  is  the 
most  commercial  town  in  the  lesser  Antilles,  and  contains  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants.  St.  Lucia  has  a  fertile  soil,  but  a  warm  and  unhealthy 
climate.  It  has  a  population  of  twenty  thousand  souls.  Garenage  is  the 
best  sea  port  in  St.  Lucia.  Thirty  sail  of  the  line  might  there  be  shel- 
tered from  hurricanes.    The  town  is  small,  and  unhealthy.    St.  Vincents, 


WEST     INDIES.  191 

south  of  St.  Lucia,  is  remarkable  for  its  fertility,  and  produces  a  great 
quantity  of  sugar  and  indigo.  The  bread  tree,  brought  from  Otaheite, 
has  here  succeeded  entirely.  In  1812,  there  was  an  eruption  of  one  of 
the  volcanic  mountains  of  this  island.  The  eastern  coast  is  peopled  by 
the  black  Caribees,  a  race  descended  from  the  aborigines,  and  fugitive 
negroes.  The  English  population  amounts  to  twenty-three  thousand, 
chiefly  slaves.  Kingston  is  the  residence  of  the  governor,  whose  juris- 
diction extends  over  several  of  the  adjacent  islands.  The  Grenadines 
are  a  group  of  contiguous  islands,  united  to  each  other  by  a  ridge  of 
calcareous  rocks,  that  appear  to  have  been  formed  by  marine  insects. 
Cariacon  and  Isle  Ronde  are  the  principal.  They  are  small,  but  fertile 
and  well  cultivated.  Grenada  is  situated  near  the  Grenadines,  and  con- 
tains thirty-one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy -two  souls.  A  lake  on 
the  summit  of  a  central  mountain  is  the  source  of  many  rivers,  that  adorn 
and  fertilize  the  island.  Hurricanes  are  little  known.  At  this  island 
terminates  the  chain  of  the  Antilles.  Barbadoes,  Tobago,  and  Trinidad, 
form  a  distinct  group. 

Barbadoes  is  the  easternmost  island  in  the  West  Indies.  It  is  twenty- 
one  miles  long,  and  fourteen  broad,  and  of  great  fertility.  The  population 
is  calculated  at  ninety  thousand.  The  governor  resides  at  Bridgetown, 
the  chief  town  in  Barbadoes.  This  harbor  is  nearer  the  eastern  continent 
than  any  other  in  the  Antilles. 

Tobago  is  eight  leagues  north-east  from  Trinidad.  The  chain  of  moun- 
tains on  these  islands,  from  its  geological  formation,  is  supposed  to  be  a 
continuation  of  the  mountains  of  Cumana.  The  position  of  Tobago  gives 
it  great  importance,  and  it  might  become  highly  productive.  The  finest 
fruits  of  the  tropics  grow  here.  Fine  figs  and  guavas,  ananas,  nutmegs, 
gum  copal,  and  five  different  sorts  of  pepper,  are  among  its  productions. 
A  harbor  on  the  east,  and  another  on  the  west  coast,  are  sheltered  from 
every  wind.     The  population  amounts  to  eighteen  thousand. 

Trinidad  lies  between  Tobago  and  South  America.  This  island  is 
sixty-five  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  fifty  from  north  to  south.  It  pro- 
duces sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  woad,  tobacco,  indigo,  ginger,  a  variety  of  fine 
fruits,  maize,  and  cedar  wood.  There  is  a  remarkable  bituminous  lake 
situated  on  the  western  coast.  It  is  eighty  feet  above  the  sea,  and  three 
leagues  in  circumference.  Small  islands,  covered  with  plants  and  shrubs, 
arise  from  its  bosom,  and  often  disappear.  The  bituminous  matter  of  this 
lake  is  used  for  naval  purposes  instead  of  pitch.  Trinidad  is  important 
from  its  fertility,  its  extent,  and  position,  which  commands  the  Oronoco, 
and  the  Dragon's  Mouth,  the  narrow  passage  between  it  and  the  main 
land,  from  which  it  appears  to  have  been  torn  by  some  convulsion  of 
nature.     St.  Joseph  de  Ouma,  the  nominal  capital,  is  only  a  village,  and 


192  WEST     INDIES. 

consists  of  two  or  three  hundred  neatly  built  houses.  Chagacamus,  the 
greatest  seaport,  contains  twenty-eight  thousand  inhabitants.  From  the 
size  and  fertility  of  Trinidad,  it  has  been  supposed  that  it  might  produce 
more  sugar  than  the  whole  of  the  leeward  islands.  It  possesses,  also, 
with  Tobago,  the  advantage  of  being  out  of  the  ordinary  reach  of  hurri- 
canes.   The  foregoing  islands  are  all  under  the  dominion  of  Great  Britain. 

The  Dutch  own  three  islands  on  the  coast  of  South  America.  The 
most  considerable  is  Curacoa,  twelve  leagues  long  and  three  broad.  The 
land  is  arid  and  sterile;  and  there  is  but  one  well  in  the  island,  the  water 
from  which  is  sold  at  a  high  price.  On  this  light  and  rocky  soil  the  Dutch 
have  planted  sugar  cane  and  tobacco.  The  salt  works  yield  a  consider- 
able revenue.  But  the  wealth  of  the  island  depends  on  its  contraband 
trade.  Williamstead,  the  capital,  is  one  of  the  neatest  towns  in  the  West 
Indies.  The  public  buildings  are  magnificent,  and  the  private  houses 
commodious.  The  clean  streets  remind  the  traveler  that  he  is  in  a  Dutch 
town.  The  port  of  Curacoa  is  spacious.  The  inhabitants  of  the  island 
amount  to  twelve  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety.  The  great  pro- 
portion, as  in  the  other  West  India  islands,  are  slaves.  The  colonists  of 
Bonair  and  Aruba,  two  small  adjacent  islands,  employ  themselves  chiefly 
in  raising  cattle. 

The  trade,  which  has  been  carried  on  in  this  great  Archipelago,  above 
described,  has  tended  more  to  advance  the  industry,  and  extend  the  com- 
merce of  those  European  countries,  which  have  been  connected  with 
these  islands,  than  all  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  two  Americas.  Before 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  the  British  introduced  twenty  thousand 
slaves,  annually,  into  their  colonies.  The  value  of  sugar,  annually 
imported  into  England,  is  valued  at  seven  million  sixty-three  thousand 
two  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds.  One  million  two  hundred  thousand 
puncheons  of  rum  are  annually  distilled  in  the  British  islands.  In  1804, 
that  country  obtained  from  the  Antilles  twenty  million  five  hundied  and 
twenty-nine  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-eight  pounds  of  cotton. 

This  immense  wealth  is,  however,  the  price  of  blood.  Notwithstanding 
the  increase  of  humanity  in  the  laws,  and  in  the  planters,  the  excessive 
mortality  of  the  miserable  slaves  shows  the  nature  of  their  condition. 
In  their  native  Africa  they  rapidly  multiply,  although  that  climate  is 
more  humid  and  unhealthy  than  that  of  these  islands.  Interest,  it  will 
be  easily  seen,  will  tend  to  impel  the  planters  to  do  every  thing  for  the 
preservation  of  their  slaves.  But  the  misery  of  exile,  servitude,  and  all 
the  bodily  torments  to  which  they  are  exposed,  will  continue  to  shorten 
their  existence;  and  the  race  in  all  these  islands  is  constantly  on  the 
decrease.  There  is  no  way  to  supply  the  deficiency,  but  the  revolting 
and  unchristian  enormity  of  fresh  importations. 


WEST     INDIES.  103 

The  negroes,  it  has  been  affirmed,  are  stubborn  and  revengeful,  not  to 
be  subdued  by  mild  treatment,  but  to  be  driven  by  the  lash.  They  are, 
in  fact,  ignorant,  docile,  gentle,  patient,  and  submissive.  Cruel  men, 
malefactors,  and  outcasts  from  Europe,  have  been  raised  to  be  their  over- 
seers, and  have  treated  them  as  beasts  of  burden.  Spanish  writers  have 
seriously  maintained,  that  the  negroes  and  Indians  have  no  souls;  and 
there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe,  that  such  reasonings  have  led  to  the 
treatment  they  have  received.  There  must  be  laws  to  protect  the  slaves 
from  outrage.  They  must  be  rendered  capable  of  acquiring  property. 
Marriage  must  be  rendered  a  valid  and  sacred  tie,  to  prevent  the  vile 
disease  and  misery  of  their  present  condition.  Their  children  must  be 
educated,  and  gradually  brought  within  reach  of  the  guidance  and  hopes 
of  Christianity.  Then  they  might  have  reason  to  regard  life  with  cheer- 
fulness, and  hope,  and  love ;  and  industriously  to  cultivate  the  soil  they 
have  so  long  watered  with  their  tears. 

The  following  most  impressive  and  graphic  account  of  a  bright  morning, 
and  of  a  hurricane  in  the  Antilles,  is  copied  entire  from  Malte  Brun. 

"In  order  to  make  our  readers  better  acquainted  with  this  country,  we 
shall  attempt  to  describe  a  morning  in  the  Antilles.  For  this  purpose, 
let  us  watch 'the  moment  when  the  sun,  appearing  through  a  serene 
atmosphere,  illumines  with  her  rays  the  summits  of  the  mountains,  and 
gilds  the  leaves  of  the  plantain  and  orange  trees.  The  plants  are  spread 
over  with  gossamer  of  fine  and  transparent  silk,  or  gemmed  with  dew 
drops,  and  the  vivid  hues  of  industrious  insects,  reflecting  unnumbered 
tints  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  aspect  of  the  richly  cultivated  valleys 
is  different,  but  not  less  pleasing ;  the  whole  of  nature  teems  with  the 
most  varied  productions.  It  often  happens,  after  the  sun  has  dissipated 
the  mist  above  the  crystal  expanse  of  the  ocean,  that  the  scene  is  changed 
by  an  optical  illusion.  The  spectator  observes  sometimes  a  sand  bank 
rising  out  of  the  deep,  or  distant  canoes  in  the  red  clouds,  floating  in  an 
aerial  sea,  while  thei/  shadows,  at  the  same  time,  are  accurately  deline- 
ated below  them.  This  phenomenon,  to  which  the  French  have  given 
the  name  of  mirage,  is  not  uncommon  in  equatorial  climates.  Europeans 
may  admire  the  views  in  this  archipelago,  during  the  cool  temperature 
of  the  morning :  the  lofty  mountains  arc  adorned  with  thick  foliage ;  the 
hills,  from  their  summits  to  the  very  borders  of  the  sea,  are  fringed  with 
plants  of  never  fading  verdure ;  the  mills  and  sugar  works  near  them  are 
obscured  by  their  branches,  or  buried  in  their  shade.  The  appearance 
of  the  valleys  is  remarkable ;  to  form  even  an  imperfect  idea  of  it,  we 
must  gro  jp  together  the  palm  tree,  the  cocoa  nut,  and  mountain  cabbage, 
with  the  tamarind,  the  orange,  and  the  waning  plumes  of  the  bamboo 
cane.  Ci  these  plains  we  may  observe  the  bushy  oleander,  all  the 
Vil.  n.  25 


194  WEST     INDIES. 

varieties  of  the  Jerusalem  thorn  and  African  rose,  the  bright  scarlet  of 
the  cordium,  bowers  of  jessamine  and  grenadilla  vines,  and  the  silver  and 
silky  leaves  of  the  portlandia.  Fields  of  sugar  cane,  the  houses  of  the 
planters,  the  huts  of  the  negroes,  and  the  distant  coast,  lined  with  ships, 
add  to  the  beauty  of  a  West  Indian  landscape.  At  sunrise,  when  no 
breeze  ripples  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  it  is  frequently  so  transparent 
that  one  can  perceive,  as  if  there  were  no  intervening  medium,  the  chan- 
nel of  the  water,  and  observe  the  shell-fish  scattered  on  the  rocks,  and 
the  medusoe  reposing  on  the  sand. 

"A  hurricane  is  generally  preceded  by  an  awful  stillness  of  the  ele- 
ments; the  air  becomes  close  and  heavy,  the  sun  is  red,  and  the  stars  at 
night  seem  unusually  large.  Frequent  changes  take  place  in  the  ther- 
mometer, which  sometimes  rises  from  80°  to  90°.  Darkness  extends 
over  the  earth;  the  higher  regions  gleam  with  lightning. 

"  The  impending  storm  is  first  observed  on  the  sea.  Foaming  moun- 
tain waves  rise  suddenly  from  its  clear  and  motionless  surface.  The 
wind  rages  with  unrestrained  fury ;  its  noise  may  be  compared  to  the 
distant  thunder.  The  rain  descends  in  torrents ;  shrubs  and  lofty  trees 
are  borne  down  by  the  mountain  streams ;  the  rivers  overflow  their  banks, 
and  submerge  the  plains.  Terror  and  consternation  seem  to  pervade  the 
whole  of  animated  nature ;  land  birds  are  driven  into  the  ocean,  and  those 
whose  aliment  is  the  sea,  seek  for  refuge  in  the  woods.  The  frighted 
beasts  of  the  field  herd  together,  or  roam  in  vain  for  a  place  of  shelter. 
It  is  not  a  contest  of  two  opposite  winds,  or  a  roaring  ocean,  that  shakes 
the  earth;  all  the  elements  are  thrown  into  confusion,  the  equilibrium  of 
the  atmosphere  seems  as  if  it  were  destroyed ;  and  nature  appears  to 
hasten  to  her  ancient  chaos.  Scenes  of  desolation  have  been  disclosed 
in  these  islands  by  the  morning  sun — uprooted  trees,  branches  shivered 
from  their  trunks,  the  roofs  of  the  houses  have  been  strewed  over  the 
land.  The  planter  is  sometimes  unable  to  distinguish  the  place  of  his 
former  possessions.  Fertile  valleys  may  be  changed  in  a  few  hours  into 
dreary  wastes,  covered  with  the  carcasses  of  domestic  animals,  and  the 
fowls  of  heaven." 


APPENDIX. 


Area  of  the  country  watered  by  the  principal  rivers  and  branches  in 
the  United  States. 

Square  Miles. 

Missouri  Territory,  |  -             -             -             -  698,000 

Missouri,  -            -  60,300 

Arkansas  Territory,  -             -             -  121,000 

Louisiana,  ^  -             -  36,000 

North- West  Territory,  h  ...  72,000 

Illinois,/^  -             -  58,310 

Indiana,  ||  -             -  34,940 

Ohio,  -            -  30,800 

Pennsylvania,  \  .....  14,650 

New  York,  -^  -            -  460 

Maryland,  T^  110 

Virginia,|             -  -                          -                          -  25,600 

Kentucky,  -                                       -             -  39,000 

North  Carolina,  ±  -                          -  900 

Tennessee,  -  41,300 

South  Carolina,  T|0  -  200 

Georgia,  T|*  -  380 

Alabama,  i  -  7,250 

Mississippi,  i  .  22,670 


Total,  1,263,870 

Valley  of  the  Missouri,                 -                         -            -  674,000 

Valley  of  the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of  Ohio,             -  225,000 

Valley  of  the  Ohio  and  its  waters,              -                          -  205,000 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  waters,  below  the  mouth  of 

Ohio,                                                 -            -  290,000 

1,394,000 


196  APPENDIX. 

Missouri,  from  its  source  to  its  junction  with  the  Yellow 

Stone,  .....  680 

Do.  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  -  -  1370 

-  m   2050 
Mississippi  Proper,  from  its  source  to  its  junction  with 

the  Missouri,  .....         780 

Alleghany  river,  the  highest  source  of  the  Ohio,  to  its 

junction  with  the  Monongahela,  -  -  200 

Do.  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  -  -  680 

880 

Mississippi,  from  the  junction  with  the  Missouri  to  its 

outlet,               .....  910 
Greatest  length  of  the  Mississippi  from  its  outlet  to  high- 
est point  of  the  Missouri,             ...  2960 
Do.  to  the  highest  point  of  Mississippi  Proper,           -  1690 
Do.  to  the  highest  point  of  the  Ohio,               -            -  1790 

r  TRIBUTARY     STREAMS. 

Of  the  Missouri— Yellow  Stone,  -            -  582 

La  Platte,  ...  790 

Kansas,  -  630 

Osage,  -            -            -  480 

Of  Ohio— Monongahela,  ...  120 

Cumberland,  ...  400 

Tennessee,  ...  470 

Of  Mississippi,  below  Missouri — 

White  River,  -            -  470 

Arkansas,  -             -             -  1380 

Red  River,  -  1080 


■I 


APPENDIX, 


197 


TABLE  NO.  I. 


METEOROLOGICAL   TABLE 

Sacket's 

Detroit. 

Prairie  des 

Council 

Harbor, 

Chiens. 

Bluffs. 

43  55N 

42  30N. 

42  30  N 

41  31  N. 

1  00  E 

5  48W 

14  38  N. 

19  45  W. 

1818. 

1820. 

h; 

L. 

M 

H. 

L. 

M 

II. 

L, 

M 

H. 

L. 

M 

Jan. 

30 

12 

23 

44 

4 

21 

40 

—22 

9 

Feb. 

57 

0 

32 

12 

2 

17 

71 

—8 

30 

March 

64 

9 

33 

01 

0 

32 

70 

0 

34 

April 

74 

•22 

48 

02 

88 

11 

88 

12 

57 

94 

24 

58 

May 

70 

22 

52 

si 

34 

53 

90 

39 

61 

90 

50 

69 

June 

S4 

50 

65 

S6 

51  70 

99 

50 

75 

99 

55 

74 

1820. 

July 

87 

58 

73 

92 

65 

69 

90 

54 

74 

97 

58 

75 

Aug. 

85 

54 

71 

94 

02 

75 

94 

54 

72 

105 

59 

75 

Sept. 

87 

44 

66 

92 

47 

71 

90 

32 

64 

92 

42 

68 

Oct. 

70 

30 

52 

74 

30 

51 

70 

20 

14 

80 

22 

47 

Nov. 

00 

20 

11 

60 

24 

10 

60 

—6 

33 

59 

—4 

34 

Dec. 

58 

9 

20 

48 

6 

27 

33 

—14 

16 

50 

—5 

18 

Mean 

of  the 

48°  6' 

47°  4' 

incomplete 

49°  2' 

year. 

—  Signifies  below  zero. 


I 


198 


O 

>— < 

o 
o 

►J 

o 

g 

w 

Eh 


APPENDIX 


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1819. 
3920N. 
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1819. 

39  30N. 

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1819. 
39  59N. 
458W. 

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The  highest,  lowest,  and  mean  heat  for  each  month,  at  different  situa- 
tions, will  be  shown  by  the  following  table : 

Note. — N  stands  for  north  latitude;  E  for  east  longitude;  and  W  for 
west  longitude ;  II  for  highest,  L  for  lowest,  and  M  for  mean  temperature. 


a  r  i'  E  y  i)  i  x . 


I'll) 


METEOROLOGICAL  TABLE. 


Fcrnan- 

Fort 

N 

.  Or- 

Baton 

Camp 

dina,  Fl. 

Scott. 

leans. 

Rouge. 

Ripley. 

1820. 

1S20. 

1820. 

1820. 

1820. 

30  45  N. 

3043  N. 

30  00  N. 

30  36  N. 

3118N 

4  37  VV 

7  &3  W 

13  10W. 

1514W. 

10  50W. 

H 

L 

M 

H 

L 

M 

H 

L 

M 

H 

!, 

M 

ti. 

L 

M 

Jan. 

70 

35 

55 

7  1 

32 

55 

Feb. 

78 

50 

05 

72 

31 

01 

78 

51 

64 

March 

70 

50 

01 

78 

38 

60 

78 

32 

61 

April 

85 

45 

72 

89 

11 

68 

78 

73 

86 

12 

70 

87 

55 

76 

May 

86 

01 

74 

88 

56 

87 

72 

70 

00 

75 

88 

54 

70 

June 

S? 

07 

78 

91 

50 

78 

01 

72 

86 

04 

60 

SI 

92 

:.7 

78 

July 

87 

71 

80 

01 

60 

90 

so 

S2 

00 

70 

70 

93 

72 

81 

August 

88 

70 

79 

92 

68 

80 

92 

7  s 

85 

02 

7! 

S3 

04 

05 

-2 

Sept. 

87 

73 

80 

90 

65 

75 

88 

71 

81 

88 

o! 

77 

02 

56 

77 

Oct. 

85 

50 

00 

89 

0(1 

70 

84 

15 

65 

38 

0! 

07 

85 

is 

68 

Nov. 

70 

43 

01 

78 

10 

00 

75 

311 

57 

84 

36 

01 

S4 

32 

:'»() 

Dec. 

75 

50 

01 

84 

32 

59 

77 

3; 

60! 

70 

IV 

60 

79 

28 

53 

Mean  of 

fiCO   O' 

incom- 

incom- 

incom- 

the year. 

4\ 

j 

1 

Pi 

ete 

Pi 

et« 

• 

plete 

METEOROLOGICAL  TABLE. 


Average 
at 

a  s 

■-J    CD 

Highest,  and  place  of 
observation. 

Lowest,  and  place 
of  observation. 

o 
bo 

3 

7 
25 

41 
50 

70 

73 
67 
52 
42 

52 

2 

33 

40 
00 

S4 

81 
70 
00 
50 

02 

0 
29 

41 

00 

71 

75 
70 
50 
40 

50 

Jan. 

Feb. 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

29 

45 

61 

76 

76 
71 
56 
46 

79  Fernandina 

78  Belle  Fontaine 
94  Council  Bluffs 

99  Prairie  des  Chiens 

*105  Council  Bluffs 

99  Ditto. 

88  Baton  Rouge 

t— 30  St.  Peters 

10  St.  Peters 
10  St.  Peters 

50  Ditto. 

30  St.  Peters 

20  Prairie  du  Chien 

—7  St.  Peters 

100 

88 
84 

49 

69 

68 

91 

General 
Mean. 

57 

*105  Sunday,  13th 
of  August. 

t  — 30  Sunday, 
30th  of  January. 

135 

200 


APPENDIX. 


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Ch 

Portsmouth 
St.  Peters,  11 
Sacket's  Har 
Prairie  des  C 
Council  Bluff 
Detroit,  6  mo 
Pittsburgh 
Fernandina 
Baton  Rouge 

APPENDIX. 


201 


TABLE  NO.  2. 

TREES  COMMON  TO  LOUISIANA. 


Red  flowering  maple 
Black  sugar  maple 
Box  elder 
Peach 
Red  lead 
Pawpaw 
Large  cane 
Black  birch 
Catalpa 
Prickly  pear 
Iron  wood 
Horn  beam 
Chincapin 
Blackberry 
Laurier  almond 
Wild  cherry 
Palmetto,  or  latama 
Sweet  orange 
Dog  wood 
Swamp  dog  wood 
Cypress 
Persimon 
Beech 
Red  ash 
Water  ash 
Water  locust 
Honey  locust 
Holly 
Butternut 
Butternut  hickory 
Swamp  hickory 
Thick  shellbark  hickory 
Nutmeg  hickory 
Black  walnut 
Pignut  hickory 
Shellbark  hickory 
Vol.  II. 


Poplar 
White  bay 
Largo  laurel 
Mulberry 
Spanish  mulberry 
Common  culinary  salt 
Tupeloo 
Black  gum 
Buckeye 
Pitch  pine 
Loblolly  pine 
Cotton  wood 
Sycamore 
Poke 

White  oak 
Water  oak 
Spanish  oak 
Black  jack  oak 
Swamp  white  oak 
Overcup  oak 
Post  oak 
Willow  oak 
Red  oak 
Black  oak 
Live  oak 
Black  locust 
Dwarf  locust 
Bistinean  locust 
Blackberry 
Red  berried  elder 
Downy  linden 
Mucilaginous  elm 
Red  elm 
Swamp  elm 
Large  leaved  elm 
Large  whortleberry 
26 


202 


APPENDIX. 


Red  cedar 
Sassafras 
Spice  wood 
Red  bay 
Sweet  gum 


Tree  whortleberry 

Cranberry 

Muscadine 

Parsley  leaved  water  grape  vine 

River  grape  vine. 


TABLE  NO.  3. 

FLORA  OF  LOUISVILLE. 

Amaranth,  pellitory  leaved 

Nightshade,  deadly 

white 

Garlic,  common 

clustered 

shallot 

Alamasco,  lily 

Onion,  common 

Bastard  indigo 

Garlic,  field,  crow 

Peach,  common 

Cane,  great 

Maple,  sugar 

Reed  grass 

red 

Cockle,  corn 

Pennsylvania 

Honeysuckle,  wild,  red,  white 

Box,  elder 

Snake  root,  Virginia 

Althea 

Dutchman's  pipe 

Asparagus 

Dog's  bane,  tustan  leaved 

Swallow  wort,  oval  leaved 

hemp 

Virginia  silk 

Ambrosia,  tall 

flesh  colored 

simple  leaved 

variegated 

mugwort 

Pleurisy  root 

Arethusa,  bulbous 

Spring  grass 

drooping 

Squaw  root 

Agrimony,  small  flowered 

Bane  berry 

wood 

Angelica  tree 

hairy 

Aralia,  berry-bearing 

smooth 

naked  stemmed 

Chamomile,  garden 

Pawpaw  tree 

wild 

Ascyrum 

Beard  grass 

St.  Andrew's  cross 

nodding 

Wall  cress,  lyre  leaved 

Anemone,  wild,  Virginia 

Canadian 

meadow 

common 

Oats,  common 

APPENDIX 


203 


Toad  flax,  common 
Canadian 

Plantain,  water 

Buckeye,  yellow 
common 

Andromeda 

Red  bud 

Moor  wort,  broad  leaved 

Flag,  sweet,  calamus 

Columbine,  Canadian 

Burdock,  common 

Starwort,  divar  icat 

solidago-like 

hyssop-leaved 

heath-leaved 

toad-flax  leaved 

flax-leaved 

one-colored 

red-flowered 

heart-leaved 

smooth 

large-leaved 

small,  white 

P.  wort-like 

imperial 

Millfoil,  common 

Turnip,  Indian 

Virginian 

Ginger,  wild 

Cabbage 

Turnip 

Birch,  black 

Hazel,  elder 

Beet,  common 

Catalpa,  tree 

Trumpet,  creeper 

Berberry,  Canadian 

three  flowered 

Bertolina,  rough 

Burr  marigold 

nodding 
large  flowered 


Fennel,  common 
Parsley,  common  kitchen 
Celery,  common 
Foxtail  grass,  meadow 
Pimpernal,  field 
Orach,  spreading 
Angelica,  purple 

common 
Devil's  bit,  white 
Mugwort,  grey 
Arstida,  erect 
Chincapin,  tree 
Hornbeam,  American 
Red  pepper,  long 
Hazel  nut 
Traveler's  joy,  Virginia 

striate 
Dog  wood,  Virginian 

Canadian 

upright 
Red  rod,  American  Cornell 
Comptonia,  fern  leaved 
Celandine,  great 
Claytonia,  Virginian 

lanceolata 
Solomon's  seal 

sweet  scented 
Red  root,  New  Jersey  tea 
Marsh  cinquefoil 
Buttonwood 
Wax  work 
Love  vine,  clasping 
Sedge,  plantain  leaved 
bristly 
erect 
Senna,  Maryland 

dwarf 
Bell  flower,  pointed  leaf 

perfoliate 
Sweet  weed 
Cunila,  mint  leaved 
Cockspur 


204 


APPENDIX. 


Burr  marigold  bipinnate 
Boehmeria 
Thyme,  Virginian 
Quaking  grass 

American 
scarlet 
Strawberry  blite,  slender 
Hackberry 
Red  bud,  Judas'  tree 
Nightshade,  common 
Chesnut,  common  American 
Hemp,  common 
Hound's  tongue 
Commelina,  Virginian 
Collinsonia,  two-colored 

common 
Collinsia 
Sweet  potato 
Bindweed,  field,  common 
creeping 
head-bearing 
Thorn  grass 
Centaurella 
Centuary,  angular  leaf 
Hemlock 

water 
Jerusalem  oak 
Wild  orach 
Chickwced,  common 

field 
Cacalia 

glaucous 
Cucularia 

Lady's  smock,  Pennsylvania 
narrow  leaved 
Virginian 
Shrub 

sweet  scented 
Coral  honeysuckle 
Melon,  musk 
Cucumber,  common 
Cowslip,  meadow 


Cowslip,  scarlet 

Hawthorn 

Johnsonia,  American 

Horse  radish 

Pumpkin 

Squash,  knotty 

Melon,  water 

Chervil 

Gallingale,  yellow 

sm.  flower 
strigous 

Tooth  wort,  irregular 

Indian  potato,  villous 

Jamestown  weed 

Carrot,  wild 

Leather  wood 

Teazle 

Dragon's  head,  Virginia 

Pepper  grass,  Virginia 

Larkspur,  blue 

Ground  laurel 

Arrow  wood,  Indian 

Spindle  tree,  evergreen 

Fleabane,  Canadian 

Philadelphia 

Hempwecd 

nettle-leaf 

purple 

spotted 

Indian  sage 

climbing 

Cotton  grass 

Elephant's  foot 

Dog's  tail  grass 

Spurge,  spotted 

hypericum-leaf 
thyme-leaved 

ipecacuanha,  wild 

Elymas 

fringed 

Mustard,  hedge 

Beech,  rusty  leaved 


\  V PKNDIX. 


205 


Thistle,  parti-colored 
Virginian 
common 
Sunflower,  tick  seeded 
narrow  leaf 
Ploughman's  wort 

starlike 
Marigold,  common  corn 
Cowslip,  American 
Skunk  cabbage 
Persimon,  common 
Fox  glove,  wild 

purple 
Hyssop,  hedge 

varying 
Pea  vine,  wild 
Ground  ivy 
Gonolobus,  parti-colored 

prickly 
Bonnet,  Virginian 
Locust,  prickly 
Gentian,  white 
Crow's  foot,  spotted 

Carolina 
Goat's  rue,  Virginian 
Cudweed,  slimy 

plantain  leaf 
Hudsonia 

Hydrangia,  arborescent 
Snow  ball,  mock 
Sunflower,  rough  leaf 
soft  leaved 
Heliotrope,  Indian 
Pennyroyal 

Hawkwccd,  veiny  leaf 
rough 
paniclcd 
Alum  root 
Hazle  witch 


Swine's  succory 
Houstonia,  blue 


Virginia 


Ash,  while 
blue 
swamp 
Strawberry,  garden 

wild 
Fennel,  giant 
Colombo 
Goose  grass,  s. 

cross  branched 
dyers, 

three  flowered 
Golden  thread 
Iledysarum,  m. 

clammy 

naked  flowering 
white  flowering 
Water  leaf 
Pennywort 
Parsnip,  cow 
Touch-me-not 

spotted 
Holly,  American 
Ditch  weed 
Flag,  common 

snake's  head 
Itea,  Virginian 
Walnut,  black 
Butternut 
Shell  bark 
Shag  bark 
Pig  nut 
Peccan 
Cedar,  red 

low,  dwarf 
Bullrush,  soft,  r. 
Laurel,  narrow  leaved 

broad 
Killingia,  low 
Flax,  common 

Virginian 
Darnel 
Willow  herb 


200 


APPENDIX. 


Houstonia,  varying 

Bastard  star  flower,  upt. 

Hydrastis,  Canadian 

St.  John's  wort,  prolific 
common 
Virginian 
cluster  leaved 

Barley,  common 

Hop,  common 

Hibiscus,  meadow 

Okra,  garden 

Duck's  meat,  small 

L.  Cardinal  flower 

Lobelia,  blue 

Tobacco,  wild 

Lobelia,  pale 

Claytonian 

Pepper  grass,  Virginian 

Lupine,  perennial 

Lily,  Canadian 

Philadelphian 
great  flowering 

Privet,  common 

Honeysuckle,  Virginian 

Cromwell 

Lavender,  common 

Lion's  leaf 

Sassafras 

Spice  wood 

Leechia,  great 

Sickle  grass 

Poplar 

Fire  weed 

Dandelion 

Mother  wort 

Lentanthus,  grass  leaf 

Cackold's  horns 
Mint,  Canadian 

horse 
Monkey  flower ,  winged 
ringont 
Miegia,  reed 


Willow  whorl ed 
Lindernia 
Larch  tree 
Gum,  sweet 
Archangel,  hispid 
Loosestrife 

four  leaved 
Hoarhound,  Virginian 

narrow  leaf 
Ludwigia,  large,  c. 

decurrent 
Muhlenbergia 
Melanthium,  Virginian 
Magnolia,  great  flowering 

sweet  swamp 
Cucumber  tree 
Hoarhound,  common 
Scorpion  grass,  marsh 

Virginian 
Trefoil,  marsh 

Sanicle,  bastard  American  two  leaf 
Cow  wheat,  American 
Gum  tree,  large,  sour 

black 
Catnip 

Fennel  flower 
Tobacco,  common 
Water  lily,  yellow  flower 

odorous,  Virginia 
Splatterdock,  common 
Nelumbium 
Wood  sorrel,  upright 

violet 
Orchis,  shewy 

fringed,  white,  and  yellow 
spiral 
Beech  drops 
Orontium,  water 
Tree  primrose 
Night  willow  herb 

scallop  leaved 
Majoram,  wild 


APPENDIX 


207 


Majorcm,  garden 
Rape  broom 

woolly 
Cucumber,  Indian 
Mitchella,  creeping 
Mulberry,  red 
Balm,  common 
Catmint,  wild 
Medlar,  red 
Pear  tree,  wild 
Chickweed,  Indian 
Mallow,  smooth  flowering 
Basil,  common 

garden 
Obolaria,  Carolinian 
Phyrma,  slender  spiked 
Alkekengi,  Pennsylvania 
Feverfew,  entire  leaved 
Passion  flower,  yellow 
Pellitory 
Lung  wort 
Cotton  tree 
Aspen  tree 
Poplar,  Lombardy 

Athenian 
Pond  weed 

perfoliate 

grass  leaved 

floating,  broad  leaf 
Louse-wort 

lanceolate 
Phlox,  or  B.  Lychnis,  spotted 
hairy 
smooth 
one  flowered 
Valerian,  Greek,  creeping 
Knot  grass 

upright 

bearded 
Buckwheat,  climbing 
Buckwheat,  common 
Water  pepper 


Water  arrow  leaved 
Buckwheat,  climbing,  American 
Shrub  trefoil 
Pear  tree 
Apple  tree 
Quince  tree 
Crab  apple  tree 
Mountain  mint 

hairy 
Parsnip,  common 
Lettuce,  wild 

glaucous  leaf 
Plantain,  Virginian 
lanceoalta 
flattened 
Penthorum,  American 
Orange,  mock,  fragrant 

scentless,  common 
Winter  green,  spotted 
Pippsisseva 

round-leaved 
Penstemon,  pubescent 

smooth 
Hemlock 
Cherry,  wild 
Sycamore 
Ginseng 

Panic  Grass,  capillary 
whorled 
glaucous 
crow's  foot 
broad  leaf 
Scotch 
Red  Grass,  canary 
Bean,  kidney,  common 

Lima 
Pea,  common,  garden 
Timothy,  herd  grass 
Meadow  Grass 

many-stemmed 
broad-leaved 
Brake 


208 


APPENDIX. 


Philostemon,  innoxiou 
May-apple 
Poke-berry,  common 
Alder,  black 
Purslane,  common 
Mill-wort,  red-colored 

yellow 
Snake  Root,  seneka 
Self-heal,  Pennsylvania 
Paspalum,  smooth 
Pickerel-weed,  heart-lf. 
Burnet,  common 
Potamisia,  stinking 
Poppy,  garden 
Oakburr 

white 
chesnut 
rock  chesnut 
upland  willow 
quercitron 
Spanish 
red 
Rudbeckia,  jagged 
rough 
purple 
leaf  clasping 
Gooseberry 
Currant,  black 

red 
Palmi  Christi 
Radish,  common 
Crow's  foot 
Buttercups 
Spearwort 

creeping,  r. 
water,  it. 
Sorrel,  sheep 
Dock ,  sharp,  P. 
Rhododendron,  great 
Sumac,  red 

stag's  horn 
poison  vine 


dwarf 

three-leaved 
Rose,  Carolina 

small-flowering 
bright 
swamp 
Raspberry,  wild,  black 
red 

garden 
Dewberry 
Blackberry,  tall 
Locust,  flowering 
Rosemary,  garden 
Rhexia,  Virginia 
Bladder  nut 
Broom,  Spanish 
Woundwort 
Indian  physick 
Nine-bark 
Silky  spirea 
Saxifrage,  Virginia 
Stitch-wort,  long-leaved 
oval  leaved 
slender 
Green-brier,  herbaceous 
deciduous 
arrow-lf. 
Sage,  lyre-leaved 

garden,  common 
Elderberry, red 

black 
Scull-cap,  small  flowered 
Virginia 
oval-leaved 
Sisryrinchum,  bcrmudia 
Thistle,  hog,  common 
blue 
whitish 
Lizard's  tail,  nodding 
Stone-cross 
Mustard,  black 
Mallow,  Indian 


APPENDIX 


209 


thorny 
Rye,  spring 
Feather  grass 
Nightshade 

Black 
Love  apple,  tomato 
Bitter-sweet 
Potatoes,  common 
Egg  plant 
Lilac,  common 
Groundsel,  common 

golden 
Willow,  black,  rough 

ozier 
Honeywort,  three-leaved 
Snap  dragon 
Stylosanthes,  hispid 
Golden  rod  of  Canada 
tall 

2-colored 
woodland 
scented 
broad-leaf 
late-flowering 
'  elm-leaved 
oak-leaved 
Do.  crooked-stemmed 
Gentian,  bastard 
Water  pimpernel 
Arrow-head 
Burr  reed 

Chrysanthemum,  bas. 
Radish,  water 
.  Figwort,  Maryland 
Puccoon 

Spergula,  corn,  field 
Cicely  herb 
Parsnip, 
Club-rush 

small,  capill 
spotted 
spiked 
Vol.  II. 


Bog-rush,  round-headed 
Pink-root,  Carolina 
Bruisewort,  officinal 

villous 
Spinagc,  common 
Thyme,  common 
Fennel,  scorching 
Wheat,  summer 
Germander,  Virginia 

Canadian 
Shepherd's  purse 
Flea-wort 
Cedar,  white 
Yew  tree,  Canadian 
Nightshade,  three-leaf 
Tripsacum 
Meadow  rue,  rough 
Do.  dioicious 
Linden  tree 
Toad-flax 
Spiderwort 
Tansey,  common 
Tephrosia,  Virginian 
Trichostema,  annual 
Clover,  white 
*     red 

hare's  foot 
Cat's  tail,  broad  leaved 
Tovara,  large-leaved 
Nettle,  common 
Richweed 
Bellwort 
Elm  tree,  American  white 

red,  rough 
Milfoil,  water,  common 
Hellebore,  yellow-flower 
Indian  poke 

narrow-leaf 
Viburnum,  maple-leaf 
Haw,  black 
Arrow-wood 

leaved 
27 


210 


APPENDIX, 


Speedwell,  officinal 
Virginia 
Scull-cap 
Forget-me-not 

slimy 
Creeper,  common 
Grape,  fox 

common,  wild 
chicken 
Whortleberry 
Huckleberry,  black 
Cranberry,  American 
Violet,  arrow-leaved 
pubescent 
delicate 
Canadian 


multifid 

lanceolate 

primrose-leaved 
Mullein,  white 
Misleto 

Verbisina,  Virginian 
Vetch,  American 
Vervian,  panicled 

nettle-leaved 
erect 
Carolina 
Cockle  burr 
Ash,  prickly 
Yellow  root 
Indian  corn 


Maiden  hair 
Spleenwort,  root-leaf 
Do.  ivory -stalked 
Do.  hart's  tongue 
Horse  tail 
Shave-grass 


Thread  moss 
Water  moss 
Feather  moss 


1.  Integer 

2.  Campestris 

3.  Miptica 

1.  Cinnabarinus 


€RYPTOGAMIA. 
FILICES. 

FERNS. 

Club-moss 
Osmunda,  shewy 

interrupted 
Virginian 
Onoclea,  sensitive  fern 

MUSCI. 
MOSSES. 

Marsh  moss 
Earth  moss 
Bog  moss 

FUNGI. 
MUSHROOMS. 

2.  Xanthropora 

3.  Hematapora 
Cup  Mushroom 


APPENDIX.  211 


FLORA  OF  NACHITOCHES. 

Flowering  ash.    Box  elder :  inhabiting  the  banks  of  Red  River. 

Buckeye.  A  shrub:  Flowers  scarlet;  inhabiting  sandy  hills.  The 
Creoles  use  the  bark  of  the  root  as  a  substitute  for  soap  in  washing. 

Star  wort,  found  on  the  high  lands,  two  miles  west  of  Nachitoches. 

Wild  indigo;   inhabits  borders  of  swamps  and  lakes. 

Anemone ;  inhabiting  sandy  hills  near  Red  River. 

May  weed;  common  on  road  sides. 

Spikenard. 

Sarsaparilla;  hab.  growing  in  abundance  half  a  mile  east  of  Grand  Ecor. 

Virginia  snake  root;  growing  eight  miles  north-east  of  Nachitoches. 

Indian  turnip;  growing  four  miles  west  of  Nachitoches,  on  the  river 
banks. 

Milk  weed. 

Pleurisy  root,  growing  in  abundance.  This  species  was  discovered  in 
the  year  1819,  by  Professor  Ives,  on  the  plains,  two  miles  east  of  New 
Haven,  Connecticut.  I  have  since  found  it  in  the  vicinity  of  Nachi- 
toches. 

Honeysuckle. 

Trumpet  flower. 

Prickley  pear. 

Bell  flower. 

Honeysuckle:  woodbine. 

Sensitive  pea. 

Chinquapin. 

Catalpa  tree. 

Button  bush. 

Judas  tree. 

Palmetto. 

Worm  seed. 

Sweet  potato. 

Morning  glory. 

Dogwood;  grows  from  five  to  twelve  feet  high. 

Hawthorn. 

Cypress  tree ;  in  extensive  swamps  and  lakes. 

Ladies'  slipper;  in  low  ground. 

Thorn  apple.    Jamestown  weed,  common. 

Larkspur. 

Persimon. 


212  APPENDIX. 

Rattle  snake  plantain. 

Coral  plant,  hab.  on  the  sandy  hills  between  the  Red  and  Sabine  rivers. 

Flowers  scarlet. 

Thorough  wort. 

White  ash. 

Carolina  jessamine,  hab.  found  growing  near  a  bayou,  one  mile  west  of 

Nachitoches.     Scarce;  flowers  deep  yellow,  very  fragrant. 
Avens. 
Honey  locust,  a  large  tree,  growing  near  the  Sabine  river;  pods  contain 

a  sweet  pulp,  which  is  in  large  doses  a  gentle  laxative. 
Kentucky  coffee  tree;  pods  large,  brown:  called  by  the  French,  chicot. 
Okra,  cultivated  in  gardens. 
St.  John's  wort. 

Holly;  an  evergreen;  berries  red. 
Cypress  vine. 

Fleur  de  luce,  in  low,  marshy  situations. 
Peccan  tree,  growing  in  abundance. 
Spice  wood. 

Sassafras.     Gum  is  useful  for  inflamed  eyes. 
Sweet  gum  tree. 
Red  caidinal  flower. 
Sweet  bay. 
Big  laurel. 

Oswego  tea,  on  the  high  lands  south-west  of  the  town  of  Nachitoches. 
Wax  myrtle. 
Sour  gum  tree. 
Passion  flower. 
Poke  weed. 

Mandrake.     May  apple. 
Butter  cup;  hab.  roads  and  ditches. 
Palma  christi. 

Locust  tree;  a  highly  ornamental  tree. 
Poison  sumach. 
American  centaury. 
Arrow  head. 

Willow,  on  the  banks  of  rivers. 

Burnet ;  hab.  on  hills ;  found  growing  on  the  bluff  near  the  town  of  Nach- 
itoches. 
Sensitive  brier ;  flowers  red,  in  globular  spikes,  very  fragrant. 
Blue  eyed  grass. 
Night  shade. 
Golden  rod. 


APPENDIX. 


213 


Carolina  pink  root. 

Indian  physic. 

Spider  wort. 

Red  elm.     Slippery  elm. 

Mullen. 

Violet. 

Misleto,  a  parasitic  plant  on  trees;  on  the  banks  of  Red  river. 


TABLE   NO.  IV. 


The  following  is  not  intended  for  a  complete  catalogue,  but  a  list  of 
the  animals  most  commonly  met  in  the  forests  and  prairies  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley: 


Bison 

Grizzly  bear 

Panther;  two  or  three  varieties 

Black  bear 

Black  wolf 

Prairie  wolf 

Beaver 

Skunk 

Opossum 

Maryland  marmot 

Prairie  dog 

Muskrat 

Rabbit 

Elk 

Virginia  deer 

Cougar 

Bay  lynx 

Wild  cat 

Indian  dog 

Red  fox 

Hare 


Pouched  rator 

Gopher 

Ground  squirrel 

White  nosed  squirrel 

Gray  squirrel 

Leaping  mouse 

Grey  fox 

Prong  horned  antelope 

Mountain  sheep 

Racoon 

Badger 

Mink 

Otter 

Rustic  mouse 

Meadow  mouse 

Mux  musculvs 
Domestic  rat 
New  York  bat 
Carolina  bat 
Ground  mole 


TABLE    NO.   V. 


A  complete  catalogue  of  the  ornithology  of  the  western  country  would 
transcend  our  limits.  The  following  are  the  birds  most  commonly  met 
between  the  lakes  and  the  Sabine. 


214 


APPENDIX, 


Turkey  buzzard 

Bald  eagle 

Fish  hawk 

American  buzzard 

Marsh  hawk 

Red  eared  owl 

Barred  owl 

Hawk  owl 

Great  owl 

Great  American  shirke 

Prairie  hen 

Swallow  tailed  falcon 

American  sparrow  hawk 

Ring  tailed  eagle 

Red  shouldered  hawk 

Mississippi  kite 

Sharp  shinned  hawk 

Slate  colored  hawk 

Long  eared  owl 

Virginia  eared  owl 

Pewee  fly  catcher 

Cedar  bird 

Ferruginous  thrush 

Cat  bird 

Brown  thrush 

Mocking  bird 

Golden  crowned  thrush 

Red  breasted  thrusl) 

Water  thrush 

Red  bird,  or  Virginia  cardinal 

Blue  winged  yellow  warbler 

Blue  bird 

Black  poll  warbler 

Blue  yellow  backed  warbler 

Winter  wren 

Cserulean  warbler 

Great  Carolina  wren 

Marsh  wren 

Barn  swallow 

Bank  swallow 

Chimney  swallow 

Purple  martin 


Whip-poor-will 

Spanish  whip-poor-will 

Night  hawk 

Sky  lark 

Red  lark 

Black  capped  titmouse 

Black  throated  bunting 

Hairy  woodpecker 

Red  bellied  woodpecker 

Louisianian  tannager 

Scarlet  tannager 

Tyrant  fly  catcher 

Louisiania  fly  catcher 

Canada  fly  catcher 

Yellow  breasted  chat 

White  eyed  fly  catcher 

American  red  start 

Red  eyed  fly  catcher 

Green  black  capped  fly  catcher 

Towhee  bunting 

Chipping  sparrow 

Cow  bird 

Yellow  bird 

Yellow  hemp  bird 

Song  sparrow 

Purple  finch 

Lesser  red  poll 

Snow  bird 

Cardinal  grossbeak 

Pine  grossbeak 

American  grossbeak 

Purple  grackle 

Red  winged  starling 

Baltimore  bird 

Orchard  oriole 

Yellow  headed  oriole 

Meadow  lark 

Robin  red  breast 

White  breasted  nut-thatch 

Red  breasted  nut-thatch 

Raven 

Crow 


APPENDIX. 


215 


Magpie 

Bluejay 

Ruby  throated  humming  bird 

Belfed  kingfisher 

Carolina  paroquet 

Wild  turkey 

Pinnated  grouse 

Ruffed  grouse 

Virginia  partridge 

Passage  pigeon 

Carolina  pigeon 

Killdeer 

Golden  plover 

Hooping  crane 

Sandhill  crane 

Great  heron 

Green  heron 

Night  heron 

Long  billed  curlew 

Little  woodcock 

Willet 

Stone  curlew 

Tell-tale  godwit 

Solitary  sandpiper 

Semi  palmated  sandpiper 

Yellow  shank's  snipe 


Pileated  woodpecker 
Downy  woodpecker 
Great  marbled  godwit 
Horned  grackle 
Common  coot 
Laughing  gull 
Marshtern 
Lessertern 
Rough  billed  pelican 
Brown  pelican 
Cormorant 
Swan 

Canadian  goose 
Barnacle  goose 
White  fronted  goose 
Blue  winged  teal 
Buffle  headed  duck 
Wild  duck 
Summer  duck 
Scaup  duck 
Wood  duck 
Pintailed  duck 
Golden  eye 
American  widgeon 
Red  breasted  merganser 
Hooded  merganser. 


TABLE  NO.  VI. 


The  Methodist  church  is  the  most  numerous  denomination  in  the  west- 
ern country.  The  number  of  communicants  in  1826  was  about  135,000. 
The  Methodist  congregations  contain  upon  an  average  five  or  six  hearers 
to  every  communicant.  This  calculation  will  give  this  denomination  be- 
tween 7  and  800,000  at  that  time.  The  number  of  itinerant  ministers, 
485.  The  number  of  local  ministers  was  probably  greater.  In  1830, 
the  number  of  communicants  was  about  173,083,  and  618  that 
of  traveling  preachers.  The  superannuated  preachers  amounted  to  40. 
The  Presbyterians  had  six  hundred  and  fourteen  preachers  in  1830, 
924  churches,  and  60,470  communicants.  The  Baptists  in  1830,  had 
1,063  preachers,  1701  churches  and  90,000  communicants.     The  Epis- 


216  APPENDIX. 

copal  in  the  same  year,  51  ministers,  60  churches  and  2,000  communicants. 
The  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  40  ministers,  70  churches,  7,000  commu- 
nicants. This  denomination  is  rapidly  increasing.  The  Catholics,  130 
ministers,  130  churches,  and  between  4  and  500,000  worshippers.  The 
Christians  who  are  Unitarian  in  their  sentiments,  have  400  flourishing 
congregations  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  The  Unitarians  have  a  few  church- 
es. The  Tunkers  are  generally  emigrants  from  Germany,  and  are  distin- 
guished by  wearing  long  beards,  and  by  holding  the  doctrine  of  universal 
salvation.  They  have  about  40  churches.  The  Shakers  have  a  number 
of  flourishing  societies.  There  are  100  German  Lutheran  churches,  great 
numbers  of  Free  will  Baptists,  followers  of  Mr.  Campbell,  not  a  few  Mor- 
monites,  a  growing  number  of  congregations  calling  themselves  Emanci- 
pators, chiefly  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  They  hold  a  perpetual  cru- 
sade against  slavery.  There  are  perhaps  20  Jewish  synagogues.  The 
'Quarterly  Journal  of  Education'  thus  assigns  the  supposed  number  of 
those  attached  in  any  way  to  any  Christian  society.  Methodist,  800,000. 
Baptists,  700,000.  Presbyterians,  550,000.  Catholics,  450,000.  Episco- 
palians, 50,000.  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  80,000.  Other  denomina- 
tions, among  which  the  Scotch  Reformed  have  not  been  enumerated, 
100,000,  making  the  total  number  of  worshipers  in  the  western  country 
2,730,000,  and  of  those  who  do  not  worship,  1,300,000.  This  estimate  is 
too  small.  The  number  of  people  in  the  western  country  who  have  their 
religion  yet  to  choose  exceeds  2,000,000. 

The  following  is  probably  a  correct  statement  of  the  denominations  in 
the  United  States. 


Denominations.               Mi 

listers.  Co 

ngregations.  C 

hmmunicants 

.  Population. 

Orthodox  Congregationalists 

1,000 

1,270 

140,000 

1,260,000 

Unitarians 

150 

160 

176,000 

Presbyterians 

1,700 

2,158 

173,329 

1,800,000 

Dutch  Reformed 

159 

194 

17,888 

125,'!00 

Episcopalians 

500 

700 

600,000 

German  Reformed 

84 

400 

17,400 

200,000 

Lutherans 

205 

1,200 

44,000 

400,000 

Associate  Presbyterians 

74 

144 

15,000 

100,000 

Calvanistic  Baptists 

2,914 

4,384 

304,827 

2,743,453 

Methodist  Episcopal 

1,777 

476,000 

2,600,000 

Cumberland  Presbyterians 

50 

75 

8,000 

100,000 

Sweedenborgians 

30 

28 

5,000 

United  Brethren 

23 

23 

2,000 

7,000 

Quakers  or  Friends 

400 

200,000 

Associate  and  other  Methodists  350 

35,000 

175,000 

APl'ENDIX 

217 

Christians, 

200 

800 

25,000 

275,000 

Emancipators, 

15 

600 

4,500 

Seventh  day  Baptists, 

30 

40 

2,000 

20,000 

Six  Principle    " 

25 

30 

1.800 

20,000 

Mennonites, 

200 

30,000 

120,000 

Tunkers, 

40 

40 

3,000 

30,000 

Free  Will  Baptists, 

300 

400 

16,000 

150,000 

Free  Communion  do. 

30 

3,500 

30,000 

Shakers, 

45 

15 

6,000 

Universalists, 

150 

300 

150,000 

Roman  Catholics, 

500,000 

Jews  and  others,  not  mentioned, 

150 

50,000 

Total,  9,941    13,891  1,314,344 

There  are  probably  in  the  United  States  10,000  settled  ministers,  and 
14,000  fixed  congregations. 


TABLE  NO.  VIL 

Exports  from  New  Orleans  in  1S31,  $12,000,000.  Among  the  items 
are  157,328  barrels  of  flour,  from  50  to  80,000  hogsheads  of  sugar,  and 
;302,852  bales  of  cotton.  The  amount  of  pork  cannot  be  ascertained,  but 
|  probably  exceeds  2,000,000.  The  exports  from  Mobile  for  the  same 
year  amounted  to  $1,693,958.  From  Cincinnati,  over  $1,000,000.  The 
Head  annually  exported  from  New  Orleans  amounts  to  about  12,000,000 
I  pounds.  The  steam  boat  tonnage  of  the  western  country  exceeds  50,000 
i  tons.  The  number  of  steam  boats  that  have  run  upon  the  western  waters 
from  1811  to  1830,  is  336.     Present  number,  230. 


TABLE   NO.  VHI. 

It  is  no  longer  necessary  to  give  the  name3  of  the  steam  boats  on  the 
western  waters  to  establish  in  the  public  mind  abroad  the  extent  to  which 
the  increase  of  steam  boats  has  been  carried.  The  present  amount  of 
tonnage  in  the  western  country  is  50,000  tons.  About  380  boats  have 
been  built  or  run  upon  these  waters.  Of  these,  132  were  built  at  Cincin- 
nati, and  about  the  same  number  at  Pittsburgh.  Fifteen  or  16  were  built 
Vol.  II.  28 


21^  APPENDIX. 

at  New  Orleans.  The  rest  were  built  at  various  places  on  the  Ohio,  and 
Borne  of  them  in  the  Atlantic  ports.  It  is  believed  that  thirty-five  have 
been  built  during  the  past  season,  some  of  them  of  the  largest  and  most 
beautiful  class.  A  very  great  improvement  now  generally  adopted  in 
the  western  steam  boats,  is  to  have  them  built  with  upper  decks,  as  they 
are  called ;  that  is,  the  whole  extent  of  the  cabin  arrangement  occupies 
the  complete  length  of  the  boat  in  the  upper  story,  giving  the  cabin  an 
airy  and  extensive  promenade,  wholly  free  from  the  annoyance  of  the 
steam  and  the  noise  of  the  enginery.  When  the  boat  and  the  captain  are 
both  good,  the  passage  up  and  down  the  rivers  is  generally  made  in  great 
comfort.  Now  and  then  a  ruffian  creates  annoyance,  in  which  case,  if 
the  captain  possess  energy  and  self  respect,  which  is  the  case  with  the 
greater  portion  of  these  officers,  the  prompt  remedy  is  adopted  of  setting 
him  on  shore.  Prices  of  passage  are  on  an  average  as  follows :  From 
Baltimore  to  Wheeling,  $14.  Erom  Wheeling  to  Cincinnati,  by  the 
stage,  $14;  by  the  river,  $10.  From  Pittsburgh  to  Wheeling,  $3. 
From  Cincinnati  to  Louisville,  $4.  Return,  $6.  From  Louisville  to 
New  Orleans,  $30.  Return,  the  same.  From  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis, 
$16.  From  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans,  $30.  From  New  York  to  Al- 
bany, $2.  From  Albany  to  Buffalo,  by  the  canal,  $18.  From  Buffalo 
to  Cleaveland,  $G .  From  Cleaveland  or  Sandusky  to  Cincinnati,  by  the 
stage,  $13. 


TABLE  NO.  IX. 

MILITARY  POSTS  AND  ARSENALS, 


Fort  Brady,  Michigan  Territory. 

Fort  Mackinac,  "              " 

Fort  Howard,  "              " 

Fort  Dearborn,  "               " 

Fort  Gratiot,  V              " 

Fort  Niagara,  New  York. 

Madison  Barracks,  New  York. 

Hancock  Barracks,  Maine. 

Fort  Sullivan,  " 

Fort  Preble,  " 

Fort  Constitution,  New  Hampshire 

Fort  Independence,  Massachusetts. 


APPENDIX. 


219 


Fort  Wolcott, 
Fort  Trumbull, 
West  Point, 
Fort  Columbus, 
Fort  Delaware, 
Fort  McHenry, 
Fort  Severn, 
Fort  Washington, 
Fortress  Monroe, 
Fort  Johnston, 
Fort  Moultrie, 
Oglethorpe  Barracks, 
Fort  Marion, 
Fort  Snelling, 
Fort  Crawford, 
Fort  Armstrong, 
Fort  Winnebago, 

Cantonment  Leavenworth, 

Jefferson  Barracks, 
Cantonment  Gibson, 
Cantonment  Jesup, 
Baton  Rouge, 
Cantonment  Atkinson, 
Fort  Wood, 
Fort  Pike, 
Fort  St.  Philip, 
Cantonment  Brooke, 
Fort  Mitchell, 
Key  West, 
Arsenal  Watertown, 
Arsenal  Watervleit, 
Arsenal  Rome, 
Arsenal  Pittsburgh, 
Arsenal  Frankford, 
Arsenal  Baltimore, 
Arsenal  Washington, 
Arsenal  near  Richmond, 
Arsenal  Augusta, 
Arsenal  Baton  Rouge, 


Rhode  Island. 
Connecticut. 
New  York. 
New  York. 
Delaware. 
Maryland. 


Virginia. 
North  Carolina. 
South  Carolina. 
Georgia. 
Florida. 

On  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

Michigan  Territory. 

Right  bank  of  the  Missouri  near  the 

Little  Platte. 
Missouri. 
On  the  Arkansas. 
Louisiana. 


Florida. 
Alabama. 
Florida. 
Massachusetts. 
New  York. 
a       u 

Pennsylvania. 
« 

Maryland. 

District  of  Columbia. 

Virginia. 

Georgia. 

Louisiana. 


220 


APPENDIX. 


A  GENERAL  aggregate,  exhibiting  the  number  of  each  description  of 

States  of  America,  as  returned 


FREE 

MALES. 

States  and  Territories. 

S  s 

s.5 

ere  5 

iT>     CD 

e  O 

EL  3> 

a  < 

n     Q 
<t>     S3 

?    3 

*    a. 

<5  fa 

s  1 

g  O 

It 

*    a. 

B?    1 

Q. 

Maine     - 

New  Hampshire  - 

Massachusetts     - 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

N.  District  of  New  York 

S.  District  of  New  York 

34,034 
19,438 
40,615 
6,731 
19,021 
21,689 
118,609 
39,526 

28,746 
17,590 
36,054 
5,788 
17,891 
19,410 
103,663 
33,686 

25,536 
16,800 
34,605 
5,403 
17,773 
17,596 
88,844 
29,945 

22,410 
14,873 
32,868 
5,354 
16,519 
15,805 
74,176 
27,763 

35,028 
21,147 
58,431 

8,425 

26,181 

24,200 

124,787 

51,728 

176,515 

26,894 
68,379 
52,483 

Total  of  New  York 

New  Jersey        -  • 

E.  District  of  Pennsylvania 

W.  District  of  Pennsylvania 

158,135 

25,073 
60,744 
56,376 

137,349 

21,209 
50,321 
45,659 

118,789 

19,736 
45,115 
37,476 

101,939 

17,132 
41,321 
33,030 

Total  of  Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

E.  District  of  Virginia 

W.  District  of  Virginia 

117,120 

4,747 
23,732 
33,156 
32,625 

95,980 

4,091 
19,439 

26,402 
25,394 

82,591 

3,932 

17,888 
22,532 
20,763 

74,351 

3,179 
15,772 
19,813 
17,118 

120,862 

5,509 
29,390 
33,282 
27,543 
60,825 

39,174 
22,166 

26,688 

7,039 

10,308 

Total  of  Virginia 

North  Carolina    - 

South  Carolina   - 

Georgia 

N.  District  of  Alabama 

S.  District  of  Alabama 

65,781 

46,662 
25,131 
33,011 
9,455 
13,300 
22,755 

7,922 
5,017 

2,850 

51,796 

35,973 

20,267 

23,586 

6,737 

8,760 

43,295 

31,171 
16,492 

18,679 
5,231 
6,905 

36,931 

25,582 

13,962 

15,098 

4,305 

5,194 

9,490 

3,682 

2,85C 
1,476 

Total  of  Alabama 

Mississippi 

E.  District  of  Louisiana 

W.  District  of  Louisiana 

15,497 

5,566 
4,187 
2,198 

12,136 

4,581 
3,338 
1,891 

17,347 

7,215 
7,435 
3,027 

Total  of  Louisiana 

E.  District  of  Tennessee 
W.  District  of  Tennessee 

7,876 

19,606 
40,046 

0,3»b 

14,733 
30,591 

45,324 

41,294 

71.813 

724,049 

5,23(] 

11,788 
24,431 

4,32fe 

9,596 
19,927 

29,525 

29,286 
51,16(1 

10,462 

14,074 
30,643 

Total  of  Tennessee 

Kentucky 
Ohio 

59,652 

54,228 
96,364 

36,218 

34,515 

62,260 

44,717 

45,384 
81,016 

887,626 

Amount  carried  forward 

889,717 

1625,227 

1539,256 

APPENDIX. 


221 


■persons  within  the  several  Districts  and  Territories  of  the  United 
by  the  respective  Marshals  thereof. 


WHITE  PERSONS. 

MALES. 

Of  thirty 
and  under 
forty. 

Of  forty 

and  under 

fifty. 

Of  fifty 

and  under 

sixty. 

Of  sixty 

and  under 

seventy. 

Of  seventy 

and  under 

eighty. 

Of  eighty 

and  under 

ninety. 

Of  ninety 

and  under 
one  hundred 

Of  one  hun- 
dred and 
upwards. 

21,587 

14,543 

9,224 

5,942 

2,639 

819 

92 

1 

14,728 

10,813 

7,202 

5,097 

2,788 

835 

85 

3 

35,417 

23,643 

15,029 

10,284 

5,516 

1,764 

172 

1 

5,383 

3,519 

2,153 

1,450 

854 

260 

29 

16,418 

11,604 

7,854 

5,493 

3,158 

871 

78 

4 

15,761 

10,416 

7,052 

5,192 

2,204 

630 

48 

3 

79,912 

49,706 

29,273 

17,171 

7,043 

1,750 

175 

19 

33,190 

19,518 

11,240 

6,700 

2,996 

796 

76 

16 
35 

113,102 

69,224 

40,513 

23,871 

10,039 

2,546 

251 

17,238 

11,036 

7,059 

4,462 

2,022 

531 

44 

1 

42,731 

27,583 

15,555 

8,744 

3,701 

897 

98 

16 

32,110 

19,953 

12,505 

7,161 
15,905 

3,221 

1,022 

119 

21 

74,841 

46,536 

28,060 

6,922 

1,919 

217 

37 

3,219 

2,036 

1,282 

609 

201 

44 

9 

1  18,206 

11,072 

6,566 

3,462 

1,373 

356 

52 

7 

20,902 

13,430 

8,778 

4,853 

1,930 

569 

88 

10 

15,629 

9,933 

6,513 

4,114 

8,967 

1,750 

535 

96 

13 
23 

36,531 

23,363 

15,291 

3,680 

1,104 

184 

23,030 

15,076 

10,646 

5,947 

2,469 

650 

136 

23 

13,952 

8,330 

5,649 

3.034 

1,211 

297 

66 

14 

16,169 

9,741 

5,682 

3,097 

1,120 

290 

62 

13 

4,457 

2,513 

1,496 

780 

249 

65 

11 

5,938 

3,513 

2,125 

961 

342 

82 

7 

4 

11,395 

6,026 

3,622 

1,741 

591 

147 

18 

4 

4,630 

2,439 

1,585 

632 

186 

47 

11 

5,736 

3,172 

1,445 

635 

227 

61 

18 

8 

2,109 

7,845 

1,146 

569 

261 

91 

16 

3 

1 
9 

4,318 

2,014 

896 

318 

77 

21 

7,752 

4,731 

3,73S 

1,994 

874 

292 

42 

11 

17,675 
25,127 

11,038 

8,20G 
11,944 

3,575 

1,213 
2,117 

363 

67 

18 

15,769 

569 

655 

109 

29 

26,384 

17,160 

10,998 

6,275 

5,629 

723 

119 

27 

49,539 

31,051 

18,126 

10,772 

3,628 

923 

117 

21 

550,492j346,725|2l7,551 

128,708  55,729 

|15,50g 

|   1,924 

[\    256] 

222 


APT  END  IX'. 


AGGRE- 


FREE 

MALES. 

States  and  Territories. 

S    3 
w    G. 

o    2. 

%  s 

=  2 

3    ~» 

a.  3> 

2  < 
<-i   a, 

a   p 

3  3 

Q-  ^> 
»-t     CO 

fchj? 

g  s. 

e  O 

3    "> 

a.  3> 

**    a> 

fl>  ■* 

3  p 

^    3 

•    a. 

H 

el 

•t  ** 

.     3 

a. 

Amount  brought  forward 

Indiana 

Illinois                   -         .    - 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Michigan 

E.  District  of  Florida 

W.  District  of  Florida 

Middle  District  of  Florida 

S.  District  of  Florida 

889,717 

39,775 

18,862 

13,508 

3,019 

3,036 

441 

550 

923 

IS 

1,932 
2,345 

724,049 

28,863 

12,747 

9,624 

2,022 

2,318 

326 

355 

640 

12 

525,227 

22,923 

10,033 

7,464 

1,628 

1,924 

261 

273 

467 

14 

539,258 

17.976 

7,775 

5,465 

1,277 

1,553 

170 

245 

356 

18 

887,626 

27,677 

14,708 

11,150 

2,832 

4,033 

475 

664 

952 

80 

2,171 

2,705 

Total  of  Florida 
District  of  Columbia 

1,333 

1,681 

1,015 

1,474 

671,688 

789 

1,521 
075,614 

Total  of  the  U.  States 

372,194 

782,637 

952,902 

FEMALES. 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Massachusetts 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

N.  District  of  New  York 

S.  District  of  New  York 

32,458 

18,506 
39,516 
6,626 
18,246 
21.326 
113,755 
37,926 

27,667 
16,800 
34,504 
5,641 
16,937 
18,633 
100,075 
32,949 

24,079 
15,584 
33,306 
5,209 
16,574 
16,877 
85,712 
29,616 

22,336 
14,846 
34,463 
5,577 
15,985 
15,776 
75,251 
30,024 
105,275 

16,792 
43,793 

32'856 

35,593 
24,485 
60,427 
9,207 
26,519 
25,167 
116,804 
51,638 

Total  of  New  York 

New  Jersey 

M.  District  of  Pennsylvania 

W.  District  of  Pennsylvania 

151,981 

23,951 

57,958 

54,127 

112,085 

4,646 
22,355 
31,405 
30,999 

133,024 

20,4S1 

48,481 
44,388 

115,32s 

18,248 
43,563 
36,422 

168,442 

25,839 

66,990 

48,433 

115,423 

5,474 
27,245 

35,288 
26,771 

62,059 

41,229 
21,863 
24,005 

Total  of  Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

E.  District  of  Virginia 

W.  District  of  Virginia 

92,809 

4,012 
18,692 
25,391 
24,590 

49,981 

34,247 
19,044 

22,0  IN 

79,985 

3,652 
17,327 
22,333 
19,591 

76,649 

3,3S0 
18,031 

22,474 
18,036 

Total  of  Virginia 

North  Carolina     - 
South  Carolina     - 
Georgia 

02,404 

42,785 
23,727 
30,971 

41,924 

28,792 
15,631 
17,847 

40,510 

27,616 
15,133 

10,517 

Amount  carried  forward  1 

Nt>7,1 431792,000! 

688,660|652,310|  101,890 

A  1'1'E  N  DIX. 


223 


GATE— Continued. 


WHITE  PERSONS. 

MALE?. 

o 

c  ~> 

3 

si 

s2 

•-> 

5 

e  O 

3    "> 

».a 

E'p 

v;    - 

3    O 

&."> 

°  cr 

m  " 
3    P 

~    3 

3     - 

§"  2 

"•    o 
5.  ~ 

l  O 

3    **» 

0{  ninety  and 
under  one 
hundred. 

Of  one  hun- 
dred, and  up- 
wards. 

450,492 

846,725 

217,551 

128,708 

55,729 

15,5l>8 

1,1)24 

250 

17,943 

10,315 

6,013 

3,189 

1,483 

242 

44 

10 

8,932 

4,639 

2,856 

1,104 

:js<; 

90 

.      6 

4 

7,405 

3,640 

1,928 

937 

341 

58 

14 

2 

1,819 

875 

433 

209 

61 

12 

1 

2,552 

1,228 

66(3 

26 1 

64 

20 

4 

1 

428 

190 

96 

49 

22 

5 

489 

218 

157 

72 

15 

1 

1 

1 

547 

313 

165 

68 

20 

4 

1 

72 

39 

700 

18 

5 

1,536 

436 

194 

57 

10 

v 

1 

1,917 

1,168 
669,370 

593 

246 

71 

25 

2 

1 

592,596 

230,500 

134,910 

58,130 

15,645 

1,5)93 

274 

FEM- 

lLES. 

22,362 

14,133 

9,350 

5,929 

2,686 

909 

139 

3 

16,703 

11,908 

8,429 

5,887 

3,086 

1,101 

170 

6 

38,184 

26,699 

18,453 

12,919 

7,177 

2,512 

335 

2 

5,752 

4,026 

2,82S 

1,942 

1,054 

376 

44 

18,034 

13,003 

9,348 

6,703 

3,765 

1,229 

153 

3 

16,257 

11,035 

7,157 

4,723 

2,089 

656 

87 

5 

72,857 

45,245 

26,545 

15,429 

6,282 

1,711 

201 

14 

31,813 

19,175 

11,663 

7,109 

3,215 

957 

104 

4 

104,670 

64,420 

38,208 

22,53* 

9,497 

2,668 

305 

18 

16,633 

11,004 

7,308 

4,717 

2,167 

584 

63 

2 

1    41,007 

26,236 

16,664 

9,737 

4,292 

1,155 

132 

13 

28,568 

17,986 

11,085 

6,281 

2,700 

877 

104 

7 

69,575 

44,222 

27,749 

16,018 

6,992 

2,032 

236 

20 

3,183 

2,047 

1,400 

627 

263 

58 

4 

1 

16,618 

10,842 

6,985 

3,636 

1,543 

432 

65 

17 

21,706 

14,047 

9.293 

5,195 

2,297 

620 

138 

13 

14,978 

9,706 

6,137 

3,580 

1,552 

471 

55 

13 

36,584 

23,753 

15,430 

8,775 

3,849 

1,091 

188 

'    26 

24,704 

16,455 

10,057 

5.944 

2,470 

767 

152 

26 

13,431 

8,467 

5,454 

2,928 

1,178 

353 

79 

19 

13,386 

8,438 

5,066 

2,681 

985 

269 

'      66 

22 

415,153 

268,452 

175,022 

105,877 

49,162 

15,027 

2,091 

170 

-  -m » 

224 


APPENDIX. 


AGGRE- 


FREE 

FEMALES. 

States  and  Territories. 

V! 

re  ,— i 

w  a. 

O     CO 

<*t  "« 

e  O 

a.  B> 

2  < 
a. 

eg 

s  S 

e  O 

3    ~> 

•i    SP 
.•♦   f» 

I3 

^a 

*«S    3 

•    a. 

a.  5 

7*    3 

CL 

Amount  brought  forward 

N.  District  of  Alabama 
S.  District  of  Alabama 

867,443 

8,949 
12,171 

~2i,120 

7,324 
5,012 
2,661 

792,066 

6,447 

8,380 

14,827 

5,254 
4,036 
2,150 

688,660 

4,930 
6,167 

652,310 

4,403 
5,543 

101,890 

6,325 
8,137 

Total  of  Alabama 

Mississippi 

E.  District  of  Louisiana 

W.  District  of  Louisiana 

11,097 

4,164 
3,410 
1,734 

9,946 

3,672 
3,149 
1,552 

14,463 

5,235 
4,692 

2,248 

Total  of  Louisiana 

E.  District  of  Tennessee 
W.  District  of  Tennessee 

7,673 

18,121 
37,225 

6,186 

14,022 
29,275 

5,144 

11,051 
22,594 

4,701 

10,090 

20,587 

6,940 

14,801 

28,057 

Total  of  Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Michigan 

E.  District  of  Florida 

W.  District  of  Florida 

Middle  District  of  Florida 

S.  District  of  Florida 

55,346 

50,701 

89,766 
37,451 
17,411 
12,531 

2,782 

2,727 

432 

502 

858 

15 

1,807 
2,182 

43,291 

39,515 

71,855 

27,426 

12,222 

9,042 

1,894 

2,054 

290 

352 

600 

9 

33,645 

32,341 

59,501 

20,848 

9,220 

6,789 

1,495 

1,776 

266 

262 

441 

12 

30,677 

29,636 

52,779 

18,013 

8,211 

5,777 

1,226 

1,433 

229 

276 

407 

11 

42,858 

41,579 

75,442 

26,170 

12,279 

8,854 

2,009 

2,512 

360 

398 

665 

24 

1,447 

2,867 

Total  of  Florida 
District  of  Columbia 

1,251 
1,646 

981 
1,639 

923 
1,843 

Total  of  the  U.  States. 

c, = 

920,104 

751,649 

639,063 

597,713 

915,662 

APPENDIX. 


225 


GATE— 

Continued. 

WHITE  PERSONS. 

FEMALES. 

=  o 

3    ►*> 
O.  ~ 
n>   3^ 

a. 

"■^ 

3>-^ 
^    3 

•    n. 

3    O 
"<    3 

§o 

a.  "i 
-   22. 

a  >• 

^  o 

3    ? 
Co  a 
a  i 
•1   a 
a  3 

3-- 

"    3 

3 

—  e 

2  <£■ 

H 

Is 

a. 

Of  ninety,  and 
under  one 
hundred. 

Of  one    hun- 
dred, and  up- 
wards. 

415,153 

268,452 

175,022 

105,877 

49,162 

15,027 

2,0ji 

170 

3,654 

2,130 

1,183 

578 

183 

67 

16 

7 

4,878 

2,591 

1,541 

774 

248 

75 

12 

3 

10 

8,532 

4,721 

2,724 

1,352 

431 

112 

28 

3,094 

1,729 

1,001 

457 

150 

32 

7 

2 

2,932 

1,598 

853 

504 

172 

63 

13 

1 

1,276 

696 

404 

160 

48 

15 

4 

4,208 

2,294 

1,257 

664 

220 

78 

17 

1 

7,941 

5,156 

3,313 

1,775 

756 

224 

47 

14 

15,599 

10,121 
15,277 

5,925 

2,754 

1,055 

315 
539 

53 

13 

27 

23,540 

9,238 

4,519 

1,811 

100 

23,763 

15,361 

9,525 

5,349 

2,202 

576 

95 

11 

43,769 

27,461 

15,790 

8,214 

2,909 

721 

88 

8 

15,045 

8,794 

4,540 

2,175 

815 

202 

26 

2 

6,758 

3,701 

2,021 

799 

268 

71 

12 

1 

5,122 

2,715 

1,476 

773 

229 

58 

8 

2 

1,089 

526 

299 

108 

32 

8 

3 

1,393 

723 

385 

138 

37 

8 

5 

215 

143 

60 

36 

16 

3 

2 

231 

139 

83 

24 

15 

4 

2 

391 

198 

100 

40 

14 

2 

1 

11 

4 

4 

1 

1 

848 

484 

247 

101 

45 

10 

5 

1,751 

987 

603 

250 

84 

30 

4 

234 

555,565 

355,425 

222,928 

130,866 

58,034 

17,572 

2,484 

Vol.  II. 


29 


226 


APPENDIX. 


< 

GENERAL  AGGRE- 

SLAVES. 

MALES. 

States  and  Territo- 
ries. 

e  d 

en    £ 

o    O- 

1? 

r  |  p. 

5-  3 

Y* 

SS.  3 

*  a. 

e  a. 

a>  3  2; 

<     Q.   £ 
'       **   *"? 

3-^2 

3    3    U> 
a.  a.  ^> 

3   n> 

S  £>  3 

5r  a.  3- 
c  S 

*a  T 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Massachusetts 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

N.  District  of  N.  Y. 

S.  District  of  N.Y. 

1 
3 

2 
2 

6 

1 

1 

1 

4 

2 

2 

2 
1 

1 

3 

50 

116 

7 
125 

92 
98 
106 
6 
24 
30 

23 
26 
11 

37 

4 
55 
59 

45 
171 

Total  of  New  York 

New  Jersey 

E.  District  of  Penn. 

W.  District  of  Penn. 

3 

4 

7 

13 

20 

574 

17,878 

74,118 

9,843 

6 

10 
44 
40 

1 

398 

17 

6 

379 
4 
1 

261 
9 
4 

Total  of  Penn. 

Delaware 

Maryland 

E.  District  of  Virginia 

W.  District  of  Virginia 

84 

856 
17,752 
60,099 

8,835 

23 

257 

8,844 

38,419 

4,795 

5 

84 
6,185 

27,758 
2,996 

13 

44 

2,770 

11,125 

1,032 

Total  of  Virginia 

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina 

Georgia 

N.  District  of  Alabama 

S.  District  of  Alabama 

83,961 

46,068 
51,866 
38,344 
8,250 
13,615 

68,934 

39,146 
44,671 
34,216 
7,322 
12,216 

43,214 

20,270 

29,718 

19,575 

4,240 

6,836 

30,754 

13,925 
21,693 

12,888 
1,971 

3,178 

12,157 

5,790 

7,579 

3,817 

605 

887 

Total  of  Alabama 

Mississippi 

E.  District  of  Louisiana 

W.  District  of  Louisiana 

21,865 

11,011 
9,352 

4,268 

19,538 

10,784 

12,991 

4,911 

11,076 

6,957 

12,185 
3,577 

5,149 

3,468 
6,455 
2,025 

1,492 

829 
1,653 

428 

Total  of  Louisiana 

E.  District  of  Tenn. 
W.  District  of  Tenn. 

13,620 

3,392 
24,617 

17,932 

3,116 
20,484 

15,762 

1,283 

9,981 

8,480 

713 
5,332 

2,081 

248 
1,494 

Total  of  Tennessee 

Kentucky 
Ohio 

28,009 
31,513 

23,600 

27,488 

11,264 
13,386 

6,045 
7,513 

1,742 
2,286 

Am'nt  carried  forward 

344,737 

305,021 

180,745 

116,369 

40,876 

APPENDIX. 


227 


GATE — Continued. 


|                     SLAVES. 

FEMALES. 

»-t  3 

W   Q, 

o  « 

""I 

rS  » 

•8  3 

c 
Q.  O 

o 

■3c  s 

R,  ||» 

Is 

shi  §: 

<   a.  ■-• 

o  re  tTT 
•  •-»  7* 

III 

IX  ^  Eh 

a  o 

"  p  2 
w  a*  3* 

'   C  3 

1 

11 

2 
2 

9 

1 

9 

1 

7 
1 

7 
5 

2 

2 

11 

7 
10 
23 

9 

13 
63 
45 

9 

425 
15 

7 

1 

457 
13 
11 

2 

290 
30 
14 

2 

5 
4 

33 

506 

16,901 

73,562 

9,544 

108 

611 

16,242 

58,634 

8,353 

22 

241 

8,322 

36,600 

4,253 

24 

77 

5,327 

24,475 

2,734 

44 

49 

2,601 

11,221 

1,057 

9 

3 

53 

132 

16 

83,106 

44,907 
51,563 
38,071 
7,962 
13,398 

66,987 

37,510 
45,534 
33,789 
7,156 
12,504 

40,853 

20,169 

32,719 

20,509 

4,209 

6,870 

27,209 

12,849 

22,023 

12,331 

1,915 

2,990 

12,278 

5,622 

8,117 

3,746 

515 

800 

148 

114 

84 

78 

8 

17 

21,360 

10,857 
9,550 
4,163 

19,660 

10,842 

12,140 

4,564 

11,079 

7,005 
12,211 

3,288 

4,91)5 

3,171 
4,583 
1,630 

1,315 

691 

1,246 

305 

25 

21 

29 
10 

13,713 

3,258 
23,331 

16,704 

3,160 
21,134 

13,41)9 

1,473 

10,748 

6,213 

911 

5,712 

1,551 

321 

1,578 

39 

8 
26 

26,589 
30,990 

24,294 
27,224 

12,221 
14,177 

6,623 
8,119 

1,899 
2,5  6 

34 
49 

238,618 

499,531 

181,251 

109,336 

40,777 

659 

228 


APPENDIX. 


GENERAL  AGGRE- 


SLAVES. 


MALES. 


States   and   Terri- 


tories. 


a-X 


5  I 


»~2 


o  *< 


fSP 


5  =r 


Amt.  brought  forward.  344,73?  305,021ll80,745  116,369  40,875 


Indiana 

Illinois 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Michigan 

E.  District  of  Florida 

W.  District  of  Florida 

M.District  of  Florida 

S.  District  of  Florida 

Total  of  Florida 

District  of  Columbia 
Total  of  the  U.  States 


103 

120 

4,856 

4,292 

850 

812 

2 

5 

G2? 

5S8 

560 

602 

1,301 

1,275 

7 

17 

2,501 

2,482 

80 

2,052 

396 

9 

461 

496 

862 

11 


49 
917 

18? 

1 
289 
231 
423 

5 


794 


944 


353,845  313,676 


1,830 
542 


185,654 


948 


375 


118,996 


7 
196 

48 

1 

93 

52 

77 
2 


171 


2 
41 

1 


224 


114 


41,456 


718 


FREE  COLORED 


Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Massachusetts 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

N.  District  of  N. 

S.  District  of  N. 


Y 
Y. 


165 
64 

804 

330 
1,022 

125 
1,576 
4,141 


1741 
73 

886 

501 
1,127 

114 
1,607 
4,490 


Total  of  New  York 

New  Jersey 
E.  District  of  Penn. 
W.  District  of  Penn. 
Total  of  Pennsylvania 

Delaware 
Maryland 

E.  District  of  Virginia 
W.  District  of  Virginia 
Total  of  Virginia 

North  Carolina 
South  Carolina 
Georgia 


5,717 

3,035 
4,047 
1,140 


5,187 

2,621 
8,311 
7,111 
1,115 


8,226 

3,427 

1,315 

368 


6,097 

3,247 
4,229 
1,041 


5,270 

2,260 
6,101 
5,250 

884 


116 

726 
314 

779 

78 

1,208 

3,690 


4,898 

1,449 

3,392 

625 


6,134 

2,961 
957 
354 


4,017 

1,300 

4,016 

3,038 

499 


3,537 

1,406 
622 
221 


109 

•48 

635 

241 

624 

63 

810 

2,694 


3,505 

1,192 

2,336 

465 


2,801 

1,182 
4,158 

2,289 
408 


56 
40 
321 
150 
313 
48 
374 
993 


1,367 

571 

897 
212 


1,109 

499 

2,285 
1,461 

258 


2,697 

1,059 
424 

185 


1,719 

695 
333 
117 


1 
1 
S 
3 

2 

2 

11 

11 


22 

4 

24 

6 


30 

13 

49 

24 

3 


27 

22 
19 
11 


Amount  carried  for  wd.  I  36,7671  36,2551  23,5421  18,9121  9,623|   211 


A  P  P  F.  N  D I  X  . 


229 


GATE— Continued. 


151 
72 

823 

366 
1,054 

121] 
1,532 
3,992 
5,524 

2,818 
4,004 
1,059 
5,063 


1721 
83 

956 

597 
1,233 

126 
1,851 
4,973 


121 
52 

810 

448 

816 

78 

1,205 

4.325 


91 

71 
651 
349 
663 

70 

811 

3,006 


6,824  5,530 

2,900  1,420 

5,099  3,873 

1,060  624 


6,159 


2,5161  2,366 
7,919  7,314 
6,869|  6,184 


1,111 


7,980 

3,300 

1,382 

348 

39,337 


860 


3,817 

1,116 

2,294 

433 


51 
51 
385 
263 
420 
56 
411 
1,318 


4,497 

1,447 

5,385 

3,859 

534 


7,044 

3,129 

1,171 

329 


30,403 


4,393 

1,660 
748 
235 


27,690 


1,729 

550 
915 

182 


2,727 

1,108 
4,536 

2,884 
410 


3,294 

1,178 
544 
182 


20,397 


1,097 

499 
2,782 
1,7 

240 


2,028 

711 
394 
127 


11,143 


5 

4 

3 

11 

4 

16 

35 

"51 

5 

23 

10 

~33 

18 

86 

23 

1 

~24 

27 

6 

_6 

283 


399,426 
269,533 
610,014 
97,210 
297,711 
280,679 
1,366,467 
547,041 


1,913,508 

320,779 
755,577 
592,095 


1,347,672 

76,739 
446,913 
832,979 
378,293 


1,211,272 

738,470 
581,458 
516,567 


9,107,751 


230 


APPENDIX. 


GENERAL  AGGRE- 


FREE  COLORED 

MALES. 

States  and  Territo- 
ries. 

3 
O    re 
0)    re 

g-o 

n  o 

3    3 

a  ■» 

■5  3 
•   a. 

SO 

£  3 

3   re 

D.  3 

Of  thirty-six, 
under  fifty-fiv 

Of  fifty-five, 
under  one  hu 
dred. 

Of  one  hundr 
and  upward 

w 

C    3 
•-*     i 

•<  s* 

?  S? 

3  B> 

■    a 

Amt.  brought  forward 

36,707 

9 
6 

36,256 

23,542 

18,912 

9,623 

211 

N.  District  of  Alabama 

50 

65 

38 

19 

S.  District  of  Alabama 

198 

144 

117 

82 

36 

1 

Total  of  Alabama 

267 

194 

182 

120 

55 

Mississippi 

87 

79 

60 

43 

22 

l 

E.  District  of  Louisiana 

2,090 

1,951 

1,00? 

682 

305 

9 

W.  District  of  Louisiana 

432 

346 

207 

145 

80 

2 

Total  of  Louisiana 

2,522 

1,297 

1,214 

827 

385 

E.  District  of  Tenn. 

360 

256 

130 

125 

90 

1 

W.  District  of  Tenn. 

472 

336 

22? 

193 

120 

6 

7 

Total  of  Tennessee 

»32 

592 

357 

318 

210 

Kentucky 

717 

570 

391 

478 

386 

17 

Ohio 

1,547 

1,469 

823 

644 

335 

8 

Indiana 

598 

533 

303 

229 

127 

2 

Illinois 

282 

243 

136 

123 

44 

1 

Missouri 

80 

73 

47 

55 

16 

2 

Arkansas 

28 

19 

19 

15 

3 

] 

Michigan 

29 

42 

45 

27 

6 

E.  District  of  Florida 

54 

40 

13 

24 

19 

1 

W.  District  of  Florida 

65 

55 

26 

25 

10 

M.  District  of  Florida 

6 

1 

1 

1 

1 

S.  District  of  Florida 

11 

13 

6 

6 

2 

1 

Total  of  Florida 

136 

109 

46 

56 

32 

District  of  Columbia 

895 

650 

464 

405 

229 

3 

Total  of  the  U.  States 

48,737 

43,126 

27,629 

22,262 

11,475 

266 

APPENDIX. 


231 


GATE— Continued. 


PERSONS. 

FEMALKS. 

"a 

£  3 

o  o 

Often,  and  un- 
der twenty- 
four. 

Of  twenty-four, 
and  under  thir- 
ty-six. 

Of  thirty-six, 
and  under  fifty- 
five. 

Of  fifty-five, 

and  under  one 

hundred. 

Of  one  hun- 
dred and  up- 
wards. 

TOTAL. 

33,337 

30,403 

27,690 

20,397 

11,143 

283 

9,107,751 

51 

48 

28 

22 

15 

2 

125,781 

189 

158 

93 

67 

37 

4 

183,425 

243 

206 

126 

89 

'  52 

6 

309,206 

72 

52 

47 

49 

17 

136,806 

2,216 

2,401 

1,724 

1,265 

657 

25 

155,318 

427 

338 

208 

134 

99 

3 

60,257 

2,613 

2,739 

1,932 

1,399 

756 

28 

215,575 

346 

269 

166 

112 

87 

1 

196,374 

393 

343 

207 

163 

105 
192 

5 

48S,448 

739 

612 

373 

275 

6 

684,822 

639 

497 

357 

389 

358 

17 

688,844 

1,559 

1,554 

788 

613 

241 

5 

937,679 

587 

553 

284 

235 

106 

5 

341,582 

309 

231 

124 

110 

49 

1 

157,575 

75 

60 

45 

61 

30 

2 

140,084 

17 

13 

10 

7 

6 

30,383 

20 

36 

27 

16 

3 

31,260 

59 

53 

36 

21 

23 

8,953 

71 

65 

23 

34 

21 

1 

9,478 

2 

2 

3 

1 

15,777 

12 

16 

7 

6 

4 

517 

144 

136 

69 

62 

48 

1 

34,725 

863 

1,033 

682 

564 

368 

1     7 

39,858 

47,347 

48,125 

32,504 

24,266 

13,369 

361 

12,856,154 

232 


APPENDIX. 


AGGRE- 


WHITE  PERSONS  included 

States  and  Territories. 

Who  are   deaf 
and  dumb,  un- 
der fourteen 
years  of  age. 

Who  are  deaf 
and  dumb  of 
the  age  of  four- 
teen, and  under 
twenty-five. 

Who  are  deaf 

and  dumb  of 

twenty-five 

and  upwards. 

Maine     - 

New  Hampshire  - 

Massachusetts     - 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

N.  District  of  New  York 

S.  District  of  New  York 

64 
33 

57 
3 
44 
37 
195 
77 

62 

55 

69 

30 

151 

58 

202 

113 

61 

48 
144 

22 
100 

54 
188 

55 

243 

71 

153 

95 

Total  of  New  York 

New  Jersey 

E.  District  of  Pennsylvania 

W.  District  of  Pennsylvania 

272 

64 

116 

94 

315 

71 

148 
106 

Total  of  Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

E.  District  of  Virginia 

W.  District  of  Virginia 

210 

9 
47 
67 
60 

254 

10 
32 
62 
64 

248 

11 
53 
96 
73 

Total  of  Virginia 

North  Carolina    - 

South  Carolina   - 

Georgia 

N.  District  of  Alabama 

S.  District  of  Alabama 

127 

69 
61 
52 
11 
32 

126 

65 
51 
48 
12 
13 

169 

60 
60 
47 

8 
8 

16" 

7 
11 
10 

2T~ 

15 
39 

Total  of  Alabama 

Mississippi 

E.  District  of  Louisiana 

W.  District  of  Louisiana 

43 

12 
7 
4 

11 

17 

46 

25 

10 

7 
6 

Total  of  Louisiana 

E.  District  of  Tennessee 
W.  District  of  Tennessee 

13 

19 
44 

Total  of  Tennessee 

Kentucky 
Ohio 

63 

92 
161 

63 

109 
164 

54 

82 
121 

Amount  carried  forward. 

1,531 

1,781 

1,692 

ArrENDix. 


233 


GATE— Continued. 


in  the  fore 

[j     SLAVES  AND  COLORED  PERSONS, 

going. 

included  in  the  foregoing. 

o-3 

tr:  3- 
3    o 

•  3 

Aliens — 
foreigners  no 
naturalized. 

Who  are  dea 

and  dumb,  m 

der  fourteen 

years  of  age 

Who  are  dea 
and  dumb,  o 
the  age  of  fou 
teen,  and  und 
twenty-five. 

Who  are  dea 

and  dumb,  o 

the  age  of 

twenty-five 

and  upwards 

3 

3- 
O 
B 
o 

** 

T  •*> 

™   7         "*> 

~>  _, 

157 

2,83U 

2 

5 

117 

400 

4 

3 

5 

4 

241 

8,735 

3 

2 

61 

1,110 

2 

1 

1 

8 

192 

1,507 

2 

2 

4 

49 

3,420 

1 

1 

438 

29,427 

4 

3 

4 

15 

222 

22,780 

4 

6 

7 

26 

000 

52,207 

8 

9 

11 

41 

176 

3,377 

6 

3 

9 

22 

236 

9,218 

9 

11 

9 

17 

207 

6,147 

3 

4 

11 

443 

15,365 

12 

15 

9 

28 

18 

313 

4 

4 

12 

156 

4,833 

28 

30 

24 

117 

214 

358 

,     40 

35 

32 

401 

160 

398 

12 

7 

6 

44 

374 

756 

52 

42 

38 

445 

215 

200 

25 

27 

27 

157 

99 

498 

9 

27 

31 

129 

143 

86 

36 

19 

11 

119 

30 

20 

4 

4 

2 

12 

40 

53 

7 

3 

5 

30 

70 

73 

11 

7 

7 

42 

25 

82 

1 

8 

2 

28 

31 

1,580 

4 

4 

8 

65 

7 
38 

120 

4 

1 

1 

15 

1,700 

8 

5 

9 

80 

90 

56 

3 

1 

13 

87 

65 

10               9 

3 

28 

177 

121 

13 

10 

3 

41 

156 

173 

12 

25 

5 

78 

251 

5,524 

4 

1 
200 

74 

1     3,866 

103,316 

225           241 

1,364 

Vol.  11. 


30 


234 


APPENDIX. 


GENERAL  AGGRE- 


WHITE  PEOPLE  included 

States  and  Tettitories. 

Who  are  deaf 
and  dumb,  un- 
der fourteen 
years  of  age. 

Who  are  deaf 
and  dumb,  of 
fourteen  and 
under  twenty- 
five. 

Who  are  deaf 

and  dumb,  of 

twenty-five  and 

udwards. 

Amount  brought  forward 

1,531 

1,781 

1,692 

Indiana             ... 

54 

50 

Illinois               ... 

22 

24 

18 

Missouri            - 

17 

7 

9 

Arkansas          - 

5 

2 

1 

Michigan          - 

5 

5 

3 

E.  District  of  Florida 

1 

2 

W.  District  of  Florida 

1 

2 

Middle  District  of  Florida 

S.  District  of  Florida     - 

Total  of  Florida 

2 

4 

District  of  Columbia 

4 

5 

3 

Total  of  the  U.  States 

1,640 

1,874 

1,730 

RECAPITULATION,  exhibiting  tl 

\e  genera 

I  aggregate  of  each 

FREE  WHITE  P 

ERSONS 

Males  under  5  years  of  age 

. 

972,194 

of  5  and  under  10 

- 

782,637 

of  10  and  under  15 

- 

671,688 

of  15  and  under  20 

- 

575,614 

of  20  and  under  30 

- 

952,902 

of  30  and  under  40 

- 

592,596 

of  40  and  under  50 

- 

369,370 

of  50  and  under  60 

- 

230,500 

of  60  and  under  70 

- 

134,910 

of  70  and  under  80 

58,136 

of  80  and  under  90 

. 

15,945 

of  90  and  under  100 

- 

1.993 

of  100  and  upwards 

274 

5,358,769 

APPENDIX. 

235 

GATE— 

Continued. 

in  the  foregoing. 

SLAVES  AND  COLORED  PERSONS, 

included  in 

the  foregoing. 

<r3! 

~  3" 
3    O 
P-P 

a 

Aliens — 

Foreigners  not 

natu  alized. 

Who  are  deaf 
and  dumb  un- 
der fourteen 
years  ofgae. 

Who  are  deaf 

and  dumb,  of 

the  age  of  14 

and  under  25. 

Who  are  deaf 
and  dumb,  of 
the  age  of  25 
and  upwards. 

tS  ST 

3    O 

'    3 

3,tt66 

1   103,316 

225 

211 

2u0 

1,364 

72 

280 

1 

2 

36 

447 

3 

28    . 

155 

1 

2 

7 

8 

8 

5 

2 

4 

1,453 

8 

2 

8 

2 

106 

1 

1 

1 

6 

1 

11 

96 

1 

1 

2 

3 

221 

1 

2 

3 

16 

14 

637 

1 

2 

8 

3,983 

106,544 

232 

247 

205 

1 ,402 

(description 

of  persons  in  the  United  States. 

FREE  WHITE  PERSON 

IS. 

IFemaxes  u 

nder  5  vears  of  age 

. 

920,104 

0 

f    5  and  under  10                 -             - 

. 

751,649 

o 

f  10  and  under  15 

- 

639,063 

0 

f  15  and  under  20 

- 

597,713 

0 

f20  and  under  30 

- 

915,662 

0 

f30  and  under  40 

- 

555,565 

o 

f  40  and  under  50 

- 

355,425 

o 

F  50  and  under  60                 - 

- 

222,928 

0 

f  60  and  under  70                 -             - 

- 

130,866 

o 
o 

f  70  and  under  80 
f  80  and  under  90 

- 

58,031 
17,572 

o 

f  90  and  under  100 

- 

2,484 

o 

i  1 00  and  upwards 

Total  number  of  f 

ree  whites, 

234 

5,167,299 

10,526,058 

236 


APPENDIX. 


RECAPITULATION  Continued. 


SLAVES. 


Males  under  10  years  of  ago 
of  10  and  under  24 
of  24  and  under  36 
of  36  and  under  55 
of  55  and  under  100 
of  100  and  upwards 


Females   under  10  years  of  age 
of  10  and  under  24 
of  24  and  under  36 
of  36  and  under  55 
of  55  and  under  100 
of  100  and  upwards 


353,845 
313,676 

185,654 

118,996 

41,456 

718 


1,014,345 

347,566 

-  308,793 
186,082 

-  111,753 

41,422 
668 

966,284) 

Total  number  of  slaves"  2,010,629 


FREE  COLORED  PERSONS. 


Males  under  10  years 

of  10  and  under  24 
of  24  and  under  36 
of  36  and  under  55 
of  55  and  under  100 
of  100  and  upwards 

Females  under  10  years  of  age 
of  10  and  under  24 
of  24  and  under  36 
of  36  and  under  55 
of  55  and  under  100 
of  100  and  upwards 


48,737 
43,126 
27,629 
22,262 
11,475 
2661 


153,495 

47,347 
48,125 
32,504 
24,266 
13,369 
361 


165,972 


Total  number  of  free  colored 
Total  aggregate 


37J>,467 


12,856,154 


White  persons  included  in  the  foregoing — 

Who  are  deaf  and  dumb,  under  fourteen  years  of  age  1,640 

Do.           do.     of  fourteen  and  under  twenty-five  1,874 

Do.           do.     of  twenty-five  and  upwards  1,730 

Who  arc  blind                 ....  3}y83 

Aliens.     Foreigners  not  naturalized            -                 -  106,5 1 1 

Slaves  and  colored  persons  included  in  the  foregoing — 

Who  arc  deaf  and  dumb,  under  fourteen  years  of  age  232 

Do.           do.     of  fourteen  and  under  25         -  247 

Do.           do.     of  twenty-five  and  upwards  205 

Who  arc  blind                ....  1,402 


APPENDIX. 


237 


I.  MAINE. 
Table  of  the  Counties  and  County  Towns. 


Counties.                   Pop.  182U  Pop.  183d 

County  Towns. 

Pap.     1 

Cumberland 

60,113      Portland 

12,691 

Hancock 

17,856 

24,347 

Castine 

1,155 

Kennebec 

40,150 

52,491 

Augusta 

( Wiscasset 

3,980 
2,443 

Lincoln 

46,8 13 

57,181 

1  Topsham 
( Warren 

1,664 
2,030 

Oxford 

27,104 

35,217 

Paris 

2.337 

Penobscot 

13.870 

31,530 

Bangor 

2,868 

Somerset 

2l',78-/ 

35,78S 

Norridgewock 

1,710 

Waldo 

22,253 

29,790 

Belfast 

3,077 

Washington 

12,744 

21,295 

Machias 

1,021 

(York 
I  Alfred 

3,485 

York 

46,283 

51,710 

1,453 

Total  S 

!98,335 

399,462 

11.  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

Rockingham                     1  40,526 

44,452 

( Portsmouth 
£  Exeter 

8,082 

2,759 

r  Dover 
J  Gilmanton 

5,449 

Strafford 

41,415 

58,916 

3,816 

1  Gilford 

1,872 

L  Rochester 

2,155 

Merrimac 

32,743 

34,619 

Coxcord 

3,727 

Hillsborough 

35,781 

37,762 

Amherst 

1,657 

Cheshire 

26,753 

27,016 

Keene 

2,374 

Sullivan 

18,62S 

19,687 

Newport 
\  Haverhill 

1,913 
2,153 

Grafton 

32,989 

38,691 

/  Plymouth 
Lancaster 

1,175 
1,187 

Coos 

5,151 

8,390 

Total 

244,161 

269,533 

III.  VERMONT. 

Addison 

20,46V 

|  24,941 

»|     Middlcbury 
^  Bennington 

3,468 
'3,419 

Bennington 

16,12£ 

17,471 

i   ^Manchester 
Danville 

1,525 
2,631 

Caledonia 

16,66C 

1  20,96' 

Burlington 

3,526 

Chittenden 

16,05.c 

i   21,77; 

>;     Gildhall 

481 

Essex 

3,284 

1     3,981 

L      St.  Albans 

2,375 

Franklin 

17,19; 

J   24,52; 

>     North  Hero 

638 

Grand  Isle 

3,52" 

r     3,691 

5     Chelsea 

1,956 

Orange 

24,68 

I    27,28. 

3      Irasburgh 

86C 

Orleans 

6,97( 

5    13,98 

N     Rutland 

2,75:: 

Rutland 

29,98! 

3   31,29 

3     Mo:vtpelier 

1,193 

Washington 

14,11! 

3   21,39- 

1     Newfane 

1,451 

Windham 

28,65( 

)   28,75 

5    { Windsor 
\  Woodstock 

3,134 

1,044 

Windsor 

38,23 

3   40,62 

3 
9 

Totai 

-  --T",  ■      -T7      .      ■                                  I.'.—                       i        — 

225,76 

4  280,67 

238  APrENDix. 

IV.  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Table  of  the  Counties  and  County   Towns. 


Counties. 

Males. 

Females. 

Colr'd. 

Tot.  pop. 

Suffolk 

28,586 

31,093 

1,883 

62,162 

Essex 

39,431 

42,929 

527 

82,887 

Middlesex 

38,107 

39,348 

513 

77,968 

Plymouth 

20,905 

21,678 

410 

42,993 

Norfolk 

20,436 

21,296 

169 

41,901 

Bristol 

23,366 

25,178 

930 

49,474 

Barnstable 

13,997 

14,363 

105 

28,525 

Nantucket 

3,339 

3,584 

279 

7,202 

Dukes 

1,702 

1,768 

4fe 

3,518 

Worcester 

41,545 

42,449 

371 

84,365 

Hampshire 

14,999 

14,995 

925 

30,210 

Hamden 

15,288 

16,003 

349 

31,640 

Franklin 

14,447 

14,765 

132 

29,344 

Berkshire 

18,310 

18,510 

1,005 

37,825 

Total 

294,449 

308,559 

7,00ij 

610,014 

County  towns. 
Boston 

(Salem 

^Newburyport 

(Ipswich 

(Cambridge 

I  Concord 
Plymouth 
Dedham 

(New  Bedford 

|  Taunton 
Barnstable 
Nantucket 
Ed  gar  town 
Worcester 
Northampton 
Springfield 
Greenfield 
Lenox 


Pop. 
61,392 
13,886 
6,388 
2,951 
6,071 
2,017 
4,751 
3,057 
7,592 
6,045 
3,975 
7,202 
1,509 
4,172 
3,613 
6,784 
1,540 
1,355 


V.  RHODE  ISLAND. 


Counties. 


Providence 

Newport 

Washington 

Kent 

Bristol 


Total 


Pop.  1820. 


35,786 
15,771 
15,687 
10,228 
5,637 


Pop.  1830. 


83,059 


47,014 
10,534 
15,414 

12,784 
5,466 


97,212 


County  Towns. 


Providence 
Newport 
South  Kingston 
East  Greenwich 
Bristol 


Pop.  1830. 
16,832 
8,010 
3,663 
1,591 
3,054 


VI.  CONNECTICUT. 


Fairfield 

Hartford 
Litchfield 

Middlesex 

New  Haven 

New  London 


Tolland 
Windham 


Total 


42,739 

47,264 
41,267 

22,405 

39,616 

35,943 

14,330 
25,331 

275,218 


46,950 

51,141 

42,855 

24,845 

43,848 
42,295 

18,700 

27,077 


21)7,711 


( Fairfield 
|  Danbury 

Hartford 

Litchfield 
jMiddletown 
I  Haddam 

New  Haven 
(New  London 
\  Norwich 

Tolland 

Brooklyn 


4,226 
4,311 
7,076 
4,456 
6,892 
3,025 
10,180 
4,356 
3,144 
1,698 
1,413 


APPENDIX. 


239 


VII.     NEW  YORK. 

Table  of  the  Counties  and  County  Towns. 
South  District. 


Counties. 


Columbia 
Dutchess 
Greene 
King's 
New  York 

Orange 

Putnam 

Queen's 

Richmond 

Rockland 

Suffolk 

Sullivan 

Ulster 

Westchester 

Total  S.  District. 


Pop.  1820.  Pop.  1830. 


38,33U 
40,015 
22,996 
11.187 
123,700 

41,213 

11,268 
21,519 

6,135 

8,837 

24,272 

8,900 

30,934 

32,638 


428,55u 


39.95'.. 
50,926 
29,585 

20,53? 
203,007 

45,372 

12,701 
22,276 
7,084 
9,38S 
26,980 
12,372 
36,551 
30,450 


537,041 


County  Towns. 


Hudson 

Poughkeepsie 

Catskill 

Flatbush 

New  York 
\  Goshen 
I  Sew  burgh 

Carmel 

N.  Hempstead 

Richmond 

Clarkstown 

Suffolk  C.  H. 

Monticello 

Kingston 

Bedford 


Population. 


5,395 
7,222 
4,868 
1,143 
203,007 
3,361 
6,424 
2,379 


2,298 


4,170! 
2,750 ! 


North  District. 


Albany 

38,116 

53,569 

Albany 

24,238 

Alleghany 

9,320 

26.218 

Angelica 

998 

Broome 

11,100 

17,582 

Binizhampton 

1,203 

Cataraugus 

4,090 

16,720 

Ellicottsville 

626 

Cayuga 

38,89? 

47,94? 

Auburn 

4,486 

Chatauque 

12,568 

34,05? 

Mayville 

Ghenango 

31,215 

37,404 

Norwich 

3,774 

Clinton 

12,070 

19,344 

Plattsburgh 

4,913 

Cortland 

16,507 

23,693 

Cortlandville 

3,573 

Delaware 

26,587 

32,933 

Delhi 

2,114 

Erie 

15,668 

35,710 

Buffalo 

8,653 

Essex 

12,811 

19,387 

Elizabethtown 

1,729 

Franklin 

4,439 

11,312 

Malone 

2,207 

Genessee 

39,835 

51,992 

Batavia 

4,271 

Hamilton 

1,251 

1,324 

Wells 

340 

Herkimer 

31,017 

55,869 

Herkimer 

2,486 

Jefferson 

32,952 

48,515 

Water  town 

4,708 

Lewis 

9,227 

14,958 

Martinsburgh 

2,382 

Livingston 

19,196 

27,719 

Genesee 

2,675 

Madison 

32,208 

30,037 

j  Cazenovia 
^Morrisville 

Monroe 

26,529 

49,862 

Rochester 

Montgomery 

27,569 

43,596 

Johrstown 

9,269 

Niagara 

7,322 

18,485 

Lockport 
( Utica 

7,700 
2,022 

Oneida 

50,997 

71,326 

<Rome 

8,323 

(Whitesborougn 

4,360 

240 


APPENDIX. 


NEW  YORK— 

Continued. 

Counties. 

Pop.  1820. 

Pop.  1830. 

County  Towns. 

Population. 

Onondaga 

41,561 

48,974 

Syracuse 

Ontario 

35,312 

40,167 

Canandaigua 

5,162 

Orleans 

7,625 

18,485 

Albion 

Oswego 

12,374 

27,104 

( Oswego 
^Richland 

2,703 
2,733 

Otsego 

44,856 

51,372 

Cooperstown 

1,115 

Rensellaer 

40,153 

49,472 

Troy 

11,505 

Saratoga 
St.  Lawrence 

36,052 
16,037 

36,616 
36,351 

Ballston 
Potsdam 

2,113 
3,650 

Schenectady 
Schoharie 

13,081 
23,154 

12,334 

27,910 

Schenectady 
Schoharie 

4,258 
5,146 

Seneca 

17,773 

21,031 

(Ovid 
\  Waterloo 

2,756 
1,837 

Steuben 

21,989 

33,975 

Bath 

3,387 

Tioga 

Tompkins 
Warren 

14,716 

26,178 
9,453 

27,704 

36,545 
11,795 

( Elmira 
\  Oswego 

Ithica 

Caldwell 

2,962 
3,080 
5,270 

797 

Washington 

38,831 

42,615 

( Salem 

j  Sandy  Hill 

2,972 

Wayne 
Yates 

20,319 
11,025 

33,555 
19,019 

{ Lyons 
I  Palmyra 
Penn  Yan 

of  whom  46  are  sla 

2,603 
3,434 

. 
ves. 

Total  N.  District 

944,262 

1,336,469 

Total  N.  District 

1,913,508 

Vll.  NEW  JERSEY. 


Tabic  of  Counties. 


Counties. 

Pop.  1820. 

Pop.  1830. 

Bergen 

- 

- 

- 

18,178 

22,414 

Burlington 

- 

- 

- 

28,822 

31,066 

Cape  May 

- 

- 

- 

4,265 

4,945 

Cumberland 

- 

- 

- 

12,668 

14,091 

Essex 

- 

- 

- 

30,793 

41,928 

Gloucester 

- 

- 

- 

23,039 

98,431 

Hunterdon 

- 

- 

- 

28,604 

31,066 

Middlesex 

- 

- 

- 

21,170 

23,157 

Monmouth 

- 

- 

- 

25,038 

29,233 

Morris 

- 

- 

- 

21,368 

23,580 

Salem 

- 

- 

- 

14,022 

14,155 

Somerset 

- 

- 

- 

16,506 

17,689 

Sussex 

- 

. 

- 

32,752 

20,349 

Warren 

2,446  are 

slaves. 

Total 

18,634 

Of  whom 

277,575 

320,779 

Population 
Newark  10,952 

New  Brunswick  7,s.'ii 


of  the  Principal  Towns  in  1830. 
Palcrson        7,731       Elizabethtown     3,451 
Trenton        3,925 


APTENDIX. 


241 


IX.    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Table  of  the  Counties  and  County  Towns. 
Eastern  District. 


Counties. 

Fop.  1620. 

Fop.  1830. 

County  Towns. 

— B 

Fopulation. 

Adams 

19,370 

21,379 

Gettysburg 

1,473 

Berks 

46,275 

53,357 

Reading 

5,859 

Bucks 

37,842 

45,740 

( Doylestown 
\  Bristol 

1,262 

Chester 

44,451 

50,908 

West  Chester 

1,258 

Cumberland 

23,606 

29,218 

Carlisle 

2,523 

Delaware 

14,810 

17,361 

Chester 

848 

Dauphin 

21,653 

25,303 

Harrisburg 

4,311 

Franklin 

31,892 

35,103 

Chambersburgh 

2,794 

Lehigh 

18,892 

22,266 

Allentown 

Lancaster 

58,336 

76,558 

Lancaster 

Lebanon 

16,988 

20,546 

Lebanon 

7,704 

Montgomery 

35,793 

39,404 

Norristown 

1,826 

Northampton 

31,765 

39,267 

Easton 

1,089 

Perry 

11,342 

14,257 

New  Bloomfield 

3,529 

Philadelphia 
Philadelphia  city* 

73,295 
63,802 

108,503 

80,458 

[   Philadelphia 

80,458 

Pike 

2,894 

4,843 

Milford 

Schuylkill 

11,339 

20,783 

Orwigsburg 

773 

Wayne 

4,127 

7,663 

Bethany 

327 

York 

38,759 

42,658 

York 

4,216 

Western  District. 

Alleghany 

27,673) 

37,964 

Pittsburgh 

12,542 

Pittsburgh  city* 
Armstrong 

7,248 
10,324 

12,542 
17,625 

Kittaning 

1,620 

Beaver 

15,340 

24,206 

Beaver 

914 

Bedford 

20,248 

24,536 

Bedford 

870 

Bradford 

11,554 

19,669 

Towanda 

. 

Butler 

10,193 

14,683 

Butler 

580 

Cambria 

2,287 

7,079 

Ebensburg 

220 

Centre 

13,796 

18,765 

Bellefonte 

699 

Clearfield 

2,342 

4,803 

Clearfield 

Columbia 

17,621 

20,049 

Danville 

Crawford 

9,397 

16,005 

Meadville 

1,070 

Erie 

8,553 

17,906 

Erie 

1,329 

Fayette 

27,285 

29,237 

Uniontown 

1,341 

Greene 

15,554 

18,028 

Waynesburg 

Huntingdon 

20,144 

27,159 

Huntingdon 

Indiana 

8,882 

14,251 

Indiana 

433 

Jefferson 

561 

2,225 

Brook  ville 

Luzerne 

20,027 

27,304 

Wilkesbarre 

2,233 

Lycoming 

13,517 

17,637 

Williamsport 

JVTKean 

728 

1,439 

Smithport 

Mercer 

11,681 

19,731 

Mercer 

656 

♦Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh,  exclusive  of  the  suburbs. 
Total  of  the  former  city  and  subuibs,  for  1830,  167,811. 
Total  of  the  latter  city  and  suburbs,  for  1830,  17,000. 
Vol.   II. 


31 


242 


APPENDIX. 


PENNSYLVANIA— Continued. 


Counties. 

Pop.  1820.1 

Pop .  1830. 

County  Towns. 

Population. 

Mifflin 

16,618 

21,529 

Lewistown 

1,479 

Northumberland 

15,424 

18,168 

Sunbury 

1,057 

Potter 

186 

1,265 

Cowdersport 

Somerset 

13,974 

17,441 

Somerset 

649 

Susquehannah 

9,660 

16,777 

Montrose 

415 

Tioga 

4,021 

9,062 

Wellsborough 

Union 

18,619 

20,749 

New  Berlin 

Venango 

1,976 

4,706 

Warren 

Warren 

40,038 

42,860 

Washington 

1,816 

Washington 

4,915 

9,128 

Franklin 

409 

Westmoreland 

30,540 

1     38.400 

Greensburg 

810 

X.    DELAWAPvE. 


Table  of  the  Counties. 


Counties. 


Kent 

New  Castle 
Sussex 

Of  whom  3,305  are  slaves. 


Total 


Pop.  1820. 


20,793 
27,899 
24,057 


72,674 


Pop . 1830. 


19,911 
29,710 

27,118 


76,639 


XI.     MARYLAND. 


Western  Shore. 


Alleghany 
Anne  Arundell 
Baltimore 
Baltimore  city 
Calvert 
Charles 
Frederick 
Hartford 
Montgomery 
Prince  George's 
St.  Mary's 
Washington 


8,654 
21.165 
33,663 
62,738 

8,073 
10,500 
40,459 
15,924 
16,400 
20,216 
12,974 
23,075 


Eastern  Shore. 


Caroline 

- 

- 

10,018 

9,070 

Cecil 

- 

- 

10,048 

15,432 

Dorchester 

- 

- 

17,759 

18,685 

Kent 

- 

- 

11,453 

10,562 

Queen  Anne's 

- 

14,952 

14,396 

Somerset 

- 

- 

19,579 

20,155 

Talbot 

- 

- 

14,387 

12,947 

Worcester 

: —           .*'... 

Total 

17,421 

18,271 

r  9. 

407,350 

446,913 

APPENDIX. 


243 


Baltimore 
Frederick 


MARYLAND— Continued. 
Population  of  the  Principal  Totcns. 
S0,G25  Hagerstown 

4,427  Annapolis 


3,371 
2,023 


XII.     VIRGINIA. 


Table  of  the  Counties. 


Eastern  District. 


Counties. 


Accomac 

Albemarle 

Amelia 

Amherst 

Bedford 

Brunswick 

Buckingham 

Campbell 

Lynchburg  town 
Caroline 
Charles  City- 
Charlotte 
Chesterfield 
Culpepper 
Cumberland 
Dinwiddie 

Pelersburgh  town 
Elizabeth  City 
Essex 
Fairfax 
Fauquier 
Fluvanna 
Franklin 
Gloucester 
Goochland 
Greenville 
Halifax 
Hanover 
Henrico 

Richmond  city 
Henry 
Isle  of  Wight 
James  City 
King  and  Queen 
King  George 
lung  William 
Lancaster 
Loudon 


Whites. 

Slaves. 

Free  black. 

s  Total  pop.  1830 

9,458 

4,654 

2,544 

19,656 

10,155 

11,689 

484 

22,618 

3,293 

1     7,518 

220 

11,031 

5,879 

5,927 

263 

32,072 

11,113 

8,790 

341 

20,253 

5,397 

9,760 

612 

15,770 

7,172 

10,928 

245 

18,351 

7,197 

7,735 

473 

15,704 

2,490 

1,751 

385 

4,626 

6,490 

10,764 

520 

17,774 

1,782 

2,957 

761 

15,504 

5,583 

9,432 

236 

15,252 

7,709 

10,337 

591 

18,637 

12,044 

11,419 

563 

24,026 

4,054 

7,309 

326 

11,689 

7,709 

10,337 

591 

18,637 

3,440 

2,850 

2,032 

8,322 

2,704 

2,218 

131 

5,068 

3,647 

6,417 

467 

10,531 

4,892 

3,972 

311 

9,206 

13,116 

12,612 

621 

26,379 

4,223 

3,765 

'203 

8,221 

9,728 

4,988 

196 

14,911 

4,314 

5,691 

603 

10,608 

3,857 

5,706 

795 

10,358 

2,104 

4,681 

332 

7,117 

12,915 

14,527 

590 

28,032 

6,526 

9,278 

449 

16,253 

5,717 

5,934 

1,089 

12,738 

7,757 

6,345 

1,966 

16,060 

4,058 

2,868 

174 

7,100 

5,023 

4,272 

1,222 

10,517 

1,284 

1,983 

571 

3,838 

4,714 

6,514 

416 

11,644 

2,475 

3,635 

287 

6,397 

3,155 

6,310 

347 

9,812 

1,976 

2,631 

195 

4,800 

15,517 

5,360 

1,062 

21,938 

244 


APPENDIX. 


VIRGINIA—  Continued. 


Total  pop.  1830 


Counties. 


Whites. 


Louisa 

Lunenburg 

Madison 

Matthews 

Mecklenburg 

Middlesex 

Nansemond 

Nelson 

New  Kent 

Norfolk 

Norfolk,  borough 
Northampton 
Northumberland 
Nottoway 
Orange 
Patrick 
Pittsylvania 
Powhatan 
Prince  Edward 
Prince  George 
Prince  William 
Princess  Anne 
Richmond 
Southampton 
Spottsylvania 

Fredericksburg,  toum 
Stafford 
Surry 
Sussex 
Warwick 
Westmoreland     - 
York 


Total 


6,468 
4,479 
4,389 
3,995 
7,443 
1,870 
5,143 
5,186 
2,586 
8,180 
5,131 
3,573 
4,039 
2,949 
6,456 
5,494 
14,690 
2,661 
5,039 
3,066 
5,127 
5,023 
2,975 
6,573 
4,685 
1,798 
4,713 
2,865 
4,118 
619 
3,718 
2,129 


Slaves. 


375,940 


9,382 
7,233 
4,873 
3,481 

11,950 
2,137 
4,943 
5,946 
3,550 
5,842 
3,757 
3,734 
3,357 
6,985 
7,983 
1,782 

10,992 
5,472 
8,593 
4,598 
3,842 
3,736 
2,630 
7,755 
6,925 
1,125 
4,164 
3,377 
7,636 
892 
3,845 
2,598 


Free  blacks 


416,259 


301 
245 
71 
189 
874 
118 

1,698 
122 
342 
966 
928 

1,334 
567 
223 
198 
117 
340 
384 
475 
700 
361 
343 
451 

1,745 
310 
384 
485 
866 
866 
27 
848 
627 


40,780 


16,151 

11,957 
9,236 
7,663 

20,366 
4,122 

11,784 

11,251 
6,457 

14,998 
9,816 
8,644 
7,953 

10,141 

14,637 
7,393 

26,022 
8,517 

14,107 
8,368 
9,330 
9,102 
6,056 

16,073 

11,920 
3,307 
9,362 
7,108 

12,720 

1,570 

8,411 

5,354 

"832,979" 


Western  District. 


Alleghany 
Augusta,  North 
Augusta,  South 
Bath 
Berkley 
Bottetourt 
Brooke 
Cabell 

Frederick,  East 
Frederick,  West 
Giles 
Grayson 


2,197 

571 

48 

7,208 

1,677 

257 

8,048 

2,588 

147 

2,803 

1,140 

65 

823 

1,919 

276 

11,808 

4,170 

386 

6,774 

227 

36 

5,267 

561 

56 

8,104 

5,242 

653 

9,260 

2,088 

598 

4,779 

470 

49 

7,161 

462 

52 

2,816 

9,142 

10,783 

4,008 

10,528 

16,354 

7,040 

5,884 

14,099 

11,946 

5,298 

7,675 


APPENDIX. 


245 


VIRGINIA— Continue  d. 


240 


ATPENDIX 


XIII.     NORTH  CAROLINA. 


Table  of  the  Counties. 


Counties. 


|  Pop.  1&2U.  |  Pop.  1830. 


Anson 

Ashe 

Beaufort 

Bertie 

Bladen 

Brunswick 

Buncombe 

Burke 

Cabarras 

Carnden 

Carteret 

Caswell 

Chatham 

Chowan 

Columbus 

Craven 

Cumberland 

Currituck 

Davidson 

Duplin 

Edgecombe 

Franklin 

Gates 

Granville 

Greene 

Guilford 

Halifax 

Haywood 

Hertford 

Hyde 

Iredell 

Johnston 

Jones 

Lenoir 

Lincoln 

Macon 

Martin 

Mecklenburg 

Montgomery 

Moore 

Nash 

New  Hanover 

Northampton 

Onslow 

Orange 


12,534 

4,335 

9,850 

10,805 

7.276 

5,480 

10,542 

13,412 

7,248 

0,347 

5,009 

13,253 

12,661 

6,464 

3,912 

13,394 

14,446 

8,098 

9,744 

13,276 

9,741 

6,837 

18,222 

4,533 

14,511 

17,237 

4,073 

7,712 

4,967 

13,071 

9,607 

5,216 

6,799 

18,147 

9,320 

16,895 

8,693 

7,128 

8,185 

10,866 

13,242 

7,016 

23,492 


14,081 
0,991 
10,949 
12,276 
7,801 
6,523 
16,259 
17.727 
8,796 
6,721 
6,607 
15,188 
15,499 
6,688 
4,141 
14,325 
14,824 
7,654 
13,421 
11,373 
14,933 
10,665 
7,866 
19,343 
6,313 
18,735 
17,738 
4,593 
8,541 
6,177 
15,262 
10,938 
5,628 
7,635 
22,625 
5,390 
8,544 
20,076 
10,918 
7,753 
8,492 
10,759 
13,103 
7,814 
23,875 


AITENDIX 


217 


NORTH  CAROLINA— Continued. 


Counties. 

Pop .  1820. 

Pop.lH.'tf). 
8,010 

Pasquotank 

8,008 

Perquimans              - 

G,857 

7,417 

Person                      - 

9,029 

10,027 

Pitt                            .... 

10,001 

12,174 

Randolph                  - 

11,331 

12,400 

Richmond                -             -             - 

7,537 

9,326 

Robeson                   ---'-.- 

8,204 

9,355 

Rockingham            - 

11,474 

12,920 

Rowan                     - 

20,009 

20,796 

Rutherford                ... 

15,351 

17,557 

Sampson                   - 

8,908 

11,768 

Stokes                      - 

14,033 

16,196 

Surry                       .... 

12,320 

14,501 

Tyrrell                     .... 

4,319 

4,732 

Wake                        .... 

20,102 

20,417 

Warren                    - 

11,004 

10,916 

Washington              - 

3,98G 

4,562 

Wayne                     - 

9,040 

10,902 

Wilkes                     .... 

9,967 

11,942 

Total 


638,829|  738,470 


Population  of  the  Principal  Toicns  in  1830. 

Newbern  3,776        Raleigh         1,700        Tarborough 

Fayette  ville        2,868         Salisbury      1,613         Warrenton 
Plymouth  660 


971 
962 


XII.    SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


Population  of  the  Districts  and 
Census 


other  Divisions,  as  given  in  the 
of  1830. 


Abbeville 
Anderson 
Barnwell 
Charleston 


District 
do. 
do. 
City 


Charleston  Neck 

St.  Andrew's        Parish 

St.  John's  Colleton 

St.  James,  Goose  Creek 

St.  Stephen's 

Christ  Church 

St.  James,  Santee 

St.  Thomas  and  St.  Dennis 

St.  Peter's  Parish 

St.  Helena 

St.  Luke's 

Prince  William's 


28,134 

17,170 

19,236 

30,289 

10,054 

3,727 

10,045 

8,632 

2,416 

3,412 

3,743 

3,055 

3,834 

8,799 

9,659 

9,040 


Chester 

Chesterfield 

Colleton 

Edgefield 

Fairfield 

Georgetown 

Greenville 

Horry 

Kershaw 

Lancaster 

Laurens 

Lexington 

Marion 

Marlborough 

Newberry 

Oranceburo-h 


District 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


19,182 

8,472 
27,256 
30,511 
21,546 
19,943 
16,476 

5,323 
13,545 
10,361 
20,863 

9,076 
11,208 

8,578 
17,441 
18,455 


218 


APPENDIX. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA— Continued 

Pickens 

District         14,475 

Union               District. 

17,908 

Richland 

do.             11,405 

Washington          do. 

13,728 

Columbia 

Town              3,310 

Williamsburg       do. 

9,015 

Spartanburgh 

District        21,148 

York                    do. 

17,785 

Sumpter 

do.            28,278 

Population  of  Charleston  and  Columbia. 

Charleston,  1830,            30,289                  Columbia,   1830, 

3,310 

XV.     GEORGIA. 

Table  of  the  Counties,  1830. 

Counties. 

Whites. 

Colored. 

Total  Pop. 

Appling 

- 

1,284 

184 

1,408 

Baker 

- 

977 

270 

1,253 

Baldwin 

. 

2,724 

4,505 

7,289 

Bibb 

- 

4,138 

3,005 

7,143 

Bryan 

. 

723 

2,410 

3,139 

Bullock 

- 

1,933 

053 

2,580 

Burke 

» 

5,000 

0,707 

11,833 

Butts 

. 

3,225 

1,087 

4,912 

Camden 

- 

1,458 

3,120 

4,578 

Campbell 

- 

2,094 

029 

3,323 

Carroll 

- 

2,723 

090 

3,419 

Chatham 

. 

4,325 

9,905 

14,230 

Clarke 

. 

5,438 

4,738 

10,170 

Columbia 

. 

4,471 

8,135 

12,000 

Coweta 

_ 

3,034 

1,372 

5,000 

Crawford 

_ 

3,591 

1,723 

5,314 

Decatur 

- 

2,541 

1,307 

3,848 

Dekalb 

-             -             - 

8,370 

1,071 

10,047 

Dooly 

. 

1,787 

348 

2,135 

Early 

. 

1,505 

540 

2,051 

Effingham 
Elbert 

. 

1,740 

1,223 

2,909 

. 

0,501 

5,853 

12,354 

Emanuel 

. 

2,108 

513 

2,081 

Fayette 

. 

4,208 

1,233 

5,501 

Franklin 

- 

7,712 

2,423 

10,135 

Glynn 
Greene 

... 

597 

3,970 

4,407 

_ 

5,020 

7,525 

12,551 

Gwinnett 

_ 

10,938 

2,282 

13,220 

Habersham 

. 

9,733 

915 

10,048 

Hall 

. 

10,573 

1,182 

11,755 

Hancock 

. 

4,007 

7,215 

11,822 

Harris 

. 

2,831 

2,274 

5,105 

Henry 
Houston 

. 

7,991 

2,570 

10,507 

. 

5,101 

2,208 

7,309 

Irwin 

. 

1,000 

114 

1,180 

Jackson 

- 

- 

- 

0,184 

2,810 

9,000 

APPENDIX. 


249 


GEORGIA — Continued. 


Counties. 

Whites. 

Colored. 

Total  Pop. 

Jasper 

6,767 

6,364 

13,131 

Jefferson                   ... 

3,603 

3,70C 

7,309 

Jones                        ... 

6,469 

6,873 

13,342 

Laurens                   ... 

3,188 

2,39C 

5,578 

Lee                          ... 

1,367 

307 

1,674 

Liberty                    ... 

1,588 

5,646 

7,234 

Lincoln                    -   .         - 

2,824 

3,313 

6,137 

Lownde3                  - 

2,113 

340 

2,453 

Madison                   ... 

3,365 

1,261 

4,626 

Mcintosh 

1,095 

3,903 

4,998 

Marion                     ... 

1,327 

109 

1,436 

Meriwether              ... 

3,018 

1,406 

4,424 

Monroe                    - 

8,836 

7,366 

16,202 

Montgomery            ... 

934 

335 

1,269 

Morgan                    ... 

5,146 

6,877 

12,023 

Muscogee                - 

2,261 

1,247 

3,508 

Newton                    - 

8,131 

3,023 

11,154 

Oglethorpe               ... 

5,554 

8,004 

13,558 

Pike 

4,362 

1,694 

6,056 

Pulaski                    ... 

3,117 

1,782 

4,899 

Putnam                    ... 

5,512 

7,744 

13,656 

Rabun                     ... 

2,114 

61 

2,175 

Randolph                  ... 

1,508 

683 

2,191 

Richmond                 ... 

5,163 

6,481 

11,644 

Scriven                    ... 

2,387 

2,389 

4,776 

Talbot 

3,839 

2,101 

5,940 

Taliaferro                 - 

2,162 

2,770 

•  4,934 

Tatnall 

1,519 

520 

2,039 

Telfair                     ... 

1,569 

567 

2,136 

Thomas                    - 

2,127 

1,169 

3,296 

Troup                       ... 

3,607 

2,192 

5,799 

Twiggs                    -             -             -       - 

4,495 

3,534 

8,029 

Upson                      ... 

4,444 

2,569 

7,013 

Walton 

7,763 

3,168 

10,931 

Ware                        -'*."- 

1,132 

62 

1,194 

Warren                     ... 

6,044 

4,802 

10,846 

Washington              ... 

5,905 

3,915 

9,820 

Wayne                     ... 

676 

286 

962 

Wifkes 

5,265 

8,972 

14,237 

Wilkinson                - 

4,603 

1,955 

6,558 

Population  of  the  Principe 

il  Towns. 

Savannah         7,303         Macon         2,609 

Milledgeville 

1,599 

Augusta           6,696        Columbia    2,000% 

Athens 

1,100 

«- 

Vol.  n. 


32 


250 


APPENDIX. 


XVI.    ALABAMA. 

Table  of  the  Counties. 


Counties. 

Population,  1830. 

Counties. 

Population,  1830. 

Autauga 

11,872 

Lowndes 

9,421 

Baldwin 

2,824 

Madison 

28,011 

Bibb 

6,305 

Marengo 

7,742 

Blount 

4,233 

Marion 

4,058 

Butler 

5,634 

Mobile 

3,071 

Clarke 

7,584 

Mobile  city 

3,194 

Conecuh 

7,444 

Monroe 

8,780 

Covington 

1,522 

Montgomery 

12,694 

Dale 

2,021 

Morgan 

9,053 

Dallas 

14,017 

Perry 

11,509 

Fayette 

3,470 

Pickens 

6,620 

Franklin 

11,078 

Pike 

7,103 

Greene 

15,026 

St.  Clair 

5,975 

Henry- 

3,955 

Shelby 

5,521 

Jackson 

12,702 

Tuscaloosa 

13,646 

Jefferson 

6,855 

Walker 

2,202 

Lauderdale 

11,782 

Washington 

2,472 

Lawrence 

14,984 

Wilcox 

3,468 

Limestone 

14,848 

Tuscaloosa  town,  1820             1,600 

XVII.     MISSISSIPPI. 

Table  of  the  Counties. 

Adams 

12,129 

Lowndes 

3,342 

Natchez  city 

2,790 

Madison 

4,937 

Amite 

7,943 

Marion 

3,701 

Claiborne 

9,818 

Monroe 

3,855 

Copiah 

7,024 

Perry 

2,285 

Covington 

2,549 

Pike 

5,402 

Franklin 

4,622 

Rankin 

2,084 

Greene 

1,849 

Simpson 

2,666 

Hancock 

1,961 

Warren 

7,861 

Hinds 

8,619 

Washington 

1,976 

Jackson 

1,789 

Wayne 

2,778 

Jefferson 

9,755 

Wilkinson 

11,693 

Jones 

1,471 

Yazoo 

6,550 

Lawrence 

5,321 

XVIII.    LOUISIANA. 

Table  of  Parishes. 

Eastern  District. 

Ascension 

5,400 

Feliciana,  East 

8,247 

Assumption 

£,670 

Feliciana,  West 

8,629 

Baton  Rouge, 

East                  6,717 

Iberville 

7,050 

Baton  Rouge, 

West                 3,092 

Jefferson 

6,846 

Concordia 

4,662 

Lafourche  Interioi 

5,500 

APPENDIX. 


251 


LOUISIANA— Continued. 


Parishes. 

Population.     Counties. 

Population. 

Orleans 

3,792 

St.  Helena 

4,027 

N.  Orleans,  city  6f  suburbs,  46,310 

St.  James 

7,672 

Plaquemines 

4,489 

St.  John  Baptist 

5,700 

Point  Coupee 

5,930 

St.  Tammany 

2,864 

St.  Bernard 

3,356 

Terre  Bonne 

2,121 

St.  Charles 

5,107 

Washington 

2,286 

Of  whom  80,421  are  slaves.    Total  Eastern  Districl 

155,318 

Western  District. 

Avoyelles 

3,18S 

Rapides 

7,559 

Catahoula 

2,576 

St.  Landry 

12,552 

Claiborne 

1,764 

St.  Martin's 

7,204 

Lafayette 

5,606 

St.  Mary's 

6,442 

Nachitoches 

7,926 

Washita 

5,140 

Of  whom  29,210  are  slaves.     Total  Western  Districl 

60,257 

XIX.     TENNESSEE. 

Table  of  the  Counties. 

West  Tennessee. 

Counties. 

Pop.  1820. 

|  Pop.  1830. 

Bedford 

- 

16,012 

30,444 

Carroll 

- 

9,378 

Davidson 

. 

20,154 

22,523 

Nashville,  town 

- 

5,566 

Dickson 

- 

5,190 

7,261 

Dyer 

- 

1,904 

Fayette 

- 

8,654 

Fentress 

- 

2,760 

Franklin 

- 

16,571 

15,644 

Gibson 

. 

5,801 

Giles 

- 

12,558 

18,920 

Hardiman 

- 

11,628 

Hardin 

- 

1,462 

4,867 

Haywood 

- 

5,356 

Henderson 

- 

8,741 

Henry 

- 

12,230 

Hickman 

- 

6,080 

8,132 

Humphreys 

- 

4,067 

6,189 

Jackson 

- 

7,593 

9,902 

Lawrence 

- 

3,271 

5,412 

Lincoln 

- 

14,761 

22,086 

Madison 

- 

11,750 

Maury 

- 

22,141 

28,153 

McNairy 

- 

5,697 

Montgomery 

- 

12,219 

14,365 

Obion 

- 

2,099 

Overton 

. 

7,188 

8,246 

Perry 

- 

2,384 

7,038 

252 


APPENDIX 


TENNESSEE— Continued. 


Counties. 


Pop.  1820.  |   Pop.  1830. 


Robertson 

Rutherford 

Shelby 

Smith 

Sumner 

Stewart 

Tipton 

Warren 

Wayne 

Weakley 

White 

Williamson 

Wilson 


Total  of  West  Tennessee 


7,270 

19,552 

354 

17,580 

19,211 

8,397 

10,348 
2,459 

8,701 
20,640 
18,730 


287,501 


13,«02 

26,133 

5,652 

21,492 

20,606 

6,988 

5,317 

15,351 

6,013 

4,796 

9,967 

26,608 

25,477 


488,448 


East  Tennessee. 


Anderson 

4,668 

5,312 

Bledsoe 

4,005 

6,448 

Blount 

11,258 

11,027 

Campbell 

4,244 

5,110 

Carter 

4,835 

6,418 

Clairbome 

5,508 

8,470 

Cocke 

4,892 

6,048 

Granger 

7,651 

10,066 

Greene 

11,221 

14,410 

Hamilton 

821 

2,274 

Hawkins 

10,949 

13,683 

Jefferson 

8,953 

11,799 

Knox 

13,034 

14,498 

McMinn 

1,623 

14,497 

Marion 

3,888 

5,516 

Monroe 

2,529 

13,709 

Morgan 

1,676 

2,5S2 

Rhea 

4,215 

8,182 

Roane 

7,895 

11,340 

Sevier 

4,772 

5,117 

Sullivan 

7,015 

10,073 

Washington 

9,557 

10,995 

Total  of  East  Tennessee. 

135,312 

196,374 

Of  whom  17,890  are  slaves. 

APPENDIX. 


253 


XX.    KENTUCKY. 


Table  of  the 

Counties  and  Toxvns,  1830. 

Counties. 

Pop. 

Towns. 

Pop. 

Adair 

8,220 

Columbia 

422 

Allen 

6,486 

Scottsville 

180 

Anderson 

4,542 

Lawrenceburg 

•    320 

Barren 

14,821 

Glasgow 

617 

Bath 

8,799 

(Owingsville 
\  Sharpsburg 

241 

158 

Boone 

9,012 

Burlington 

276 

(  Paris 

1,219 

Bourbon 

18,434 

/Millersburg 

470 

(Middletovvn 

195 

Bracken 

6,392 

Augusta 

691 

( Hardinsburg 

316 

Breckenridge 

7,345 

<  Cloverport 

194 

( Stephenport 

64 

Butler 

3,055 

Morgantown 

76 

Bullitt 

5,660 

(Shepherdsville 

278 

( Mount  Washington 

226 

Caldwell 

8,332 

{ Princeton 
JEddyville 

366 
167 

Callaway 

5,159 

Wadesborough 

163 

Campbell 

9,893 

$  Newport 
£  Covington 

717 
743 

Casey 

4,342 

Liberty 

118 

Christian 

12,694 

Hopkinsville 

1,263 

Clarke 

13,052 

Winchester 

620 

Clay 

3,549 

Manchester 

159 

Cumberland 

8,636 

Burkesville 

340 

Daviess 

5,218 

Owensborough 

229 

Edmondson 

2,642 

Brownsville 

125 

Estill 

4,618 

Irvine 

91 

Fayette 

25,174 

S  Lexington 
(Athens 

6,104 
134 

Fleming 

13,493 

Flemingsburg 

642 

Floyd 

4,266 

Prestonburg 

81 

Franklin 

9,251 

\  Frankfort 
(South  Frankfort 

1,680 
307 

Gallatin 

6,680 

Port  William 

324 

Garrard 

11,870 

Lancaster 

570 

Grant 

2,987 

Williamstown 

197 

Graves 

2,503 

Mayfield 

44 

Grayson 

3,876 

Litchiield 

166 

Greene 

13,718 

^  Greensburg 
^Campbellsville 

665 
126 

Greenup 

5,853 

Greenupsburg 

204 

Hancock 

1,494 

Hawsville 

Hardin 

13,148 

Elizabethtown 

601 

ZM 

APPENDIX. 

KENTUCKY— Continued. 

Counties. 

Pop 

|     Towns. 

Fop. 

Harlan 

2,92fe 

Harlan  C.  H. 

fCynthiana 

977 

Harrison 

13,18C 

<  Leesburg 

138 

(Clayville 

48 

Hart 

5,292 

( Munfordsville 

193 

{ Woodsonville 

48 

Henderson 

6,64S 

Hendersonville 

483 

Henry- 

11,395 

New  Castle 

539 

Hickman 

5,193 

(Clinton 

81 

( Columbus 

186 

Hopkins 

6,763 

Madisonville 

112 

f  Louisville 

10,352 

Jefferson 

24,002 

1  Shippingsport 
1  Portland 

607 
398 

I  Williamsville 

70 

Jessamine 

9,961 

(Nicholasville 
f  North  Liberty 

409 
62 

Knox 

4,321 

Barboursville 

139 

Laurel 

2,182 

j  Hazle  Patch 
( London 

15 

Lawrence 

3,897 

Louisa 

87 

(  Clarksburg 

62 

Lewis 

5,206 

1  Vanceburg 

93 

( Concord 

34 

Lincoln 

11,012 

i  Stanford 

( Crab  Orchard 

363 
234 

Livingston 

6,607 

(Salem 
I  Smithfield 

254 

388 

Logan 

13,002 

Russelville 

1,358 

McCracken 

1,298 

( Wilmington 

12 

( Padauch 

105 

Madison 

18,035 

Richmond 

947 

Mason 

16,203 

\  Washington 
( Maysville 

868 
2,040 

Meade 

4,111 

Brandenburg 

331 

f  Harrodsburg 

1,051 

Mercer 

17,706 

•j  Danville 
[  Perryville 

849 

283 

LSalvisa 

78 

Monroe 

5,125 

Tompkinsville 

220 

Montgomery 

10,221 

{ Mount  Sterling 
/Jeffersonville 

561 
33 

Morgan 

r < 

2,857    "West  Liberty 

50 

APPENDIX. 


255 


KENTUCKY— Continued. 


<L 

Counties. 

Pop. 

Towns. 

Pop. 

Muhlenburg 

5,341 

Greenville 

217 

(Bardstown 

1,625 

Nelson 

14,916 

/Bloomfield 

301 

(Fairfield 

88 

Nicholas 

8,832 

Carlisle 

430 

Ohio 

4,913 

Hartford 

242 

r  Westport 
J  Bedford 

314 
104 

Oldham 

9,563 

1  Brownsville 

57 

tLa  Grange 

27 

, 

lOwenton 

143 

Owen 

5,792 

/New  Liberty 

161 

Pendleton 

3,866 

Falmouth 

207 

Perry 

3,331 

Perry  C.  H. 

Pike 

2,677 

Pikeville 

49 

Pulaski 

9,522 

Somerset 

231 

Rockcastle 

2,875 

Mount  Vernon 

142 

Russell 

3,883 

{ Jamestown 
\  Creel  sburg 

67 
37 

Scott 

14,677 

Georgetown 

1,314 

(  Shelby  ville 

1,201 

Shelby 

19,039 

<Simpsonville 

77 

(Christianburg 

78 

Simpson 

6,099 

Franklin 

280 

Spencer 

6,815 

Taylorsville 

248 

Todd 

8,801 

j  Elkton 
I  Trenton 

382 

178 

Trigg 

5,889 

(Cadiz 
|  Canton 

168 
146 

Union 

4,435 

Morganfield 

292 

Warren 

10,947 

Bowling  Green 

815 

r  Springfield 

618 

Lebanon 

385 

Washington 

i  Mackville 

83 

Fredericksburg 

58 

tNew  Market 

43 

Wayne 

8,731 

Monticello 

207 

Whitely 

3,807 

(Whitely  C.  H. 

)  Williamsburg 

50 

(Versailles 

904 

Woodford 

12,294 

(Mortonsville 

145 

•e  slaves. 

Total         688,844 

,  of  whom  165,350  ai 

256 


APPENDIX. 


XXI.    OHIO. 


Table 

of  the  Counties  and  County  Towns,  1830. 

Counties. 

Pop. 

County  Towns. 

Pop. 

Adams 

12,278 

West  Union 

429 

Allen 

5,578 

VVapaghkonetta 

Ashtabula 

14,584 

Jefferson 

270 

Athens 

9,763 

Athens 

729 

Belmont 

28,412 

St.  Clairsville 

789 

Brown 

17,867 

Georgetown 

325 

Butler 

27,044 

Hamilton 

1,097 

Champaign 

12,130 

Urbana 

1,102 

Clark 

13,074 

Springfield 

1,080 

Clermont 

20,466 

Batavia 

426 

Clinton 

11,292 

Wilmington 

607 

Columbiana 

35,508 

Sew  Lisbon 

1,138 

Coshocton 

11,162 

Coshocton 

333 

Crawford 

4,778 

Bucyrus 

298 

Cuyahoga 

10^360 

Cleaveland 

1,076 

Dark 

6,203 

Greenville 

160 

Delaware 

11,523 

Delaware 

531 

Fairfield 

24,788 

Lancaster 

1,530 

Fayette 

8,180 

Washington 

300 

Franklin 

14,766 

Columbus 

2,437 

Gallia 

9,733 

Gallipolis 

755 

Geauga 

15,813 

Chardon,  township 

881 

Green 

15,0S4 

Xenia 

919 

Guernsey 

18,036 

Cambridge 

518 

Hardin 

Hardy 

Hamilton 

52,321 

Cincinnati 

24,831 

Hancock 

813 

Findlay 

52 

Harrison 

29,020 

Cadiz 

820 

Henry 

260 

Damascus 

Highland 

16,347 

Hillsborough 

564 

Hocking 

4,008 

Logan 

97 

Holmes 

9,133 

Millersburg 

319 

Huron 

13,345 

Norwalk 

310 

Jackson 

5,974 

Jackson 

329 

Jefferson 

32,489 

Steubenville 

2,937 

Knox 

17,124 

Mount  Vernon 

1,021 

Lawrence 

5,366 

Burlington 

149 

Licking 

20,864 

Newark 

999 

Lorain 

5,696 

Elyra 

668 

Logan 

6,442 

Bellefontaine 

266 

Madison 

6,190 

London 

249 

Marion 

6,558 

Marion 

287 

Medina 

7,560 

Medina,  township 

622 

Meigs 

6,159 

Chester 

164 

Mercer 

1,110 

St.  Mary's 

92 

Miami 

12,806  Troy 

504 

APPENDIX. 


257 


OHIO— Continued. 


Counties. 

Pop.  County  Towns. 

Pop 

Monroe 

8,770 

Woodsheld 

157 

Montgomery 

24,252 

Dayton 

2,965 

Morgan 

11,796 

McConnelsville 

267 

Muskingum 

29,325 

Zanesville 

3,094 

Paulding 

160 

Perry 

14,018 

Somerset 

576 

Pickaway 

15,935 

Circleville 

1,136 

Pike 

6,024 

Piketon 

271 

Portage 

18,827 

Ravena,  township 

806 

Preble 

16,255 

Eaton 

511 

Putnam 

230 

Sugar  Grove 

Richland 

24,007 

Mansfield 

840 

Ross 

24,052 

Chillicothe 

2,836 

Sandusky 

2,851 

Lower  Sandusky 

351 

Scioto 

8,730 

Portsmouth 

1,064 

Seneca 

5,148 

Tiffin 

248 

Shelby 

3,671 

Sydney 

240 

Stark 

26,784 

Canton 

1,257 

Trumbull 

26,154 

Warren 

510 

Tuscarawas 

14,298 

New  Philadelphia 

410 

Union 

3,192 

Maysville 

142 

Van  Wert 

49 

Wiltshire 

Warren 

21,493 

Lebanon 

1,157 

Washington 

11,731 

Marietta 

1,207 

Wayne 

23,344 

Wooster 

977 

Williams 

377 

Defiance 

52 

Wood 

1,095 

Perrysburgh 

182 

Total        937,679 

XXII.    INDIANA. 

Table  of  the  Counties,  1830. 

Counties. 

Pop. 

Counties. 

Pop. 

Allen 

1,000 

Elkhart 

935 

Bartholomew 

5,480 

Fayette 

9,112 

Boone 

622 

Floyd 

6,363 

Carroll 

1,614 

Fountain 

7,644 

Cass 

1,154 

Franklin 

10,199 

Clark 

10,719 

Gibson 

5,417 

Clay 

1,616 

Greene 

4,253 

Clinton 

1,423 

Hamilton 

1,750 

Crawford 

3,184 

Hancock 

1,569 

Daviess 

4,512 

Harrison 

10,288 

Dearborn 

14,473 

Hendricks 

3,967 

Decatur 

5,854 

Henry 

6,498 

Delaware 

2,372 

Jackson 

4,894 

Dubois 

1,774 

Jefferson 

11,465 

Vol.  II. 


33 


258 


APPENDIX. 


INDIANA — Cont  inucd. 


Counties. 

Pop. 

Counties. 
Rush 

Pop. 
9,918 

Jennings 

3,950 

Johnson 

4,139 

St.  Joseph 

287 

Knox 

6,557 

Scott 

3,097 

Lawrence 

9,237 

Shelby 

6,291 

Madison 

2,442 

Spencer 

3,187 

Marion 

7,181 

Sullivan 

4,696 

Martin 

2,010 

Switzerland 

7,111 

Monroe 

6,578 

Tippecanoe 

7,167 

Montgomery 

7.386 

Union 

7,957 

Morgan 

5,579 

Vanderburgh 

2.610 

Orange 

7,909 

Vermillion 

5,706 

Owen 

4,060 

Vigo 

5,737 

Parke 

7,534 

Wabash 

Perry 

3,378 

Warren 

2,854 

Pike 

2,464 

Warrick 

2,973 

Posey 

7,883 

Washington 

13,072 

Putnam 

8,195 

Wayne 

18,587 

Randolph 

3,912 

Ripley 

3,957 

Total 

341,582 

Population  of  the  Principal  Towns  in  1831. 

New  Albany, 

about                 2,500 

Richmond,  about 

1,500 

Madison 

"                      2,000 

Indianapolis  " 

1,200 

Vincennes 

"                      1,800 

Salem'          " 

1,000 

XXIII.    ILLINOIS. 

Table  of  the  Counties,  1830. 

Adams 

2,180|Jefterson 

2,555 

Alexander 

1,390 

Jo  Daviess 

2,111 

Bond 

3,121 

Johnson 

1,596 

Calhoun 

1,090 

Lawrence 

3,661 

Clarke 

3,940 

Macaupin 

1,989 

Clay 

755 

McLean 

Clinton 

2,330 

Macon 

1,122 

Crawford 

3,113 

Madison 

6,229 

Edgar 

4,071 

Marion 

2,021 

Edwards 

1,649 

Mercer 

26 

Fayette 

2,704 

Monroe 

2,119 

Franklin 

4,081 

Montgomery 

2,950 

Fulton) 

Morgan 

12,709 

Henry  > 

2,156 

Macdonough  ) 
Schuyler       ) 

1,309 

Knox  ) 

Gallatin 

7,407 

Peoria    ) 

1,309 

Green 

7,664 

Putnam  ) 

Hamilton 

2,620 

Perry 

1,215 

Hancock 

484 

Pike 

2,393 

Jackson 

1,827 

Pope 

3,223 

APPENDIX. 


259 


ILLINOIS— Continvcd. 


Counties. 


Population  183U. 


Randolph 

St.  Clair 

Sangamon 

Shelby 

Tazewell 

Union 

Vermillion 


4,436 

7,092 
12,900 
2,973 
4,710 
3,239 
5,830 


Counties. 


Population  Ib3U . 


Wabash 

Warren 

Washington 

Wayne 

White 


2,709 
307 
1,074 
2,502 
0,091 


Total     157,575 


Of  whom  740  are  slaves. 


XXIV.     MISSOURI. 


Table  of  the  Counties. 


Boone 

8,b89 

Montgomery 

3,900 

Callaway 

0,102 

New  Madrid 

2,351 

Cape  Girardeau 

7,430 

Perry 

3,377 

Chariton 

1,770 

Pike 

0,122 

Clay 

5,342 

Ralls 

4,340 

Cole 

3,000 

Randolph 

2,902 

Cooper 

0,019 

Ray 

2,057 

Crawford 

1,709 

St.  Charles 

4,322 

Franklin 

3,848 

St.  Francois 

2,380 

Gasconade 

1,548 

St.  Genevieve 

2,182 

Howard 

10,844 

St.  Louis 

14,907 

Jackson 

2,822 

Saline 

2,893 

Jefferson 

2,580 

Scott       # 

2,130 

Lafayette 

2,921 

Washington 

0,797 

Lincoln 

4,000 

Wayne 

3,254 

2  371 

Marion 

4,839 

Total     140,074 

Monroe 

Of  whom  24,990 

are  slaves 

Population  of  St.  Louis. 
In  1820,  4,5981  In  1830, 


5,852 


XXV.     DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 


Counties.         Population.       Chief  Towns, 


Alexandria 
Washington 


9,008 
30,250 


Alexandria 
Washington 


Total        39,858 


Population. 


1810.     1820.       1830 

Washington  8,208  13,247  18,827 
Alexandria  7,227  8,218  8,203 
Georgetown    4,948     7,300     8,441 


XXVI.    FLORIDA  TERRITORY. 


Table  of  the  Counties. 


West 
Florida. 


Middle 
Florida. 


r  Escambia 
J  Jackson 
j  Walton      . 
(.  Washington 
f  Gadsen 
[  Hamilton 
^  Jefferson 
j  Leon 
(.  Madison 


3,3SG 

0,092 

4,894 

553 

3,312 

0,493 

5,25 


East 
Florida. 

S.  Florida, 


f  Alachu 
Duvall 
Mosquito 
Nassau 
St.  Johns 
Monroe 


2,204 
1,970 

733 
1,511 
2,535 

517 


Total  34,723 

Of  whom  15,510  are  slaves. 


260 


APPENDIX. 


XXVII.    MICHIGAN  TERRITORY. 

Table  of  the  Counties,  1830. 


Counties. 

Population. 

Counties. 

Population. 

Berrien 

323 

Oakland 

4,910 

Cass 

928 

St.  Clair 

1,115 

Jackson 

St.  Joseph 

1,313 

Lenawee 

1,491 

Van  Buren 

5 

Macomb 

2,414 

Washtenaw 

4,042 

Michilimackinac 

877 

Wayne 

4,565 

Monroe 

3,187 

Detroit,  city 

2,222 

Counties  west  of  Lake  Michigan. 


Brown  964 

Chippewa  625 

Crawford  692 
Of  whom  27  are  slaves. 


Iowa 


Total 


1,589 


31,260 


XXVIII.     ARKANSAS  TERRITORY. 


Table  of  the  Counties. 


Arkansas 

1,423 

Lawrence 

Chicot 

1,165 

Miller 

Clark 

1,309 

Monroe 

Conway 

982 

Phillips 

Crawford 

2,440 

Pope 

Crittenden 

1,272 

Pulaski 

Hempstead 

2,507 

St.  Francis 

Hot,  or  Warm  Springs 

458 

Sevier 

Independence 

2,032 

Union 

Izard 

1,266 

Washington 

Jackson 

333 

Jefferson 

772 

Lafayette 

748 

Of  whom 

2,806 

358 

461 

1,152 

1,483 

2,395 

1,505 

636 

640 

2,181 


MISCELLANEOUS  STATISTICAL  TABLE. 


Executive  of  tiie  General  Government.  President  and  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States.  Salary  of  the  former,  $25,000  per  annum ; 
of  the  latter,  $5,000.  The  president  must  be  thirty-five  years  of  age, 
fourteen  years  a  resident  in  the  United  States,  and  a  natural  born  citizen, 
or  a  citizen  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  The 
vice-president  is  elected  at  the  same  time  and  manner,  and  for  the  same 
term  as  the  president.  He  is  ex-officio  president  of  the  senate ;  and  in  case 
of  the  death  of  the  president,  takes  his  place  until  the  next  term.  At 
the  last  election  there  were  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  electors.  There 
have  been  seven  different  presidents,  and  as  many  vice-presidents. 

The  legislature  of  the  general  government  consists  of  a  senate  and 
house  of  representatives.  The  present' number  of  senators  is  forty- 
eight.  The  pay,  both  for  senators  and  representatives,  is  eight  dollars  a 
day ;  and  eight  dollars  for  every  twenty  miles  travel,  going  and  returning. 
The  present  number  of  representatives  is  two  hundred  and  thirteen.  The 
present  census,  on  the  existing  ratio,  will  increase  the  number  to  more 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  judiciary  of  the  United  States  consists  in  one  supreme  court,  and 
such  subordinate  courts,  as  congress  shall  from  time  to  time  appoint.  The 
judges  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  courts,  hold  their  offices  during  good 
behavior.  The  present  supreme  court  consists  of  one  chief  justice,  and 
six  associate  justices.  Salary  of  the  chief  justice,  $5,000,  and  of  the 
others,  $4,500  each.  Attorney  general,  salary  $3,500.  The  district 
court  consists  of  thirty  judges,  distributed  in  the  several  states,  each 
having  an  attorney,  marshal,  and  clerk,  as  constituent  officers  of  the  court. 
The  government  having  very  extended  relations,  and  acting  over  a  vast 
surface,  has  a  numerous  corps  of  officers  of  departments;  marshals,  clerks, 
and  the  like.  The  officers  of  the  army,  now  in  commission,  are  five 
hundred  and  sixty;  of  ihe  navy  about  one  thousand,  and  of  the  marine 
corps,  fifty ;  twenty-two  ships  of  war  are  in  commission,  and  sixteen  in 


262  APPENDIX. 

ordinary.  Five  ships  of  the  line  and  six  frigates  arc  now  building. 
The  militia  of  the  United  States  amounts  to  1,200,000.  Extent  of  the 
United  States,  2,257,374  square  miles.  Of  canals,  there  are  about  three 
thousand  miles  in  operation,  in  progress,  or  survey.  Of  rail-road,  the 
extent  made  or  making  is  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  three  miles. 
Number  of  post  offices  in  1831,  eight  thousand  six  hundred  and  ten.  Ex- 
tent of  post  roads  in  1830,  115,176  miles.  We  have  sixty  literary  insti- 
tutions, chartered  as  colleges,  the  names  of  which  are  given  under  their 
proper  heads,  in  the  body  of  this  work.  The  number  of  academies  and 
high  schools  amount  to  between  six  and  seven  hundred.  The  pupils  in 
all  the  schools  in  the  United  States,  amount  to  about  one  million  two  hun- 
dred thousand.  Of  periodicals  there  are  circulated  about  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty.  Of  religious  societies  there  are  about  fourteen 
thousand  fixed  congregations,  and  ten  thousand  settled  ministers.  Ad- 
vancing in  the  same  ratio  of  population,  as  between  the  census  of  1820, 
and  1830,  the  United  States  will  contain  thirty-five  millions  of  people,  of 
which  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  will  contain  more  than  half.  The 
tides  along  the  coast  of  the  United  States  diminish  as  we  advance  from 
Maine  shore  towards  Florida.  On  the  bay  of  Fundy,  they  rise  forty  feet. 
In  the  centre  of  the  interior  curve  of  Cape  Cod,  they  rise  eighteen  feet, 
and  on  the  opposite  convex  land  of  the  cape,  about  nine  feet.  They 
thence  diminish  along  the  open  shore  from  nine  to  eight  and  seven  feet, 
until  we  pass  Cape  Florida  into  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  where  the  tide  on  the 
open  shore  is  not  more  on  an  average,  than  four  feet.  The  annual  mean 
temperature  of  Maine  is  about  43°  Faht.  of  the  centre  of  Pennsylvania, 
55° ;  Cincinnati,  54° ;  St.  Louis,  on  the  Mississippi ,  55° ;  New  York  harbor, 
52° ;  Newport, Rhode  Island,  51° ;  Baltimore  53° ;  Richmond,  Virginia  56° ; 
Washington,  D.  C.  56°;  Charleston  harbor,  60°;  St.  Augustine,  72°;  Pen- 
sacola,  68° ;  New  Orleans,  79° ;  Fort  Howard,  southern  extremity  of  Green 
Bay,  44° ;  Prairie  du  Chien,  45° ;  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri,  50°. 
Lake  Erie  is  five  hundred  and  sixty -five  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Atlan 
tic ;  Pittsburgh,  eight  hundred ;  Cincinnati,  three  hundred  and  fifty ;  Louis- 
ville, three  hundred  and  forty  three;  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  three  hundred 
and  twenty-one.  Highest  spring  source  of  the  Allcghanics,  two  thousand 
five  hundred  and  nine.  Foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  the  sources  of 
the  Yellow  Stone,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy.  Middle 
course  of  the  Illinois,  four  hundred  and  one ;  Ouisconsin  river,  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  sixty-one;  Prairia  du  Chein,  five  hundred  and  eighty; 
Lake  Superior,  six  hundred  and  forty-one. 

The  prevalent  winds  in  the  northern  states  of  the  Atlantic  slope  are 
W.  and  N.  W.  In  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  S.  W.  Thunder  storms 
in  the  United  States  generally  form  in  the  W.  and  N.  W.  and  pass  oil'  to 


APPENDIX.  203 

the  E.  This  general  rule  has  many  exceptions.  They  often  descend 
the  Ohio,  passing  over  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  from  the  E.  to  the  W. 
They  very  commonly  ascend  the  valley  of  Red  river  from  S.  E.  to  N. 
W  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  along  the  whole  Atlantic  sea  shore,  those 
disagreeable  and  fierce  storms,  called  N.  E.  storms,  commence  in  the  S* 
W.  and  travel  with  a  rotatory  motion,  horizontal  to  the  horizon,  in  other 
words,  as  whirlwinds,  from  the  S.  W.  to  N.  E.  at  the  rate  of  about  thirty 
miles  an  hour.  Violent  blows,  called  hurricanes,  sweeping  forests  and 
buildings  from  their  course,  seldom  many  miles  in  length,  and  often  less 
than  a  half  a  mile  in  width,  are  common,  especially  in  summer,  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  They  are  most  frequent  in  the  Mississippi 
valley.  Their  distinctive  ravages  are  seen  in  a  thousand  places.  The 
prostrate  forest  in  their  path  is  technically  called  a  hurricane  tract.  These 
gales  also  move  in  a  rotatory  progress,  sometimes  ascending  wholly  above 
the  forests,  and  then  descending  again  with  the  same  unsparing  fury. 

The  United  States  have  all  (he  temperatures  that  can  be  requisite  for 
any  class  of  invalids,  between  the  sea  breezes  of  Maine,  the  mountain 
breezes  of  New  Hampshire,  the  climate  of  the  Council  Bluffs,  Charleston, 
St.  Augustine,  New  Orleans,  or  the  portion  of  Cape  Florida  south  of  28°, 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  either  snow  or  frost. 

The  United  States  possess  every  species  of  useful  building,  stone  and 
marble  in  unlimited  abundance — all  the  valuable  fossils — particularly  the 
greatest  profusion  of  fossil  coal.  It  has  the  most  ample  amount  of  all  the 
important  metals,  except  platina,  tin,  and  mercury.  These  metals  have  no 
where  been  discovered  in  such  abundance  as  to  have  become  of  any 
utility.  Cleaveland  and  Silliman,  I  know  not  on  what  authority,  have 
assigned  the  greatest  abundance  of  the  ores  of  mercury  to  the  northern 
shores  of  the  lakes.  We  do  not  recollect  to  have  seen  the  fact  mentioned 
by  Schoolcraft,  Long,  or  other  mineralogists,  worthy  of  credit.  We  hold 
this  important  fact,  if  it  be  one,  in  entire  doubt.  Future  observation  will, 
no  doubt,  bring  to  light  these  metals  in  the  widest  extent  of  our  territory. 

The  number  of  signers  of  American  Independence  was  fifty-six,  of  whom 
Pennsylvania  furnished  nine,  the  greatest  number  from  any  one  state. 
Virginia  furnished  seven,  and  Massachusetts  five.  The  continental  army 
in  1783,  consisted  of  a  commander  in  chief,  fifteen  major  generals,  and 
twenty-one  brigadier  generals.  The  number  of  continental  troops  fur- 
nished by  the  different  states,  during  the  revolutionary  war,  was  231,931. 
The  militia  called  out  amounted  to  5G,1G3.  Of  the  continental  troops, 
Massachusetts  furnished  67,907,  that  is  to  say,  more  than  double  the 
number  of  any  other  state  in  the  Union,  There  were  fifteen  different 
presidents  of  congress,  during  the  revolutionary  war. 


264  APPENDIX. 

The  free  inhabitants  of  the  free  states  amount  to  6,913,615;  leaving  to 
the  slave  states  5,942,792> 

Synopsis  of  the  political  statistics  of  the  states  in  their  order. 
Maine,  settled  1620,  1652,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  Pur- 
chased by  that  colony,  1677.  Remained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massa- 
chusetts, by  the  name  of  the  District  of  Maine,  until  1820,  when  it  became 
an  independent  state.  Constitution  went  into  operation  in  1820.  The 
legislative  body  is  entitled  the  Legislature  of  Maine.  It  is  vested  in  a 
senate  and  house  of  representatives,  elected  annually  by  the  people  on 
the  second  Monday  of  September.  The  number  of  representatives  can- 
not be  less  than  one  hundred,  nor  more  than  two  hundred.  A  town  with 
1500  inhabitants  sends  one  representative.  No  town  can  send  more  than 
seven.  Number  of  senators  cannot  be  less  than  thirty-one,  nor  more 
than  seventy.  The  legislature  meets  at  Augusta.  Governor  elected 
annually  by  the  people.  A  council  of  seven  is  elected  annually  by  the 
joint  ballot  of  the  senate  and  representatives.  The  right  of  suffrage  is 
granted  to  all  persons  over  twenty-one,  but  paupers,  persons  under  guar- 
dianship, and  persons  not  taxed.  A  residence  of  three  months  preceding 
the  election  gives  the  right  of  suffrage.  The  judicial  power  is  vested  in 
a  supreme  judicial  court,  and  courts  that  may  be  established  by  the  legis- 
lature from  time  to  time.  The  salary  of  the  Governor,  $1,500  per  an- 
num. The  members  of  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives,  two  dol- 
lars per  day.  Banks,  nineteen.  Whole  capital,  $2,175,000,  exclusive 
of  the  United  States  Bank.  Sends  seven  representatives  to  congress, 
and  will  be  entitled  to  two  or  three  additional  members,  by  the  ratio  of 
the  present  census.  Post  offices,  three  hundred  and  ninety-seven.  This 
is  the  twelfth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  members. 

New  Hampshire.  First  settled  1623.  Belonged  alternately  to  the 
.Royal  Government,  to  Massachusetts  and  New  York.  Constitution  estab- 
lished 1784.  The  legislative  power,  called  the  general  court  of  New 
Hampshire,  is  in  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  voters  send  a  representative,  and  three  hundred  additional  voters  a 
second.  The  members  and  the  officers  of  the  executive  power  are  chosen 
annually  by  the  people.  The  general  court  meets  at  Concord.  Right  of 
suffrage  belongs  to  all  male  inhabitants  of  twenty-one  years,  but  paupers 
and  persons  not  taxed  at  their  own  request.  A  superior  court  and  court 
of  common  pleas  compose  the  judiciary.  The  judges  hold  their  places 
during  good  behavior,  till  the  age  of  seventy. 

Salary  of  governor,  one  thousand  two  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 
Banks,  twenty-one.    Capital,  $2,102,750,  exclusive  of  the  United  States 


APPENDIX.  265 

Bank.  Sends  six  representatives  to  congress.  Two  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  post  offices.  This  is  the  eighteenth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of 
numbers. 

Vermont.  First  settlements,  in  1724;  1749.  Claimed  by  New  Hamp- 
shire and  New  York.  Constitution  formed  1777,  entered  the  Union  1791. 
The  general  assembly  of  the  state  of  Vermont  is  the  legislative  power, 
composed  of  a  single  body,  a  house  of  representatives,  elected  annually. 
One  member  is  sent  from  every  town.  Montpelier  is  the  place  of  meeting. 
The  officers  of  the  executive  power  are  chosen  annually.  Every  man  of 
twenty-one  years,  having  resided  one  year  preceding  the  election  in  the 
state,  who  is  quiet  and  peaceable,  has  the  right  of  suffrage.  A  supreme 
and  county  courts  constitute  the  judiciary;  all  the  officers  being  elected 
annually  by  the  general  assembly.  A  council  of  censors,  composed  of 
thirteen,  is  chosen  every  seven  years,  to  see  if  the  laws  are  duly  executed. 
Salary  of  governor,  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  Banks,  ten.  Cap- 
ital, $1,  050,000,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Sends  five  repre- 
sentatives to  congress.  Two  hundred  and  fifty-three  post  offices.  This 
is  the  seventeenth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Massachusetts.  First  settlements,  1620;  1628.  The  two  settle- 
ments remained  under  separate  governments,  until  1685 — 6,  when  they 
were  united  under  the  royal  government.  The  constitution  was  formed 
1780.  The  legislative  power  is  styled  the  general  court  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  composed  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives,  elected  an- 
nually, one  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  voters,  and  another  for  an  additional 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five.  Senate  is  composed  of  forty  members. 
The  governor  is  elected  annually.  The  general  court  meets  at  Boston. 
Residence  of  one  year  in  the  commonwealth,  and  six  calendar  months  in 
the  district,  and  paying  a  state  or  county  tax  within  the  two  years  prece 
ding  the  election,  constitutes  a  person,  twenty-one  years  of  age,  a  voter. 
The  judiciary  is  a  supreme  court  and  court  of  common  pleas.  Salary  of 
governor,  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars  and  sixty -seven 
cents  per  annum.  Banks,  sixty-six.  Capital,  $20,420,000,  exclusive  of 
the  United  States  bank.  Sends  thirteen  representatives  to  congress. 
Post  offices,  four  hundred  and  twenty-five.  This  is  the  ninth  state  in  the 
Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Rhode  Island.     First  settlements,  1636;  1638.      Chartered,  1644. 
Rechartered,  1666,  by  Charles  II.,  which  charter  is  the  basis  of  its  pres- 
ent government.     Unlike  all  the  other  states,  it  has  no  written  constitu- 
tion.    The  legislative  power  is  a  general  assembly,  composed  of  senate 
Vol.  II.  34 


26j6  APPENDIX. 

and  house  of  representatives,  which  consists  of  seventy-two  members, 
elected  from  the  towns  semi-annually ;  and  the  senate  of  ten.  The  latter 
are  chosen  annually.  The  governor  is  elected  annually.  The  general 
assembly  meets  four  times  in  a  year  at  different  towns.  Judges  are  appoint- 
ed annually  by  the  general  assembly.  Judges  of  the  courts  of  common 
pleas  have  no  salaries,  but  are  paid  by  entries.  Salary  of  governor,  four 
hundred  dollars.  Banks,  forty-seven.  Capital,  $6,098,307,  exclusive  of 
the  United  States  bank.  Sends  two  representatives  to  congress.  Post 
offices,  forty-one.  This  is  the  twenty -third  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of 
numbers. 

Connecticut.  First  settlements,  1635;  1638.  Chartered,  1665.  The 
charter  was  suspended,  and  restored,  and  formed  the  basis  of  the  govern- 
ment till  1818,  when  a  constitution  was  funned.  A  senate  and  house  of 
representatives  form  the  general  assembly.  The  members  of  the  latter 
are  chosen  by  the  different  towns,  and  are  two  hundred  and  eight  in  num- 
ber. The  senators  must  not  fall  below  eighteen,  nor  exceed  twenty-four. 
All  the  officers  of  government  are  elected  annually.  The  general  assenr 
bly  meets  once  a  year,  alternately,  at  Hartford  and  New  Haven.  A  res- 
idence of  six  months,  the  holding  a  freehold  estate,  valued  yearly  at  seven 
dollars,  or  having  performed  military  duty  one  year,  paying  taxes  for  one 
year,  and  a  good  moral  character,  qualify  a  voter.  A  supreme  court  of 
errors,  a  superior  court,  and  such  inferior  courts  as  may  be  created  from 
time  to  time,  compose  the  judiciary.  The  judges  are  appointed  by  the 
general  assembly,  and  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  till  the 
age  of  seventy.  No  one  is  compelled  to  join  in,  or  support  religious  wor- 
ship; but  when  united  to  any  society,  may  be  obliged  to  pay  his  portion 
of  its  expenses.  Salary  of  governor,  one  thousand  one  hundred  dollars. 
Banks,  thirteen.  Capital,  $'4,033,000,  exclusive  of  the  United  States 
bank.  Sends  six  representative?  to  congress.  Post  offices,  two  hundred 
and  twenty-two.  This  is  the  sixteenth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of 
numbers. 

New  York.  First  settlement,  1614,  Colonial  government,  1629. 
Passed  from  the  Dutch  to  the  English,  1664.  1673,  returned  to  the  Dutch 
for  a  few  months,  and  then  to  the  English.  Constitution  formed,  1777. 
A  senate  of  thirty-two  members,  and  an  assembly  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight,  elected  annually  from  the  legislature.  Senators  elected  by 
districts,  and  representatives  by  counties,  in  proportion  to  the  popula_ 
tion.  The  executive  offices  arc  chosen  every  two  years.  The  legisla- 
ture meets  at  Albany.  The  right  of  suffrage  belongs  to  every  white  male 
citizen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one,  who  has  resided  one  year  in  the  state, 
and  six  months  in  his  own  county.      A  man  of  color  cannot  vote  unless 


APPENDIX.  267 

he  possess  an  unincumbered  freehold  estate,  valued  at  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  The  judges  arc  appointed  by  the  governor,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  senate.  The  chancellor  and  justices  of  the  supreme  and  cir- 
cuit courts  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  or  until  the  age  of  sixty. 
The  judges  of  the  county  courts  arc  appointed  for  five  years.  Salary  of 
governor,  four  thousand  dollars.  Banks,  forty-four.  Capital,  $24,909,- 
600,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Some  other  banks  are  either 
in  contemplation,  or  operation.  Sends  thirty-four  representatives  to  con- 
gress. Post  offices,  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-two.  This  is 
the  first  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

New  Jersey,  contained  a  few  families,  1605.  In  1076,  divided  into 
two  provinces,  one  under  royal  government,  and  the  other  dependent  on 
New  York.  East  Jersey  was  transferred  to  William  Penn,  and  eleven 
associates,  1032.  In  1702,  both  protinces  united  under  the  government 
of  New  York,  till  1738,  when  a  separate  government  was  instituted. 
William  Temple  Franklin,  a  son  of  Dr.  Franklin,  was  the  last  royal  gov- 
ernor. Constitution  formed,  1776.  The  governor,  legislative  council, 
and  general  assembly,  compose  the  legislature.  The  legislative  counci^ 
and  generalassembly  are  elected  annually.  The  former  is  composed  of 
fourteen,  and  the  latter  of  fifty.  The  legislature  meets  at  Trenton  annu- 
ally. The  governor  is  chosen  by  the  council  and  assembly  at  their  first 
meeting  after  the  election.  The  governor  is  president  of  the  council, 
which  elects  a  vice-president  from  itself.  The  governor  and  council  form 
a  court  of  appeals,  as  the  last  resort  in  all  law  causes,  and  possess  the 
power  of  pardoning  criminals,  after  condemnation.  All  persons  of  full 
age,  worth  £25,  proclamation  money,  having  resided  one  year  in  the 
county  where  they  vote,  have  the  right  of  suffrage.  By  succeeding  acta 
it  is  determined,  that  paying  a  tax  is  equivalent  to  the  former  requisition, 
and  that  females  and  negroes  are  prohibited  from  voting.  The  judges  of 
the  superior  and  inferior  courts  are  appointed  by  the  legislature,  the  for- 
mer for  seven  years,  and  the  latter  for  five.  Both  may  be  re-appointed. 
Salary  of  governor,  two  thousand  dollars.  Banks,  eighteen.  Capital, 
$5,075,000.  Sends  six  representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  two 
hundred  and  forty-two.  This  is  the  fourteenth  state  in  the  Union,  in 
point  of  numbers. 

Pennsylvania.  First  settlement,  1082.  Governed  by  deputies  of  the 
proprietors,  till  1770,  when  the  constitution  was  formed.  A  senate  and 
house  of  representatives  form  the  general  assembly.  The  representa- 
tives are  elected  annually,  being  proportionate  in  number  to  that  of  the 
taxable  inhabitants.     The  senate  consists  of  thirty -three  members,  and 


268  APPENDIX. 

the  house  of  representatives  one  hundred.  The  senators  are  chosen  for 
four  years,  one  and  one-fourth  heing  elected  at  the  same  time  with  the 
representatives.  The  governor  is  elected  for  three  years,  and  may  hold 
his  office  nine  out  of  twelve.  The  assembly  meets  at  Harrisburgh.  The 
judiciary  is  a  supreme  court,  court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  and  goal-deliv- 
ery courts  of  common  pleas,  an  orphan's  court,  a  court  of  quarter  session 
&.c.  The  judges  are  appointed  by  the  governor,  and  hold  their  offices 
during  good  behavior.  The  right  of  suffrage  belongs  to  every  freeman 
of  the  age  of  twenty-one,  who  has  resided  two  years  in  the  state,  and  paid 
a  tax  six  months  before  the  election.  Salary  of  governor,  four  thousand 
dollars.  Banks,  thirty-one.  Capital,  $10,310,333  84.  Sends  twenty- 
six  representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  nine  hundred  and  sixty 
one.     This  is  the  second  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Delaware.  First  settlement,  1G27.  From  the  Swedes  and  Fins,  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch,  and  then  into  those  of  the  English^ 
with  New  York.  16S2,  was  granted  to  Wm.  Penn,  and  included  in  the 
government  of  Pennsylvania.  1701,  Delaware  withdrew  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  a  constitution  was  formed  1776.  The  general  assembly  con" 
sists  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives.  The  members  of  the  latter 
are  elected  annually,  seven  from  each  county,  amounting  in  all  to  twen- 
ty-one. The  governor  is  chosen  every  three  years,  and  he  is  ineligible 
for  the  three  years  which  succeed.  Three  of  the  senators  are  elected 
annually.  The  general  assembly  meets  at  Dover.  A  residence  of  two 
years  previous  to  the  election,  and  paying  a  state  or  county  tax,  consti- 
tutes all  white  freemen,  aged  twenty-one,  voters.  The  judiciary  is  com- 
posed of  a  court  of  chancery,  a  supreme  court,  court  of  common  pleas 
&c.  The  officers  hold  their  places  during  good  behavior.  Salary  of 
governor,  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty- 
three  cents.  Sends  one  representative  to  congress.  Banks,  four.  Capi- 
tal, $1,050,000.  Post  offices,  thirty-six.  This  is  the  twenty-fourth  state 
in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Maryland.  First  settlement,  1634.  1776,  constitution  formed.  The 
legislature  is  styled  the  general  assembly  of  Maryland,  and  is  composed 
of  a  senate  of  fifteen  members,  and  a  house  of  delegates  of  eighty.  Each 
county  furnishes  four  of  the  latter.  They  are  elected  annually,  and  the 
senate  every  fifth  year;  nine  from  the  Western,  and  six  from  the  Eastern 
Shore.  The  governor  is  elected  annually,  and  is  eligible  three  years  out 
of  seven.  The  general  assembly  meets  at  Annapolis.  A  council  of  five 
form  the  executive  with  the  governor.  Every  white  freeman  above  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  having  resided  twelve  months  in  the  state,  or  six  in  the 


APPENDIX.  2G9 

county,  is  qualified  to  vote.  The  chancellor  and  judges  are  nominated 
by  the  governor  and  appointed  by  the  council,  and  hold  their  offices  dur- 
ing good  behavior.  Salary  of  governor,  $2,666.  Banks,  fourteen. 
Capital,  $9,450,000.  Sends  nine  representatives  to  congress.  Post 
offices,  two  hundred  and  twenty  one.  This  is  the  eleventh  state  in  the 
Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Virginia.  First  settlement,  1607.  Constitution,  1776.  It  -was 
amended  in  1829,  and  as  it  now  stands.  The  general  assembly  is  com- 
posed of  a  senate  and  house  of  delegates.  The  number  of  members  in 
the  latter  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-four,  chosen  annually.  The  senate 
has  thirty-two  members,  elected  every  four  years,  one  and  a  fourth  va- 
cating their  seats  every  year.  Voters  for  all  places  of  trust,  honor,  or 
profit,  are  given  viva  voce.  The  executive  is  in  the  hands  of  the  govern- 
or, who  is  chosen  for  three  years,  and  ineligible  for  the  next  term. 
There  is  a  counsel  of  state  of  three.  The  judges  of  the  supreme  court 
of  appeals  and  the  superior  courts  are  appointed  by  the  general  assem- 
bly, and  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  or  till  they  are  removed 
by  a  concurrent  vote  of  the  assembly.  Owning  a  freehold  of  the  value 
of  twenty -five  dollars,  or  an  interest  in  one  to  that  amount,  or  possessions 
equivalent  to  this,  or  having  been  a  housekeeper  and  head  of  a  family 
for  twelve  months,  and  paid  taxes,  constitutes  a  free  white  man  of  twen- 
ty-one a  voter.  Salary  of  governor,  $3,333  33  cents.  There  are  three 
banks  with  branches,  amounting  in  all  to  sixteen,  and  one  in  Wheeling. 
Whole  capital,  $'5,607,000,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Sends 
twenty-two  representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  seven  hundred  and 
seventy -eight.     This  is  the  third  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

North  Carolina.  First  settlement,  about  the  middle  of  17th  centu- 
ry. 1727,  became  a  distinct  province.  Constitution  formed  1776.  A 
senate  and  house  of  commons  constitute  the  general  assembly,  both  chosen 
annually  by  the  people.  Each  county  furnishes  one  senator  and  two 
members  of  the  house  of  commons,  and  one  of  the  latter  from  each  of 
six  large  towns.  The  governor  is  the  chief  executive  officer,  is  elected 
annually  by  the  two  houses,  and  eligible  for  one  term  of  three  years  out 
of  six.  The  judges  of  the  supreme  and  superior  courts  are  appointed 
by  the  assembly,  and  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior.  All  free- 
men, aged  twenty-one,  who  have  resided  in  the  state  twelve  months  im- 
mediately preceding  the  election,  are  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  the 
house  of  commons ;  but  to  vote  for  a  senator,  the  possession  of  a  freehold 
of  fifty  acres  of  land  is  required.  Assembly  meets  annually  at  Raleigh. 
Salary  of  governor,  $2,000.     Banks,  three,  with  their  branches.     Capi- 


270  ATPENDIX. 

tal,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank,  $3,200,000.  Sends  thirteen 
representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  470.  This  is  the  fifth  state  in 
the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

South  Carolina.   First  settlement,  about  1663.     Constitution  formed 
1775.     The  legislative  power  is  in  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives. 
Forty -five  members  compose  the  senate.     They  are  elected  by  districts 
for  four  years.      Half  are  chosen  biennially.      The  representatives  are 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  in  number,  and  apportioned  according  to 
the  white  inhabitants  and  taxation.     Elected  lor  two  years.     A  governor 
holds  the  executive  power  for  the  term  of  two  years,  and  is  then  ineligi- 
ble for  four.      The  assembly  meets  annually  at  Columbia.     The  chan- 
cellor and  judges  are  appointed  by  the  senate  and  house  of  representa 
tives,  and  hold  their  offices,  during  good  behavior.     Every  free  white 
male  of  the  age  of  twenty-one,  who  has  resided  in  the  state  two  years 
previous  to  the  election,  and  possessing  a  freehold  of  fifty  acres,  or  town 
lot,  or  resided  in  the  district,  in  which  he  offers  his  vote,  six  months  be 
fore  the  election,  and  having  paid  tax  of  three  shillings  sterling  in  sup  • 
port  of  the  governor,  is  qualified  to  vote.      Salary  of  governor,  $3,900. 
Banks,  four,  and  the  state  bank  with  three  branches.    Capital,  exclusive 
of  the  United  States  bank,  $4,631,833.      Sends  nine  representatives  to 
congress.    278  post  offices.     This  is  the  ninth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point 
of  numbers. 

Georgia.  First  settlement,  1733.  Of  the  states  belonging  to  the 
Union  at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  independence,  this  was  the  last 
settled.  Constitution  formed  1777.  The  legislative  power  is  the  gene- 
ral assembly,  composed  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives.  The 
members  of  both  are  chosen  annually.  A  county  furnishes  one  senator, 
and  representatives  in  proportion  to  population,  including  three  and  one 
fifth  of  the  people  of  color.  A  governor  elected  by  the  people  for  two 
years,  holds  the  executive  power.  The  assembly  meets  at  Milledgeville. 
All  citizens  of  twenty-one  years,  who  have  paid  required  taxes,  and  re- 
sided six  months  in  the  county,  arc  allowed  to  vote.  The  judicial  power 
is  a  superior  court,  and  such  inferior  ones  as  may  be  established  by  the 
legislature.  The  superior  judges,  are  elected  by  the  legislature  for 
three  years,  and  the  inferior,  quadrennially  by  the  people.  The  clerks, 
biennially.  Salary  of  governor,  $3,600.  Banks,  ten,  besides  branches. 
Capital,  $5,882,349,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Post  offices, 
251.  Sends  seven  representatives  to  congress.  This  is  the  tenth  state 
in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 


APPENDIX.  571 

Ohio.  First  settlement,  1788.  1780,  territorial  government;  1S02, 
independent  state;  constitution.  The  legislative  pdweris  vested  in  the 
general  assembly,  composed  of  a  senate  and  house  of  representatives. 
The  latter  arc  chosen  annually,  apportioned  among  the  voters  according 
to  the  number  ol*  the  voters.  The  number  cannot  exceed  seventy-two, 
nor  fall  short  of  thirty-six.  Senate  elected  biennially  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  voters.  The  number  cannot  be  less  than  a  third,  nor 
more  than  half  that  of  the  representatives.  The  governor  holds  the  ex- 
ecutive power,  and  is  elected  by  the  people  for  two  years.  The  assem- 
bly meets  at  Columbus.  Residence  of  one  year,  immediately  preceding 
the  election,  and  paying,  or  being  charged  with  a  state  and  county  tax, 
constitutes  every  white  citizen  of  twenty-one  a  voter.  The  judiciary  is 
a  supreme  court,  courts  of  common  pleas,  &c.  The  judges  are  elected 
by  both  houses  for  seven  years.  Salary  of  governor,  $1,200.  Banks, 
twelve,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Capital  not  ascertained. 
Sends  fourteen  representatives  to.  congress.  Post  offices,  702.  This  is 
the  fourth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Michigan.  First  settlement,  1G70.  1805,  territorial  government  un- 
der the  United  States.  1812,  taken  by  the  British  under  general  Brock. 
1813,  recovered  by  the  United  States.  The  legislative  councel  is  com- 
posed of  thirteen  members,  elected  for  two  years.  Judges,  four.  Salary 
of  governor,  $2,000.  Banks,  two.  Capital  not  specified.  Sends  one 
delegate  to  congress.     Post  offices,  seventy-nine. 

Kentuckv.  First  settlement,  1775.  A  part  of  Virginia,  until  1790. 
1790  constitution  formed.  Admitted  into  the  Union,  1792.  A  senate 
and  house  of  representatives  compose  the  legislative  power.  It  is  called 
the  general  assembly.  One  hundred  is  the  highest  number  of  represen- 
tatives allowed,  and  fifty-eight  the  lowest.  Elected  annually,  and  apportion- 
ed every  four  years  among  the  electors.  Senators  elected  for  four  years  one 
fourth  part  chosen  annually.  They  cannot  exceed  thirty-eight,  or  fall 
short  of  twenty-four.  A  governor  holds  the  executive  power,  chosen 
for  four  years,  and  ineligible  for  the  succeeding  seven.  Elected  by  the 
people  viva  voce.  The  assembly  meets  at  Frankfort.  Every  male  free 
white  citizen  of  twenty-one,  having  resided  in  the  state  two  years,  or  in 
the  district  one  year  next  preceding  the  election,  is  qualified  to  vote. 
The  judiciary  is  a  court  of  appeals  and  inferior  courts.  These  officers 
hold  their  places  during  good  behavior.  Salary  of  governor,  $2,000. 
Banks,  two,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Capital  not  specified. 
Post  offices,  three  hundred  and  twenty-two.  Sends  twelve  representa- 
tives to  congress.    This  is  the  sixth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 


272  APPENDIX. 

Indiana.  First  settlement,  near  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century.  Territorial  government,  1800.  Constitution  formed,  and  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union,  1816.  The  legislative  authority  is  a  senate  and 
house  of  representatives,  which  compose  a  general  assembly.  Tho 
senators  are  chosen  for  three  years,  and  the  representatives  annually. 
The  latter  cannot  exceed  one  hundred,  nor  fall  short  of  thirty-six.  The 
former  must  not  be  less  than  one  third,  nor  more  than  one  half  the  num- 
ber of  representatives.  The  members  of  both  houses  are  apportioned 
among  the  voters.  The  governor  is  chosen  for  three  years,  and  may  be 
once  re-elected.  The  assembly  meets  at  Indianopolis.  The  right  of 
suffrage  belongs  to  all  free  male  citizens  of  twenty-one,  who  have  resided 
one  year  in  the  state  immediately  previous  to  the  election.  The  judi- 
ciary consists  of  a  supreme  court,  circuit  courts,  and  inferior  courts. 
The  supreme  judges  are  appointed  by  the  governor,  with  the  consent  of 
the  senate ;  those  of  the  circuit  court  by  the  legislature,  and  the  associ- 
ate judges  by  the  people.  Salary  of  governor,  $1,000.  Sends  three 
representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  two  hundred  and  eighteen. 
This  is  the  thirteenth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Illinois.  First  settlement,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Passed  from  France  to  Great  Britain,  1763.  Settlements  began 
by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  about  1800.  Territorial  govern- 
ment, 1809.  1818  constitution  formed,  and  admitted  into  the  Union. 
The  legislative  authority  is  vested  in  a  general  assembly,  composed  of  a 
senate  and  house  of  representatives  until  the  inhabitants  shall  amount 
to  100,000,  the  number  of  representatives  is  confined  within  36  and  27, 
and  the  senators  must  be  not  less  than  one  third,  nor  more  than  one  half 
the  number  of  representatives.  The  governor  is  the  executive  power, 
and  chosen  for  four  years,  ineligible  for  the  succeeding  term.  The  rep- 
resentatives are  chosen  annually,  and  the  senators  every  four  years.  The 
assembly  meets  every  second  year  at  Vandalia.  The  requisitions  for  a 
voter  are  the  same  as  in  most  of  the  other  states,  except  that  only  six 
months  previous  residence  is  necessary.  A  supreme  court  and  inferior 
courts  constitute  the  judiciary.  The  judges  are  appointed  by  the  gen- 
eral assembly,  and  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior.  Salary  of 
(governor,  $1,000.  Post  offices,  two  hundred  and  seventeen.  Illinois 
sends  one  representative  to  congress.  This  is  the  twentieth  state  in  the 
Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Missouri.  First  settlements,  1764.  1804,  separated  from  the  rest  of 
Louisiana,  and  1820,  constitution  formed,  and  1821,  admitted  into  the 
Union.     A  senate  and  house  of  representatives  form  a  general  assem- 


APPENDIX.  273 

hly.  One  representative,  at  least,  from  each  county,  but  the  whole  num. 
ber  may  not  exceed  one  hundred.  The  senators  are  elected  for  four 
years,  the  seats  of  half  being  vacated  every  two  years.  Limited  be- 
tween fourteen  and  tbirty-three.  Chosen  by  districts,  and  apportioned 
among  the  voters.  The  governor  is  the  executive  officer,  elected  for 
four  years,  and  ineligible  for  tbe  four  succeeding.  The  assembly  meets 
every  second  year,  at  the  city  of  Jefferson.  A  voter  must  be  twenty-one, 
have  resided  in  the  state  one  year  before  the  election,  and  three  months 
in  the  county.  The  judiciary  is  a  supreme  court,  chancery,  circuit 
courts,  &c.  The  judges  arc  appointed  by  the  governor  with  tbe  senate, 
and  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior,  until  tbe  age  of  sixty-five. 
Salary  of  governor,  $1,500.  No  bank,  but  that  of  the  United  States. 
Post  offices,  ninety-nine.  Sends  one  representative  to  congress.  Mis- 
souri is  the  twenty-first  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbez^s. 

Tennessee,  First  settlement,  between  1705  and  70.  Included  in 
North  Carolina,  till  1700.  1796,  constitution  formed,  and  admitted  into 
the  Union.  A  general  assembly,  composed  of  a  senate  and  house  of  rep- 
resentatives, composes  legislative  power.  The  members  of  both  houses 
are  elected  biennially.  The  number  of  representatives  is  sixty.  They 
are  apportioned  among  the  voters.  The  senate  cannot  be  less  than  one 
third,  nor  more  than  half  the  number  of  representatives.  A  governor  is 
the  executive  officer,  elected  at  the  same  time,  and  for  the  same  term 
with  the  members  of  the  assembly.  Eligible,  six  years  in  eight.  The 
assembly  meets  at  Nashville  biennially.  Every  freeman  of  twenty-one, 
owning  a  freehold  in  the  county,  also  any  freeman,  who  has  been  an  in- 
habitant of  any  county  in  the  state  six  months  next  preceding  the  elec- 
tion, is  entitled  to  vote.  The  judiciary  is  composed  of  such  superior  and 
inferior  judges  as  the  legislature  may  establish,  appointed  by  both 
houses.  They  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior.  Salary  of  gov- 
ernor, $2,000.  The  United  States  has  a  bank  at  Nashville.  Sends 
nine  representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  three  hundred  and  fifty. 
This  is  the  seventh  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Arkansas  Territory.  Separated  from  Missouri,  and  made  indepen- 
dent, 1819.  The  legislative  council  is  composed  of  five  members.  The 
house  of  representatives  composed  of  twenty-three  members,  are  elect- 
ed biennially.  Judges,  four.  Salary  of  governor,  $2,000.  Sends  one 
delegate  to  congress.     Post  offices,  fifty-two. 

The  following  specific  and  important  information,  touching  the  settled 
regions  of  this  interesting  and  little  known  territory,  was  received  too 
Vol.  II.  35 


274  APPENDIX. 

late  for  insertion  under  its  appropriate  head.  The  writer,  Dr.  McKay, 
has  been,  from  the  early  periods  of  the  settlement  of  that  country,  one  of 
its  intelligent  and  respectable  citizens,  personally  acquainted  with  the 
country  he  describes.  No  apology  is  deemed  necessary  for  introducing 
such  direct,  tangible  and  important  information  here  in  the  form  of  a  note. 
'When  this  territory  was  constituted  in  1819,  a  separate  government, 
it  constituted  only  five  counties,  viz:  Arkansas,  Lawrence,  Pulaski, 
Clarke,  and  Hempstead.  The  old  counties  have  been  "clipped,"  and 
new  ones  formed  by  every  session  of  the  legislature  since,  until  the 
number  has  increased  to  twenty-three.  Arkansas,  Phillips,  Crittenden, 
St.  Francis,  Monroe  and  Chicot  form  the  eastern  judicial  district;  Pulaski, 
Conway,  Pope, Crawford,  the  western;  Hot  Spring,  Clarke,  Hempstead, 
Miller,  Lafayette,  Sevier,  and  Union,  the  southern ;  Independence,  Law- 
rence, Jackson,  Izard,  and  Washington,  the  northern. 

With  regard  to  the  water  courses,  I  barely  know  the  names  of  the  most 
important,  such  as  Arkansas,  White,  St.  Francis,  Washita,  and  Red 
river,  with  their  branches.  The  principal  branches  of  the  Arkansas, 
are  the  Pawnee,  Canadian,  or  Main,  Arkansas,  Verdigris,  Grand,  or  Six 
Bull,  and  the  Illinois.  The  latter  rises  near  Six  Bull,  and  runs  a  south- 
ern course  through  the  country,  now  occupied  by  the  Cherokee  Indians. 
It  is  a  clear,  swift,  and  beautiful  stream,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
in  width,  and  empties  into  the  Arkansas  on  the  north  shore,  about  forty 
miles  below  the  junction  of  Verdigris  and  Grand  river,  which  are  only 
half  a  mile  distant  from  each  other  at  their  points  of  entrance.  The  Vir- 
digris  is  the  upper  branch.  Both  this  and  Grand  river  come  in  from 
the  north,  rising  in  the  Osage  country.  The  next  stream  of  any  size  is 
the  Poto,  coming  from  the  south,  and  emptying  into  the  Arkansas  at  Fort 
Smith.  The  above  mentioned  branches  all  belong  to  the  country  assign- 
ed to  the  Indians.  Crawford  county  joins  the  Choctaw  and  Cherokee 
line  on  the  west. 

Washington  county  lies  north  of  Crawford,  and  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  Missouri  line.  The  county  seat  is  Fayetteville.  Lee's 
creek  rises  in  this  county.  It  is  a  fine,  rapid  stream,  affording  good  mill 
seats,  and  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Arkansas  on  the  north,  about 
eight  miles  below  Fort  Smith.  This  county  is  the  best  watered  in  the 
territory.  It  abounds  in  the  finest  springs,  bursting  from  the  limestone, 
and  often  running  off  in  bold  streams  sufficient  to  turn  a  mill.  It  is  very 
hilly,  and  in  many  places  there  are  precipices  from  one  to  three  hundred 
feet  in  height.  Some  of  the  main  branches  of  White  river  traverse  it. 
Pope  county  is  next  in  descending  the  Arkansas.  It  has  no  streams 
of  any  importance,  except  Illinois  creek,  on  the  north,  and  Pettijohn, 
on  the  south.      Neither  of  these  are  navigable  for  any  distance.      Con- 


A1TENDIX.  275 

way  succeeds  Pope,  and  has  no  stream  of  note,  except  Cadron  creek 
which  empties  into  Arkansas  from  the  north,  and  is  navigable  for  a  short 
distance  from  its  mouth.  The  county  seat  is  Harrisburg.  Pulaski  joins 
Conway,  and  is  also  destitute  of  large  streams.  Little  Rock  is  the  coun- 
ty seat,  and  the  seat  of  the  territorial  government.  It  is  situated  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Aikansas,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  by  water, 
and  about  one  hundred  and  forty  by  land  from  the  Mississippi.  The  po- 
sition is  high  and  commanding,  ascending  gradually  from  the  river,  for 
one  mile  and  a  half.  There  are  no  public  buildings,  except  a  wooden 
jail  and  court  house;  but  among  the  private  buildings,  tiiere  are  several 
handsome  erections  of  brick  and  wood.  The  town  is  spread  over  a 
considerable  extent  of  ground,  and  contains  five  dry  goods  stores,  besides 
groceries  and  other  shops.  It  is  a  place  of  considerable  trade,  and 
promises  to  become  a  town  of  consequence.  The  smaller  steam  boats 
are  able  to  reach  this  point  at  all  seasons.  Jefferson  county  lies  below, 
and  east  of  Pulaski.  No  streams  of  note  are  found  in  it,  except  Plum 
Bayou,  a  branch  of  the  Arkansas,  putting  out  on  the  north  side,  and  run- 
ning such  a  course,  as  to  form  an  island  between  itself  and  the  Arkansas 
of  thirty  miles  in  length,  and  from  four  to  eight  or  ten  in  width.  The 
county  seat  has  no  name  but  Pine  Bluff.  This  is  the  first  high  land  seen 
in  ascending  the  Arkansas.  Arkansas  county  touches  Jefferson.  Its 
principal  streams  are  Bayou  Meteau,  which  rises  in  Pulaski  county,  and 
runs  a  south-east  course  of  about  one  hundred  miles,  emptying  into  the 
Arkansas  on  the  north,  about  eight  miles  above  the  Post,  by  land,  and 
twenty  by  water,  and  the  river  Aux  Giues,  or  Crane  river,  which  also 
rises  in  Pulaski,  and  taking  an  eastwardly  course,  discharges  itself  into 
White  river,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  latter.  These  two 
streams  run  along  opposite  sides  of  the  Big  Prairie,  which  appears  to  be 
the  dividing  ridge  between  the  waters  of  the  Arkansas  and  White  river. 
This  county  reaches  to  the  Mississippi. 

Crittenden  county  touches  the  Missouri  line,  and  extends  to  island  No. 
63, 1  think.  Lawrence  joins  it  on  the  west.  Phillips  on  the  south,  and 
the  Mississippi  on  the  east.  Some  of  the  head  branches  of  the  St.  Fran- 
cis pass  through  the  western  part  of  it.  The  seat  of  justice  is  situated 
at  the  upper  end  of  a  bend  of  the  Mississippi,  about  seventeen  miles 
above  Memphis.  This  county  contains  large  bodies  of  first  rate  land; 
but  like  all  those  which  border  on  the  Mississippi,  it  is  cut  up  by  lakes, 
marshes,  and  the  overflow  of  that  river.  Phillips  is  south  of  the  latter, 
east  of  Monroe  and  St.  Francis,  and  north  of  Arkansas.  Its  streams  are 
St.  Francis  river,  and  Big  creek.  The  St.  Francis  is  about  two  hun- 
dred yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  affords  a  considerable  length  of  navi- 
gation.     Big  creek  rises  in  the  high  lands  back  of  this  river,  and  runs  an 


276  APPENDIX. 

eastwardly  course,  emptying  into  the  Mississippi,  about  twenty  miles  be- 
low the  St.  Francis.  It  would  admit  of  navigation  for  a  short  distance. 
This  county  has  large  bodies  of  excellent  land.  Helena,  the  seat  of  jus- 
tice, is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,,  about  five  miles  be- 
low the  mouth  of  the  St.  Francis.  Here  is  the  only  point  of  high  land 
that  comes  into  the  Mississippi  on  its  west  side,  in  its  whole  course  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Chicot  county  is  south  of 
Arkansas,  east  of  Union  and  Pulaski,  and  north  of  the  Louisiana  line. 
It  contains  some  good  land,  but  is  injured  by  lakes,  marshes  and  over- 
flow. Villemont  is  the  county  town,  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  formerly  called  Point  Chicot.  Monroe  is  west  of  Phillips, 
north  of  Arkansas,  south  of  Francis  and  east  of  Independence.  Its 
streams  are  White  river  and  Cachee.  The  former  forms  its  southern 
limit,  and  divides  it  from  Arkansas  county.  Cachee  rises  in  marshy 
grounds,  and  runs  south,  and  empties  into  White  river,  about  fifty  miles 
above  its  mouth.  I  know  of  no  name  for  its  seat  of  justice.  Such  is 
the  mania  for  speculation  in  town  making,  that  the  seat  of  justice,  par- 
ticularly in  the  new  counties,  changes  every  session  of  the  legislature. 
The  country  is  less  broken  in  this  county,  than  in  those  on  the  Mississip- 
pi, and  contains  large  quantities  of  fine  land  for  tillage.  St.  Francis 
county  is  west  of  Phillips,  south  of  Monroe,  east  of  Jackson,  and  north 
of  Lawrence  and  Crittenden.  St.  Francis,  and  Languile,  an  inconsider- 
able stream  entering  the  latter  on  the  south  side,  are  its  chief  streams. 
Soil  and  face  of  the  country  much  the  same  as  Monroe.  Independence 
is  north  of  Pulaski  and  Conway,  west  of  Monroe,  south  of  Lawrence, 
and  east  of  Pope  and  Izard.  It  comprises  a  variety  of  soil,  from  the 
richest  bottom  lands  to  the  most  barren  hills.  The  face  of  the  country 
at  a  distance  from  water  courses  is  very  much  broken  with  hills,  covered 
with  rocks— limestone  abounds.  But  the  low  lands  along  the  streams 
are  not  exceeded  in  the  country  in  richness  of  soil.  It  is  finely  water- 
ed by  numerous  streams,  among  which  are  White  river  and  its  tributa- 
ries, viz:  Little  Red,  Strawberry  and  Black  rivers.  Batesvillc,  situated 
on  White  river,  and  on  the  main  road  leading  through  the  territory  from 
St.  Louis  to  Texas,  is  the  seat  of  justice.  Jackson  is  east  of  Indepen- 
dence, south  of  Pulaski,  west  of  St.  Francis,  and  north  of  Lawrence.. 
It  contains  but  few  inhabitants,  and  resembles  Independence  in  the  face 
of  the  country.  Lawrence  is  north  of  Independence  and  Jackson,  east 
of  Izard,  west  of  Crittenden,  and  south  of  the  Missouri  line.  Face  of 
the  country,  soil,  &c.  same  as  Independence.  Its  streams  are  the  Black 
river,  and  its  tributaries,  Spring  and  Current  rivers.  Black  river  is 
navigable  to  Jackson,  the  seat  of  justice,  and  empties  into  White  river 
about  seventeen  miles  below  Batcsville.      Steam  boats  have  ascended 


APPENDIX.  277 

t 

White  river  to  Batesville;  and  it  is  presumed,  that  small  steamers  may 
ascend  Black  river  to  Jackson.  Ahove  these  points,  the  streams  become 
too  rocky  and  rapid  to  admit  of  safe  navigation.  Jackson  is  also  on  the 
road  leading  from  St.  Louis  to  Texas.  Izard  is  north  of  Pope,  east  of 
Washington,  west  of  Lawrence,  and  south  of  the  Missouri  line.  Some 
branches  of  White  river  pass  through  it.  The  staple  productions  of  these 
counties  at  present  are  cotton  and  corn.  A  considerable  quantity  of  beef 
and  pork  is  also  exported  from  them.  Little  attention  has  been  paid  to 
the  raising  of  small  grain,  although  wheat  and  other  grain  grows  well. 
Want  of  proper  mills  prevent  their  cultivation  to  any  extent.  With  re- 
gard to  mineral  and  fossils  of  the  part  of  the  country  of  which  I  have 
been  speaking,  I  know  little.  An  abundance  of  stone  coal  is  found,  and  it 
is  known,  that  there  is  iron  ore  in  some  places. 

Hot  Spring  county  is  bounded  north  by  Pulaski  and  Conway;  east  by 
Union;  south  by  Clark;  and  west  by  Pope.  The  surface  of  this  county 
is  uneven,  mountainous  and  rocky,  and  has  but  a  small  portion  of  land  fit 
for  cultivation.  Notwithstanding  its  poor  soil,  it  has  some  advantages 
over  most  of  the  other  counties  in  the  territory.  The  springs,  from 
which  it  takes  its  name,  are  becoming  much  noticed,  and  of  late  years 
have  been  visited  by  persons  from  all  the  western  states  for  health,  dur- 
ing the  summer  months.  They  have,  in  my  opinion,  no  medical  efficacy 
separate  from  that  of  an  equal  temperature  of  increased  heat.  A  salutary 
effect  has  been  produced  in  most  cases  of  chronic  rheumatism.  I  have 
known  individuals  who  have  suffered  contractions  of  their  limbs  from 
this  afflicting  and  painful  disease,  completely  relieved  by  bathing  in  these 
waters  for  some  length  of  time.  The  water  appears  to  contain  as  little 
foreign  mixture  as  the  purest  springs  of  the  north,  and  is  as  limpid.  In 
the  neighborhood  of  the  springs  is  an  excellent  quarry  of  whetstone,  said 
by  judges  to  be  equal  to  the  Turkey  stone.  This  county  contains  large 
quantities  of  iron  ore,  some  of  which  is  highly  magnetic.  The  springs 
issue  from  the  foot  of  two  opposite  hills  of  nearly  equal  elevation,  of  be- 
tween four  and  five  hundred  feet.  The  valley  runs  from  north  to  south. 
A  small  stream  passes  through  it.  Upon  reaching  the  springs,  it  is  so 
much  enlarged  as  to  afford  sufficient  water  to  turn  a  mill.  On  the  east 
side  of  the  valley  about  thirty  springs  boil  up,  the  water  of  which  will 
harden  an  egg  in  fifteen  minutes.  But  one  comes  from  the  western  side. 
The  creek  empties  into  the  Washita,  about  seven  miles  south  of  the  springs. 

Clark  county  is  joined  south  by  Hempstead ;  west  by  Crawford;  north 
by  Hot  Spring;  and  east  by  Union.  It  is  quite  hilly,  and  affords  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  good  land,  and  is  well  watered,  as  the  Washita  and 
two  of  its  branches  run  through  it.  The  names  of  the  branches  are  the 
Little  Missouri,  and  the  Fourche  Cado,  which  empties  into  it  on  the  south 


278  APPENDIX. 

side,  a  few  miles  above  the  entrance  of  the  Little  Missouri.  They  both  come 
in  on  the  same  side,  and  bear  a  north-east  course.  The  road ,  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  leading  from  St.  Louis  to  Texas,  passes  directly  through 
this  county.  Very  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  subject  of  minerals 
in  this  region.  Some  salt  is  made.  The  seat  of  justice  has  been  moved 
almost  every  session  of  the  legislature.  In  fact,  it  has  been  so  con- 
stantly on  the  move,  that  we  can  hardly  find  a  resting  place,  or  name 
for  it 

Hempstead  is  south  of  Clark,  east  of  Miller  and  Sevier,  north  of  the 
Mexican  line,  and  west  of  Lafayette.  A  great  proportion  of  this  county 
is  food  land.  The  face  of  the  country  is  beautifully  diversified  with  gen- 
tle swells  and  vallies.  On  the  highest  ridges  are  found  great  quantities 
of  muscle  shells  of  a  very  large  size.  But  it  is  not  abundant  in  streams. 
There  are  some  springs  of  good  water,  but  they  are  not  plenty.  The  only 
navigable  stream  is  Red  river;  and  to  reach  this  county  by  means  of  it, 
the  great  raft  must  be  passed.  The  bois  d'arc,  yellow,  or  Indian  bow 
wood,  giows  abundantly,  and  to  a  considerable  size  here."  The  Little 
Missouri  runs  through  the  northern  part  of  it.  The  seat  of  justice  is 
Washington. 

Sevier  is  south  and  west  of  Hempstead,  north  of  the  Mexican  line,  and 
east  of  Miller.  No  water  courses  of  note,  except  Red  river.  Face  of 
the  country  much  like  Hempstead.  Considerable  quantities  of  salt  have 
been  made  in  it. 

Miller  is  west  of  Crawford,  east  of  the  Choctaw  eastern  boundary  line, 
and  north  of  the  Mexican  line.  Red  river  is  the  only  navigable  stream. 
The  northern  parts  are  hilly ;  but  near  the  banks  of  Red  river,  there  is 
some  very  good  land.  Rio  Micha,  a  considerable  stream,  runs  through 
the  western  part  of  it.  The  mouth  of  this  stream  is  the  point  where  the 
eastern  boundary  line  intersects  Red  river. 

Sevier  is  south  of  the  Louisiana  line  and  Red  river,  west  of  Hempstead, 
and  east  and  north  of  Union  and  Clark.  It  is  tolerably  level,  and  a  great 
portion  of  it  first  rate  soil,  but  not  well  watered.  The  only  navigable 
stream  is  Red  river.  There  is  a  large  savanna,  or  prairie,  called  Prairie 
Long,  in  it,  running  east  and  west,  for  a  considerable  distance,  parallel 
with  Red  river. 

Union  joins  the  Louisiana  line  on  the  south-east;  Chicot  on  the  east; 
Clark  and  Hempstead  south;  and  Jefferson  north.  The  character  of  the 
soil  of  this  county  is  various.  It  presents  hills,  swamps,  and  a  portion  of 
first  rate  land.  The  Washita  runs  through  it,  and  in  it  receives  Saline 
creek,  a  beautiful,  clear  and  rapid  stream,  from  the  north-west.  Seat  of 
justice,  Corea  Fabre. 

I  have  aimed,  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  to  come  as  near  the  truth  as  pos- 


APPENDIX.  279 

sible.  Descriptions  have  been  given  of  detached  portions  of  this  territory, 
greatly  overrating  its  advantages.  Persons  have  visited  it  upon  the 
strength  of  these  representations,  and  being  disappointed,  their  estimate 
has  fallen  as  much  too  low,  as  it  had  been  raised  before  too  high.  1  have 
neither  added  nor  diminished,  concealed  any  disadvantages,  nor  blazoned 
any  advantages.  I  am  aware,  that  the  prejudice  originating  as  I  have 
mentioned,  has  had  a  tendency,  for  some  years,  to  keep  the  territory  in 
the  back  ground. 

The  exports  of  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  are  cotton,  corn,  beef,  hides, 
peltries,  live  cattle,  cypress  timber,  plank,  &c. 

Alabama.  First  settlement,  long  before  it  contained  many  civilized 
inhabitants.  Since  1810,  the  increase  of  population  has  been  rapid. 
Territorial  government,  1817.  Constitution,  1819.  Admitted  into  the 
Union,  1820.  The  legislative  power  is  similar  to  that  of  Tennessee. 
The  representatives  are  elected  annually,  and  in  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation. They  cannot  exceed  one  hundred,  nor  fall  short  of  sixty.  The 
senators  are  chosen  for  three  years,  one-third  every  year.  The  senators 
cannot  be  less  than  one-fourth,  nor  more  than  one-third  of  the  number  of 
representatives.  The  executive  power  rests  with  the  governor,  elected 
for  two  years,  and  eligible  four  years  out  of  six.  The  assembly  meets  at 
Tuscaloosa.  Every  white  male  citizen  of  twenty-one,  having  resided 
one  year  in  the  state,  and  the  last  three  months  in  the  county  or  town,  is 
qualified  to  vote.  The  judiciary  is  a  supreme  court,  circuit  courts,  &c. 
The  judges,  after  1833,  are  to  be  elected  by  both  houses,  every  six  years. 
Salary  of  governor,  two  thousand  dollars.  Banks,  two.  Capital,  $1,186,- 
927  09,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.  Sends  three  representa- 
tives to  congress.  Post  offices,  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine.  This  is  the 
fifteenth  state  in  tho  Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

Mississippi.  First  settlement,  1716.  Ceded  to  the  English.  Terri- 
torial government,  1798.  An  independent  state,1817.  Constitution 
same  year.  A  senate  and  house  of  representatives  form  the  general 
assembly.  The  representatives  are  elected  annually,  in  the  ratio  of  one 
to  every  three  thousand  white  inhabitants.  When  the  inhabitants  exceed 
eighty  thousand,  the  representatives  cannot  be  less  than  thirty -six,  nor 
more  than  one  hundred.  The  senators  elected  for  three  years,  one-third 
chosen  annually.  Their  number  is  limited  between  one-fourth  and  one- 
third  of  that  of  the  representatives.  The  governor  is  the  executive  officer, 
elected  for  two  years.  The  general  assembly  meets  at  Jackson,  annually. 
The  qualifications  of  a  voter  are,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age,  residence 
of  six  months  in  the  county,  being  enrolled  in  the  militia,  and  paying 


2S0  ATPENDIX. 

* 

taxes.  The  judiciary  is  a  supreme  and  inferior  courts,  &c.  The  judges 
are  elected  by  the  general  assembly,  and  hold  their  offices  during  good 
behavior,  till  the  age  of  sixty -five.  Salary  of  governor,  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  Bank  of  the  state  at  Natchez  has  three  branches,  and 
a  capital  of  $1,000,000.  Sends  one  representative  to  congress.  Post 
offices,  one  hundred  and  eight.  This  is  the  twenty-second  state  in  the 
Union,  in  point  of  numbers. 

The  following  notices  of  the  state  of  Mississippi,  from  Mr.  Dunbar, 
were  received  subsequently  to  the  publication  of  the  geography  of  that 
state,  in  the  first  volume  of  this  work.  In  following  an  incompetent  guide, 
some  mistakes  crept  into  this  work,  in  regard  to  the  names  and  number 
of  the  counties.  This  information,  in  reference  to  the  interior  of  a  state, 
about  which  less  is  known,  perhaps,  than  the  interior  of  any  stale  in  the 
Union,  is  deemed  too  important  to  be  omitted,  though  some  parts  of  it  may 
have  been  anticipated.  'The  state  of  Mississippi  is  divided  into  twenty- 
six  counties.  The  principal  town  is  Natchez,  Adams  county,  containing 
2,790  inhabitants,  of  which  1,447  are  slaves,  and  free  colored  persons. 
That  part  of  the  town  called  "Under  the  Hill,"  is  one  of  the  most  noted 
places,  in  the  view  of  boatmen,  on  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi; 
and  was  formerly  the  scene  of  more  profligacy  and  outrage,  than,  perhaps 
any  other  place  in  the  United  States.  But,  owing  to  the  establishment 
of  a  vigilant  and  severe  system  of  police,  and  to  the  decrease  of  trade  by 
flat  boats,  it  has  become,  comparatively,  a  sober  place.  Almost  all  the 
produce  business  of  the  upper  country  is  carried  on  there  by  our  most 
respectable  merchants  in  that  line.  It  contains  four  churches,  the  Pres- 
byterian, which  is  a  very  handsome  edifice,  the  Episcopal  also,  showing 
taste  in  the  architecture,  and  a  Methodist  and  Baptist  church,  one  of  which 
is  of  brick.  A  Masonic  Hall  is  situated  on  the  principal  street,  and 
presents  a  specimen  of  good  architectural  taste. 

There  are  three  banks  in  Natchez;  the  branch  bank  of  the  United  States, 
the  Planter's  bank,  a  new  institution,  created  at  our  last  session,  and  the 
bank  of  the  state  of  Mississippi,  dating  its  commencement  in  the  year 
1811.  It  has  branches  at  Woodville,  Port  Gibson,  and  Vicksburgh.  Fort 
Rosalie,  commanding  a  view  of  the  Mississippi,  near  this  place,  is  strong- 
ly  identified  with  the  early  history  of  our  state,  and  the  cruel  wars  which 
ended  in  the  extermination  of  that  gallant  tribe  of  Indians,  whose  name 
was  given  to  our  town.  The  health  of  Natchez  is  uniformly  good,  except 
when  the  epidemic  yellow  fever  visits  us.  Its  first  appearance  was  in 
IN  17,  since  which  we  have  been  repeatedly  scourged  by  it;  though  we 
have  escaped  it  the  two  last  years.  The  disease  has  always  been  of  a 
particularly  malignant  character  here. 


APPENDIX.  281 

The  next  town  in  point  of  population  is  Port  Gibson,  in  Claiborne 
county,  which  contains  one  thousand  rive  hundred  inhabitants.  It  is  a 
place  of  considerable  business,  and  is  situated  on  Bayou  Pierre,  about 
ten  miles  from  its  debauche  into  the  Mississippi.  It  is  navigable  to  this 
point  only  in  high  water,  and  much  of  the  business  is  carried  on  through 
a  small  town,  situated  on  a  point  of  the  Mississippi,  called  the  Grand 
Gulf.  It  is  sometimes  very  unhealthy,  owing,  brobably,to  the  vicinity  of 
extensive  swamps.  Vicksburgh  is  in  Warren  county,  and  is  a  flourish- 
ing town  of  recent  origin,  sustained  by  an  extensive  and  rich  back  coun- 
try, and  by  being  the  only  convenient  site  for  a  town  for  many  miles 
above  and  below.  Still  further  up,  is  Manchester,  in  Yazoo  county,  on 
the  river  Yazoo,  a  small  town,  but  rapidly  increasing.  The  contiguous 
county  is  very  fertile,  producing  large  crops  of  cotton,  which  are  shipped 
from  Manchester  on  steamboats,  which  reach  that  place  in  high  water 
without  difficulty. 

Memphis  is  considered  at  present,  as  included  within  the  territorial 
limits  of  Tennessee,  though  we  lay  claim  to  it;  and  a  resolution  of  our 
legislature  has  empowered  the  executive  to  appoint  a  commissioner 
on  our  part,  to  determine  at  what  point  the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  lati- 
tude our  northern  boundary  crosses  the  Mississippi.  The  result  will 
soon  be  known. 

As  to  our  seat  of  government,  Jackson,  in  Hinds  county,  the  less  said 
about  it  the  better.  It  is  on  Pearl  river,  which  is  not  navigable  to  that 
point,  except  in  the  extreme  of  high  water.  The  surrounding  country  is 
the  picture  of  sterility.  The  public  buildings  are  mere  temporary  struc- 
tures, and  it  contains  few  inhabitants,  beside  the  officers  of  government. 
The  necessity  of  removing  the  seat  of  government  to  a  more  eligible 
position  is  so  apparent,  that  no  new  appropriation  will  be  made  for  build- 
ings, which  would  soon  be  abandoned.  Clinton,  in  the  same  county,  is 
a  pleasant  little  village,  a  place  of  resort  in  the  summer  for  its  salubrity, 
and  for  diinking  the  wraters  of  its  sulpher  spring.  Woodville,  in  Wilkin- 
son county,  is  a  handsome  village,  containing  about  eight  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, and  being  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  county.  If  a  projected  rail 
road,  to  connect  it  with  St.  Francisville,  in  Louisiana,  should  be  comple- 
ted, it  will  become  a  place  of  commercial  importance.  The  population 
of  our  state,  according  to  the  returns  of  the  marshal,  is  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  six.  Free  white  males,  thirty- 
eight  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-seven.  Females,  thirty-two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-one.  Total,  seventy  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighteen.  Male  slaves,  thirty-three  thousand  and  seventy- 
two.  Females,  thirty-two  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-seven. 
Total  slaves,  sixty-five  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-nine.  Free 
Vol.  II.  36 


282  APPENDIX. 

colored  males,  two  hundred  and  ninety-two.  Females,  two  hundred  and 
thirty-seven.  Total  of  free  colored  persons,  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine.  In  the  appointment  of  representatives  to  congress,  our  population 
will  therefore  be  rated  at  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  three  hundred 
and  thirty,-  and  we  are  therefore  entitled  to  another  vote  on  the  floor  of 
congress. 

Louisiana.  First  settlement,  1699.  Purchased  by  the  United  States, 
1803.  1804,  set  apart  as  the  Territory  of  Orleans.  Admitted  into  the 
Union,  1812.  Constitution  same  year.  A  senate  and  house  of  repre" 
sentatives  form  the  legislative  power,  styled  the  general  assembly 
The  representatives  cannot  exceed  fifty,  nor  fall  short  of  twenty  -five 
and  are  apportioned  according  to  the  number  of  electors,  as  ascertained 
by  enumeration  every  four  years.  The  state  is  divided  into  sixteen 
senatorial  districts,  each  of  which  furnishes  one  senator.  They  are  elec- 
ted for  four  years,  half  chosen  every  two  years.  A  governor  is  the  exe- 
cutive, elected  for  four  years.  The  people  vote  for  governor  at  the  same 
time  with  the  representatives  and  senators.  The  two  houses  then  elect 
one  of  the  two  candidates  elected  by  the  people.  The  assembly  meets 
annually  at  Donaldsonville.  Every  white  citizen  of  twenty-one,  who 
has  resided  one  year  in  the  county  next  preceding  the  election,  and  paid 
a  state  tax  within  six  months  preceding,  is  entitled  to  vote.  A  supreme 
court  and  inferior  courts  constitute  the  judiciary.  The  judges  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  governor,  with  the  senate,  and  hold  their  offices  during 
good  behavior.  Salary  of  governor,  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 
Banks,  four.  One  of  them  has  five  branches.  Whole  capital,  eight 
million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  exclusive  of  the  United  States 
bank.  Sends  three  representatives  to  congress.  Post  offices,  sixty- 
three.  Louisiana  is  the  nineteenth  state  in  the  Union,  in  point  of 
numbers. 

Florida.  Conquered  by  the  Spaniards,  1739.  Ceded  to  Great  Brit- 
ain, 1763,  and  divided  into  East  and  West  Florida.  1781,  recovered  by 
Spain.  1821,  ceded  by  Spain  to  the  United  States.  1822,  two  divisions 
united  under  one  government,  called  the  Territory  of  Florida.  Legisla- 
tive council  composed  of  sixteen  members,  meets  at  Tallahassee.  Judges, 
four.  Salary  of  governor,  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  Capital 
of  the  bank  of  Florida,  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Post  offices,  thirty- 
eight.     Sends  one  delegate  to  congress. 

District  of  Columbia.  Ceded  to  the  United  States,  1790,  and  is 
under  the  immediate  government  of  congress.     The  city  of  Washington, 


APPENDIX. 


283 


within  the  district,  became  the  seat  of  the  United  States  government, 
1800.  The  congress  of  the  United  States  meets  here  every  year  on  the 
first  Monday  in  December,  and  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States 
annually,  on  the  second  Monday  in  January.  Banks  in  the  District, 
thirteen,  exclusive  of  the  United  States  bank.     Post  offices,  three. 


TABLE  NO.  XIII. 


NEW  APPORTIONMENT  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

By  the  law,  passed  in  1832,  for  the  appointment  of  representatives 
among  the  several  state?,  it  is  enacted,  that  from  and  after  the  third  day 
of  March,  1833,  the  house  of  representatives  shall  be  composed  of  mem- 
bers elected  agreeably  to  a  ratio  of  one  representative  for  every  47,700 
persons  in  each  state,  computed  according  to  the  rule  prescribed  by  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  representative  population  of  each 
state,  the  number  of  representatives  to  which  each  state  will  be  entitled, 
and  the  fractions  which  remain  after  dividing  the  representative  popula- 
tion of  each  state  by  47,700,  and  also  the  number  to  which  each  state 
was  entitled  in  the  22d  congress. 


Rep.  Pop. 

No.  Rep. 

No. in 
Con. 

Rep.  Pop. 

No.  Rep. 

No.  in 
22d 
Con. 

Me. 

N.  H. 

Vt. 

Mass. 

R.I. 

Con. 

N.Y. 

N.J. 

Pa. 

Del. 

Md. 

Va. 

399,454 
269,327 
280,652 
610,408 
97,192 
297,665 

1,918,578 
319,921 

1,348,072 

75,431 

405,842 

1,023,502 

>,J7  85  4 

4  7  7  0  0 

542152 

4  7  7  0  0 

I  03  8  0  0  3 

J"437BO 

91792 

"47700 

(J11465 

"47700 

401  °5  73 

^"4  7  7  0  0 

(J33721 

4  7  7  0  0 

OC12472 

*  4  7 7  0  0 

127  73  1 

4  7  7  0  0 

£24242 

4  7  7  0  0 

012  1 8  02 

4  7  7  0  0 

7 
6 

13 
2 
6 
5 

34 
6 

26 
1 
9 

22 

N.C. 

s.  c. 

Ga. 

Ala 

Miss. 

La. 

Ten. 

Kv. 

Ohio. 

Ind. 

111. 

Mo. 

o3y,7±7 
455,025 
429,811 
262,507 
110,357 
171,904 
625,283 
621,832 
937,901 
343,030 
157,146 
130,419 

I  -J  j  9  6  4  7 

1D4TT 00 
025725 

4  7  7  0  0 

q  511 

47700 
52  4  0  0  7 

47700 
914957 

47700 

Q2  8  8  0  4 

°47Too 

•)Q  5  163 
X   4  7  7  0  0 

•"■4  7  7  0  0 

1Q3  160  1 
4  7  7  0  0 

»79130 
4  7  7  0  0 

Ql  4  0  4  6 
4  7  7  0  0 

03  5  0  1  9 

*47700 

13 

9 
7 
3 
1 
3 
9 
12 
14 
3 
1 
1 

Total 

240 

213 

284 


APPENDIX. 


TABLE   NO.  XII. 

PUBLIC  LANDS. 


^ — — 

Estimated  amount 

Estimated  amount 

Quantity  of  land 

of  acres  unsold  of 

of  acres  to  which 

in  each  state,  &c. 

lands  to  which  the 

the  Indian  title  has 

to  which   the  In- 

Indian  or    foreign 

not     been     extin- 

dian title  has  been 

State   or   Territory. 

title  has  been  ex- 

guished. 

extinguished       or 

tinguished. 

which  has  been  pur- 

chased from  foreign 

Governments. 

Ohio 

5,242,221 

344,613 

24,423,745 

Indiana, 

12,699,096 

3,631,040 

19,872,880 

Illinois, 

28,237,859 

3,158,110 

35,188,480 

Missouri, 

34,517,152 

3,744,000 

39,119,016 

Mississippi, 

21,211,465 

6,529,280 

24,691,840 

Alabama, 

20,167,725 

7,760,890 

25,998,880 

Louisiana, 

25,19S,234 

31,463,040 

Michigan, 

17,883,681 

82,905,536 

19,580,160 

Arkansas, 

31,912,381 

288,000 

34,209,280 

Florida, 

Aggregate 

e . 

30,195,030 
227,294,^44 

5,166,400 

31,589,440 

113,5/7,869 

*286,141,763 

Costs  of  the  Public  Lands,  and  Amount  paid  for  and  on  account  thereof 


Payment  on  account  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana : 

Principal,  -  -  14,984,872   28 

Interest  on  11,250,000  8,529,353  43 

Same.     Purchase  of  Florida : 

Principal,  -  -  4,985,599  82 

Interest  to  30th  Sept.  1831,      1,265,416  67 


23,514,225  71 


6,251,016  49 
1,065,484  06 
1,830,808  04 


Same.     Compact  with  Georgia, 

Same.     Settlement  with  the  Yazoo  claimants, 

Same.  Contracts  with  the  several  Indian  tribes,  (all  ex- 
penses on  account  of  Indians.)  11,852,182  56 

Same.  Commissioners,  clerks,  surveyors,  and  other  offi- 
cers, employed  by  the  United  States  for  the 
management  and  sale  of  the  Western  domain,     3,563,834  54 


Total  to  the  30th  September,  1831, 


48,077,551  40 


Amount  of  money  received  at  the  treasury  as  the  proceeds 

of  sales  of  the  public  lands,  to  the  30th  Sept.  1831,         37,273,713  31 


Or,  this  item,  the  cost  per  acre  is  to  be  calculr  ied. 


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APPENDIX. 


TABLE   NO.  XIV. 

COMMERCE. 


Statement,  exhibiting  the  value  of  every  description  of  Imports  from, 
and  Exports  to,  each  Foreign  Country,  during  the  year  ending  30/// 
September,  1830.     [From  "The  National  Calendar."] 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
G 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
11 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
2] 
22 
23 
21 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
31 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
-in 
II 
42 
43 
II 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 


Countries. 


Russia 
Prussia 

Sweden  and  Norway- 
Swedish  West  Indies 
Denmark 

Danish  West  Indies 
Netherlands 
Dutch  East  Indies 
Dutch  West  Indies 
England 
Scotland 
Ireland 
Gibraltar 

British  East  Indies 
British  West  Indies 
NewfoMndland 
British  American  Colonies 
British  African  Ports 
Other  British  Colonies 
Hanse  Towns 
Fiance  on  the  Atlantic 
France  on  the  Mediterranean 
French  West  Indies 
French  African  Ports 
Spain  on  the  Atlantic 
Spain  on  the  Mediterranean 
Teneriffe,  and  other  Canaries 
Manilla,  and  Philippine  Islands 
Cuba 

Other  Spanish  West  Indies 
Portugal 
Madeira 

Fayal,  and  other  Azores 
Cape  de  Verd  Islands 
Italy 
Sicily 

Trieste,  and  other  Adriatic  Ports 
Ragusa,  and  the  Seven  Islands. 
Turkey,  &c. 
Hayti 
Mexico 

Central  Republic 
Colombia 
Honduras 
Brazil 

Argentine  Republic 
Cisplatine  Republic 
Chili 
Peru 
South  America,  generally 


Commerce. 

Value  of 
Imports 

Value  of  Exports. 

Domestic 

Foreign 

Total. 

Produce. 

Produce. 

1,621,899 

35,461 

381,114 

415,575 

16,605 

16,501 

16,501 

1,168,110 

181,353 

189,949 

371,302 

230,530 

55B-,8»0 

37,727 

590,427 

5,384 

76,292 

29,048 

105,340 

1,665,834 

1,688,022 

220,723 

7,908,745 

888,408 

3,354,551 

675,527 

4,030,078 

181,848 

63,273 

107.293 

170,566 

286,509 

319,495 

42,298 

361,793 

22,755,040  23,773,020 

826,946 

24,599,966 

1,382,841 

1,465,211 

2,488 

1,467,699 

381,333 

261,687 

261,687 

90,028 

513,248 

370,150 

883,398 

1,373,297 

93,731 

553,126 

646,857 

168,579 

140 

1,761 

1,901 

650,303 

3,650,031 

136,342 

3,786,373 

2,300 

1,263 

1,873,278 

1,549,732 

725,148 

2,274,880 

6,831,015 

9,183,894 

661,925 

9,845,819 

891,183 

717,252 

430,888 

1,148,140 

518,687 

792,241 

13,528 

805,769 

5,931 

579 

6,510 

461,267 

538,956 

61,327 

600,283 

543,271 

145,556 

145,556 

99,878 

19,040 

610 

19,650 

384,887 

39,129 

54,539 

93,668 

5,577,230 

3,439,060 

1,477,675 

4,916,735 

1,307,148 

245,636 

27,523 

273,159 

165,321 

43,408 

1,803 

45,211 

239,652 

155,719 

12,358 

168,077 

32,912 

6,649 

1,524 

8,173 

33,758 

50,560 

7,778 

58,338 

940,254 

326,239 

414,121 

740,360 

3,740 

132,093 

300,859 

293,261 

594,120 

417,392 

75,801 

337,539 

413,340 

1,597,140 

714,791 

108,387 

823,178 

5,235,241 

985,764 

3,851,649 

4,837,458 

302,833 

138,456 

111,662 

250,118 

1,120,095 

316,732 

180,258 

496,990 

1,472 

25,132 

5,432 

30,564 

2,491,460 

1,600,999 

242,239 

1,843,238 

1,431,883 

425,220 

204,667 

629,887 

182,585 

915,718 

620,396 

1,536,114 

972,884 

32,400 

39,402 

71,802 

40,269 

9,190 

170 

9,360 

APPENDIX. 


227 


COMMERCE— Contin  ucd. 


Commerce. 

Value  of 

Value  of  Exports. 

Imports 

Domestic 
Piod  ce. 

Foreign 
Produce. 

Total. 

51]China 

3,878,141 

156,290 

585,903 

742,193 

52  Asia,  generally 

98,451 

56,318 

229,290 

285,608 

53  West  Indies  generally 

7,386 

242,114 

5,010 

247,124 

54'East  Indies,  generally 

55  Europe,  generally 

394 

16,090 

22,653 

38,743 

56  Africa,  generally 

172,861 

96,867 

52,236 

149,103 

57  Cape  of  Good  Hope 

58  South  Seas 

20,748 

21,178 

6,764 

27,942 

59  Northwest  coast  of  America 

28,392 

24,698 

53,090 

Total                        $ 

70,876,920 

59,462,029 

14,387,479 

73,849,508 

288 


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APPENDIX.  289 

COMMERCE— Continued. 

Abstract  of  the  Exports  and  Imports  of  the  United  States,  for  1830  and 

1631. 

Domestic  Exports. 

1830.  1831. 
Fisheries,  including  whale  oil,  whale  bone, 

and  sperm  candles             -             -            $1,725,270  $1,889,472 

Agriculture               -            -            -             46,977,332  47,261,443 

Products  of  the  forest             -             -               4,192,047  4,263,477 

Manufactures  of  cotton         -             -               1,318,183  1,126,313 

Other  manufactures              -             -               4,002,797  3,962,577 

Gold  and  silver  coin              -            -                  937,151  2,058,474 

Unmanufactured  articles  not  enumerated             309,249  715,311 


Total  domestic  exports  $59,462,029  $61,277,057 

Of  the  products  of  agriculture,  the  article 

of  cotton  amounted  to        -            -  $29,674,883  $25,289,492 

Tobacco             -             -             -  5,586,365  4,892,388 

Wheat,  flour,  and  biscuit      -            -  6,320,603  9,938,458 

Total  value  of  foreign  goods  exported  $14,287,476  $20,033,526 

Total  domestic,  as  above,            -  59,462,029  61,277,057 


Total  value  of  exports  73,849,508        81,310,583 

Of  the  foreign  goods  exported  in  1831,  $11,720,781  were  entitled  to 
debenture. 

Imports. 


1830. 

1831. 

Articles  free  of  duty- 

$12,746,245 

$13,456,625 

Do.  paying 

ad  valorem 

duties 

35,835,450 

61,534,966 

Do.  paying 

specific  duties 
)f  imports 

22,295,225 

28,199,533 

Total  < 

$70,876,920 

$103,191,124 

Total  of  Imports 

and  Exports  for  several  successive  years. 

Years. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

1824 

$80,549,007 

$75,986,657 

1825 

96,840,075 

99,535,388 

1826 

84,974,477 

77,595,322 

1827 

79,484,068 

82,324,827 

1828 

88,509,824 

72,264,686 

1829 

74,492,527 

72,358,671 

1830 

70,876,920 

73,849,508 

1831 

103,191,124 

81,310,583 

Vol.  II.  37 


290  A  P  P  E  N  DT  X  . 

I 

COMMERCE— Continued. 
Cotton  Crop. 
Growth. 
Total  crop  of  1824-5  -.  -  -  560,000   bales. 

Do.  1S25-6  -  -  -  710,000 

Do.  1826-7  -  -  -  937,000 

Do.  1827-8  -  -  712,000 

Do.  1828-9  -  -  857,744 

Do.  1829  30  -  -  -  976,845 

Do.  1830  31  -  -  -  1,038,847 

Consumption. 
To  estimate  the  quantity  manufactured  in  the  United 

States,  we  take  the  growth  of  the  year,  1,038,847  bales. 

Add  stocks  on  hand  at  the  commencement 
of  the  year,  (1st  October,  1830,)  in  the 
Southern  ports,  20,898 

Northern  ports,  13,997 


34,895 


Deduct  therefrom  the  exports  to  foreign  ports,  772,783 

Stocks  on  hand  at  the  close  of  the  year,  (1st 

October,  1831)— In  Southern  ports,  42,956 

In  Northern  ports,  76,467 

— 119,423 

8i>2,20l> 

Less — Foreign  cotton  included  in  the  export,  606 


1,073,742 


891,600 


Quantity  consumed  and  in  the  hands  of  the  manufacturers, 

1830-31 

- 

182,142 

Consumption  of  1829  30 

- 

120,512 

Do.                  1828-9 

- 

116,853 

Do.                  1827-8 

- 

120,593 

Do.                  1826-7 

. 

103,483 

The  crops  as  received  or  produced  are 

thus  put  down  for  the  years 

1830  and  1831,  ending  30th  September. 

1830. 

1831. 

New  Orleans,             ... 

351,024 

426,485 

Florida,              - 

5,787 

13,073 

Alabama, 

1(2,684 

113,186 

Georgia,              .... 

253,117 

230,502 

South  Carolina, 

188,871      . 

185,166 

North  Carolina, 

36,862 

36,540 

Virginia, 

35,500 

33,895 

976,845 

1,038,847 
976,845 

Increase, 

- 

62,002 

Export  to  Great  Britain, 

-      595,713 

618,718 

Do.                 France, 

200,791 

127,029 

Do.                 other  European  States, 

42,212 

27,036 

838„716  772,783 


APPENDIX. 


291 


TABLE   NO.   XV. 

PUBLIC  DEBT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

January  1,  1832. 


Statement  of  the  Funded  Debt;  exhibiting  also  the  dates  of  the  Acts  under  which 
the  several  Stocks  were  constituted,  and  the  periods  dt  which  they  are  redeemable. 
[From  the  "National  Calendar/1 


Stocks. 


Date  of  Acts 
constituting 
the  stocks. 


When  .redeemable. 


Amount. 


3  p.  c.  (Revol'y  d'u) 
5  per  cent. 
Do.,  exchanged, 


4  Aug.  1790 

3  Mar.  1821 

20  Apr.  1822 


Total 

Amount  of  the  funded  debt,  1st  January,  1831, 
Add  3  per  cent,  stock,  issued  for  interest  on  the  Revolutionary  Debt, 
per  act  of  the  12th  June,  1798, 

Deduct  payments  from  1st  January  to  30th  September,  1831,  viz: 
5  per  cent,  stock,  residue  of  bank  subscription,  4,000,000  00 

4  1-2  per  cent,  stock,  per  act  of  3d  Mar.  1825,  1,539,336  16 
On  ace.  of  5,000,000  loan,  per  act  26  May,  1824,  91,188  92. 
On  ace.  of  5,000,000  loan,  per  act  24  May,  '24,  3,260,475  99 

8,891,001 

Also,  payments  made  in  4th  quarter  of  1831,  viz  : 

5  per  cent,  stock,  per  act  of  15th  May,  1820,        999,999  13 
4  1-2  percent,  per  act  of  26th  May,  1824,  resi- 
due of  the  5,000,000  loan,  4,908,810  21 


4  1-2  per  cent. 
Do.,  exchanged 


24  May,  1824 
26  May,  1-24 


At  pleasure  of  gov't 
After  1st  Jan.  1835 
1-3  after  31  De.  1830 
1-3  after  31  De.  1831 
1-3  after  31  De.  1832 

After  1st  Jan.  183:? 
l-2after31De.l832 
l-2after31De.l833 


4,735,296  30 
56,704  77 


1,739,524  01 
4,454,727  95 


13,296,626  21 

4,792,001  07 
6,194,251  96 


2,282,879  24 


39,082,461  88 
228  64 


39,082,690  52 


Amount  of  funded  debt,  January  1,  1832, 


-5,908,810  21 

14,799,811  28 

$24,282,879  24 


Statement  of  the  Unfunded  Debt. 
Registered  debt,  being  claims  registered  prior  to  the  year  1798, 

for  services  and  supplies  during  the  revolutionary  war, 
Treasury  notes,  viz :    I*f  otes  bearing  interest, 
Small  notes, 


5,010  00 
2,106  00 


Mississippi  stock, 
not  applied  for, 


Amount  outstanding,  including  awards 


27,919  85 

7,116  00 
4,320  09 


Amount  of  unfunded  debt,  1st  January,  1831, 

Deduct  registered  debt,  issued  in  3  percent,  stock,  228  64 

Paid  in  money,  399  22 

Treasury  notes  paid  off,  61  00 

Mississippi  stock,  685  00 


Amount  of  unfunded  debt,  1st  January,  1832, 


627  86 


746  00 


9,355  95 
40,729  80 


1,373  86 


$39,355  64 


292 


APTENDIX. 


TABLE   NO.    XVI. 


RECEIPTS  AND  EXPENDITURES  OF  THE  U.  STATES. 


The  American  Almanac  for  1831,  pp.  156 — 159,  contains  a  statement 
of  the  Receipts,  Expenditures,  and  Appropriations,  from  1789  to  1829, 
inclusive.  The  following  is  a  continuation  of  the  statemeat  for  1830, 
with  the  total  amounts  from  1789. 


Receipts. 


Customs, 

Internal  revenue, 

Direct  taxes, 

Postage, 

Public  lands, 

Loans  and  Treasury  Notes,  &c. 

Dividends  and  sales  of  Bank  Stock, 

Miscellaneous, 

Total  receipts,  1830, 


In  1830. 

$21,922,391  39 

12,160  62 

16,980  59 

55  13 

2,329,356  14 

490,000  00 

73,172  64 

24,844, 11(T51 


Expenditures. 


Civil  list, 

Foreign  Intercourse, 

Miscellaneous, 

Military  establishment — 

Military  service,  including  Fortifi- 
cations, Arsenals,  Armories,  Ord- 
nance, Internal  Improvements,  &c. 

Revolutionary  Pensions, 

Other  Pensions, 

Indian  Department, 

Naval  establishment, 

Public  debt, 

Total  of  expenditures  in  1830, 

Balance  in  the  treasury, 


In  1830, 
1,599,724  64 
294,067  27 
1,363,624  13 


4,767,128  88 

1,067,947  33 

295,349  98 

622,262  47 

3,229,428  63 

11,355,748  22 

24,585,281  55 
$6,014,539  75 


Appropriations. 


Civil  List, 

Foreign  Intercourse, 

Miscellaneous, 

Military  Establishment — 

Military  Service,  including,  &c. 

Revolutionary  Pensions, 

Other  Pensions, 

Indian  Department, 

Naval  Establishment, 

Public  Debt, 

Total  of  Appropriations,  1830, 

Amount  carried  to  surplus  fund, 
Balance  of  Appropriations, 


In  1830. 
1,558,445  59 
269,748  49 
1,336,201  06 

5,082,843  98 

1,068,180  00 

212,562  06 

1,032,490  15 

4,316,000  47 

11,355,748  22 

26,332,220  02 

621,845  21 
5,450,334  18 


From  1789  to  1830. 

$542,219,388  28 

22,216,696  65 

12,719,591  46 

1,090,417  64 

34,793.054  41 

156,181,578  57 

9,903,506  30 

4,746j053  14 

783,870,286  45 


From  1789  to  1830 
33,983,533  58 
23,519,847  26 
28,351,164  36 


180,250,772  78 

15,239,221  66 

6,414,280  25 

11,130,030  37 

104,891,379  87 

374,025,516  57 

777,855,746  70 


From  1789  to  1830. 
35,539,334  09 
29,073,985  65 
32,405,209  11 

189,760,966  39 

15,242,454  50 

6,573,958  09 

3,077,580  52 

110,152,507  99 

374,354,236  94 

806,180,233  28 

22,874,152  40 


APPENDIX.  293 


TABLE   NO.  XVII. 

ESTIMATED  RECEIPTS  IN  1831. 

From  Customs,  Lands,  Bank  Dividends,  Incidental  Re- 
ceipts, and  the  Indemnity  under  the  Danish  Conven- 
tion, ....  $28,000,412  87 

Expenditure  in  1830,  viz. 

Civil  List,  foreign  intercourse,  and  mis- 
cellaneous, $3,237,410  04 

Military  service,  including  fortifica- 
tions, ordnance,  Indian  affairs, 
pensions,  &,  internal  improvements,        6,752,688  66 

Naval  Service,  3,239,428  63 

Public  Debt,  11,355,748  32 

Total,  $24,585,281  65 

Estimated  expenses  in  1831,  including  $16,585,281  67 

paid  off,  30,967,201  25 

Estimated  Revenue  for  1832,  viz. 

Customs,  $26,500,000  00 

Public  Lands,  3,000,000  00 

Bank  Dividends,  490,000  00 

Incidental  Receipts,  110,000  00 

30,100,000  00 

The  estimated  Expenditure  for  the  year  1832,  exclu- 
sive of  the  public  debt,  are  13,365,202  16 
Estimated  Surplus  Revenue,         $16,734,797  84 

Balance  in  the  Treasury,  Jan.  1, 1830,  $5,755,704  79 

Ditto,  as  estimated  Jan.  1,  1831,  6,014,539  75 


IMPORTS    AND   EXFORTS. 

The  amount  of  Imports  into  the  United  States  for  the 

year  ending  30th  Sept.  1821,  is  estimated  at  $97,032,358 

Exports  for  the  same  period;  viz. 

Domestic  products,  $62,048,233 

Foreign  ditto,  18,324,333 

$80,372,566 


294  APPENDIX. 

TABLE   NO.   XIX. 

MINT. 

Salary.  Salary. 

Samuel  Moore,  Director,     $2,000  J.  Cloud,  Welter  Sc  Refiner,  $1,500 

Wni.  Findlay,  Treasurer,       1,200  William  Jtffeass,  Ertgraverj     1,200 

Ad.  Eckfeldt,  Chief  Co iner,  1,500  John  S.  Benezct,  Clerk,             850 

John  Richardson,  Assaycr,     1,500  J.  Eckfeldt,  Assist.  Assaycr,     000 

The  Mint  of  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of  a  national  coinage, 
was  established  by  the  act  of  2nd  April,  1792,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
where  it  has  since  been  continued.  For  conducting  the  business,  of  the 
Mint,  the  same  act  directed  that  the  following  officers  should  be  appointed: 
a  Director,  an  Assayer,  a  Chief  Coiner,  an  Engraver,  and  a  Treasurer. 
By  the  act  of  3d  March,  1795,  an  additional  officer,  by  the  name  of  the 
Melter  and  Refiner,  was  authorized. 

The  Director  of  the  Mint  has  the  chief  management  of  the  business 
thereof,  and  superintends  all  other  officers  and  persons  employed  therein. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  Treasurer  to  receive  and  give  receipts  for  all  metals 
which  may  be  lawfully  brought  to  the  Mint  to  be  coined;  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  their  respective  qualities,  he  shall  deliver,  from  every 
parcel  so  received,  a  sufficient  number  of  grains  to  the  Assaycr,  who 
shall  assay  all  such  of  them  as  require  it.  It  is  also  the  duty  of  the  Trea- 
surer to  deliver  such  metals  to  the  Chief  Coiner,  to  be  coined,  in  such 
quantities  as  the  Director  may  prescribe.  The  Engraver  is  required  to 
sink  and  prepare  the  necessary  dies  for  the  coinage,  with  proper  devices 
and  inscriptions.  The  Melter  and  Refiner  is  required  to  take  charge  of 
all  copper  and  silver  or  gold  bullion,  delivered  out  by  the  Treasurer,  after 
it  had  been  assayed,  and  to  reduce  the  same  into  bars  or  ingots  fit  for  the 
rolling  mills,  and  then  to  deliver  them  to  the  Coiner  or  Treasurer,  as  the 
Director  shall  judge  expedient.  The  Assayer,  the  Chief  Coiner,  and  the 
Melter  and  Refiner  arc  required  to  give  bonds  to  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  for  the  faithful  and  diligent  performance  of  their  several 
duties. 

It  is  lawful  for  any  person  or  persons  to  bring  to  the  Mint  gold  and  silver 
bullion  to  be  coined;  and  the  bullion  so  brought  is  there  assayed  and 
coined,  as  speedily  a,s  may  be  after  the  receipt  thereof;  and  if  of  the 
standard  of  (lie  United  Slates,  free  of  expense  to  the  person  or  persons  by 
whom  it  shall  have  been  brought.  But  the  Treasurer  of  the  Mint  is  not 
obliged  to  receive,  for  the  purpose  of  refining  and  coining,  any  silver 
bullion  below  the  standard  of  the   United  Stales,  in  a  smaller  quantity 


APPENDIX.  295 

than  two  hundred  ounces,  nor  gold  bullion  below  the  said  standard,  in  a 
smaller  quantity  than  twenty  ounces.  And  there  must  be  retained  from 
every  deposit  of  bullion  below  the  standard,  such  sum  as  shall  be  equiv- 
alent to  the  expense  incurred  in  refining  the  same;  an  accurate  account 
of  which  expense,  on  every  deposit,  is  kept,  and  of  the  sums  retained  on 
account  of  the  same,  which  is  accounted  for  by  the  treasurer  of  the  Mint, 
with  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States. 

OPERATIONS    OF   THE   MINT. 

The  coinage  effected  within  the  year  1830,  amounts  to  $3,155,620, 
comprising  $643,103,   in  gold  c- i  5,400  in  silver,  $17,115  in 

copper,  and  consisting  of8,357,l'Jl  pieces  of  coin,  viz: 

Half  Eagles,  126,351  pieces,  making  $631,755 

Quarter  Eagles,  10         «            «  '     11,350 

Half  Dollars,  4,704,8  0         "           «  2,382,100 

Dimes,  510,000         "           «  51,000 

Half  Dimes,  1,210.0:)'.)         "           «  62,000 

Cents,  1,7 1 1 .500         »          "  17.115 


8,357,191  $3,155,620 

The  coinage  effected  within  the  year  1831,  amounts  to  $3,923,473  60, 
comprising  $7 14,270  in  gold  coins,  $3,175,600  in  silver,  and  $33,603  60 
in  copper,  and  consisting  of  11,792,284  pieces  of  coin,  viz: 

Half  Eagles,  140,594  pieces,  making  $702,970  00 

Quarter  Eagles,  4.523  '■'.-  »  ■        " "  11,300  00 

Half  Dollars,  5,873,660  "  "  2,936,S30  00 

Quarter  Dollars,  398,000  "  «  99,506  00 

Dimes,  771,350  "  «  77,135  00 

Half  Dimes,  1,242,700  "  «  62,135  00 

Cents,  3,359,260  «  «  33,592  60 

Half  Cents,  2,200  «  «  1100 


11,792,284  $3,923,473  60 

Of  the  amount  of  gold  coined  within  1831,  about  130,000  dollars  were 
derived  from  Mexico,  South  America,  and  the  West  Indies,  27,000  dollars 
from  Africa,  518,000  dollars  from  the  gold  region  of  the  United  States, 
and  about  39,000  dollars  from  sources  not  ascertained. 

Of  the  amount  of  gold  of  the  United  States,  above  mentioned,  about 
twenty-six  thousand  dollars  may  be  stated  to  have  been  received  from 
Virginia,  two  hundred  and  ninety-four  thousand  doiiars  from  North  Car- 
olina, twenty-two  thousand  dollars  from  South  Carolina,  and  one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  thousand  from  Georgia.  Gold  has  also  been  received 
within  the  past  year  from  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  not  exceeding  how- 


$5,000 

In  1828, 

$46,000 

17,000 

1829, 

134,000 

20,000 

1830, 

466,000 

21,000 

1831, 

518,000 

296  APPENDIX. 

ever,  one  thousand  dollars  from  each  of  these  states ;  an  amount  merit- 
ing little  regard,  except  as  indicating  the  progressive  development  of  the 
gold  region. 

The  first  notice  of  gold  of  the  United  States  on  the  records  of  the  Mint, 
occurs  in  the  transactions  of  the  year  1814.  From  that  year  to  1823 
inclusive,  the  average  annual  amount  received  at  the  Mint,  did  not  exceed 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  Since  the  latter  period,  the  progres- 
sive increase  has  heen  remarkable.  The  amount  received  within  the 
succeeding  years,  to  the  present  time  may  be  stated  as  follows,  viz : 

In  1824, 
1825, 
1826, 

1827, 

Previously  to  the  year  1829,  the  state  of  North  Carolina  alone  had 
furnished  gold  to  the  Mint.  Within  that  year  it  was  received  also  from 
Virginia  and  South  Carolina ;  from  the  former  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  from  the  latter,  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  Early 
in  1830,  gold  began  to  be  received  from  Georgia.  The  amount  received 
during  that  year  from  the  various  sections  of  the  gold  region,  was  as 
follows,  viz :  from  Virginia,  twenty-four  thousand  dollars,  North  Caroli- 
na, two  hundred  and  four  thousand  dollars,  South  Carolina,  twenty-six 
thousand  dollars,  and  from  Georgia,  two  hundred  and  twelve  thousand 
dollars. 

Silver  bullion  has  been  supplied,  throughout  the  year,  in  quantities 
amply  sufficient  for  the  present  power  of  the  Mint.  The  coinage  of  silver 
alone  has  exceeded  the  whole  amount  of  coinage  in  any  former  year,  and 
the  coinage  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  has  exceeded  that  of  any  previous 
year  by  nearly  one  million  of  dollars. 

The  employment  of  copper  coins  in  circulation  is  becoming  obviously 
more  general  than  heretofore.  They  are  transmitted,  at  the  public  ex- 
pense and  risk,  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  within  the  range  of  ordi- 
nary means  of  transportation,  and  their  use  and  value  are  becoming  famil- 
iar and  acknowledged,  where  until  recently,  they  have  been  in  little  esti- 
mation. 

The  profit  on  the  copper  coinage  of  the  past  year  will  somewhat  ex- 
ceed ten  thousand  dollars.  This  profit  is  regularly  accounted  for  to  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States,  thereby  refunding  so  much  of  the  sum  ap- 
propriated for  the  expenses  of  the  Mint  establishment.  The  whole  effec- 
tive expense  of  the  Mint,  for  the  past  year,  will  thus  be  reduced  to  less 
than  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars. 


APPENDIX, 


297 


TABLE  NO.  XIX. 


POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


North  of  Potomac  and  Ohio. 

1790     White  2,155,835 

Slaves 
Free  colored 


Total 

1800     White 

Slaves 
Free  colored 

Total 

1810  White 
Slaves 
Free  colored 

Total 

1820  White 
Slaves 
Free  colored 

Total 

1830    White 

Slaves 
Free  colored 

Total 


j 

147,293)   100044 
39,051     ^^V*44 


2,342,179 

2,877, 043 


«gS|  ™ 


3,104,114 


3,977,023 
151,595)   97000^ 
128,400 \  <5/y>jyo 

4,257,018 

5,436,737 

138,817)    oqcgm 
156,484  \  ^yt>>dU1 


5,732,038 


7,349,334 

134,945)  fi„R 

206,891  \  d41»8db 


South  of  Potomac  and  Ohio. 

1,016,629 
550,604) 
20,415  \ 


571,019 


1,587,648 

1,426,846 

742,063 

32,604 

2,201,513 

1,884,981 


774,067 


2,982,796 


2,429,832 


1,377,04oj   M^Sl 
3,906,093 


3,188,044 

1,874,098)   1QOfiftnR 
112,708;   1»986»806 


7,691,170 


5,174,850 


1790  East  of  the  mountains 

1820  Do.  do. 

1790  West  of  the  mountains 

1830  Do.  do. 


Virginia. 

White. 
507,885 
375,940 

34,230 
318,505 


1790 


South  Carolina. 

White. 

140,178 


V01.  II 


Slaves. 
291,273 
416,259 
2,154 

53,465 


Slaves. 
107,094 

38 


Free  colored. 

12,703 

40,708 

63 

6,233 


Free  colored. 
1,801 


298 


A  PPUNBI  X. 


TABLE  NO.  XX. 


THE  ARMY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  Soldiers  furnished  to  the 
regular  Revolutionary  Army  by  each  State  in  the  Union,  and  by  each 
Division  of  the  States;  likewise  the  relative  part  of  its  Free  Popula- 
tion ivhich  each  furnished  to  the  Army.  Any  one  acquainted  with  the 
history  of  the  revolution  can  make  his  own  comments  upon  uthe  chivalry" 
of  the  respective  portions  of  the  Union,  in  those  ilti?ncs  which  tried  men's 
souls:'  H.  B. 


States. 

Free  popula- 
tion in  the  year 
1790. 

Regulars  fur- 
nished to  the 
revolutionary 
army. 

Per  centage 
of  the  free 
pop.  furnish- 
ed to  army. 

One  soldier 
was  furnish- 
ed by  a  free 
population    f 

New  Hampshire 
Massachusetts 
Rhode  Island 
Connecticut 

141,000 

475,000 

68,000 

235,000 

12,497 

67,907 

5,098 

31,939 

b.bii 

14.29 

7.49 

13.59 

12.77 

5.56 
6.20 
5.95 
4.67 

11.28 
6.99 

13.33 
7.45 

Total  New  England 

919,600 

117,441 

7.82 

New  York 
New  Jersey 
Pennsylvania 
Delaware 

319,000 

173,000 

431,000 

51, COO 

17,781 

10,726 

25,678 

2,386 

17.93 
16.12 

16.78 
21.37 

Total  Middle  States 

974,000 

.     56,571 

5.88 

17.21 

15.67 
21.02 
54  10 
20.62 

18.81 

23.75 

Maryland 
Virginia 
North  Carolina 
South  Carolina 
Georgia 

216,000 
561,000 
393,000 
133,000 
51,000 

13,912 

26,678 
7,263 
6,447 
2,697 

6.44 

4.75 
1.84 

4.84 
5.28 

Total  southern  states 

1,354,000 

56,997 

4.21 
7.11 

Total  of  13  states 

3,247,000 

230,909 

14.06 

APPENDIX.  299 


THE  GEORGIA  GOLD  REGION. 

Charleston,  April  16.  We  have  received  the  first  number  of  a  new 
weekly  paper,  called  "The  Western  Herald,"  published  by  O.  P.  Shaw, 
and  edited  by  A.  G.  Fajibrough,  at  the  village  of  Auraria,  in  the  gold 
region  of  Georgia. 

The  village  of  Auraria  is  situated  on  the  rklge  dividing  the  waters  of 
the  Chestatee  and  Etoah  rivers,  in  Lumpkin  (originally  Cherokee)  county. 
This  melodious  and  appropriate  name  was  adopted  on  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Calhoun,  when  at  his  mines  in  the  neighborhood,  last  November. 

The  first  cabin  was  erected  in  Auraria  about  tha  first  of  June  last,  by 
William  Dean,  Esq.,  who  was  followed  by  Nathaniel  Nuckolls,  Esq.,  who 
opened  a  house  of  entertainment  for  the  accommodation  of  those  disposed 
to  examine  for  gold  in  the  surrounding  country,  and  soon  had  it  crowded. 
Around  this  nucleus  a  population  soon  gathered,  composed  of  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  the  human  family,  and  there  is  now  in  Auraria  one 
hundred  family  dwellings;  eighteen  or  twenty  stores ;  twelve  or  fifteen 
law  offices,  and  four  or  five  taverns,  &.c. 

The  town  population  is  estimated  at  one  thousand,  and  that  of  the 
county  at  ten  thousand,  and  constantly  increasing  with  a  rapidity  almost 
too  incredible  to  relate. 

The  Indian  population  is  small;  their  right  of  occupancy  to  the  soil 
having  inmost  cases  been  extinguished  previous  to  the  survey  and  distri- 
bution of  the  country. 

The  mines  already  drawn  in  the  vicinity,  (not  involved  in  litigation,) 
are  yielding  to  the  proprietors,  in  rich  abundance,  the  anticipated  fruits 
of  the  most  sanguine  speculator. 

The  price  of  gold  in  Auraria  is  from  eighty-five  to  ninety-two  cents 
perdwt.  according  to  its  fineness;  that  collected  in  the  neighborhood  will 
average  ninety  cents,  when  well  cleansed ;  when  fluxed  and  run  into  bars, 
ninety-two  cents. 

Mr.  McCollum,  late  of  Tennessee,  has  constructed  in  the  neighbor- 
hood a  boat  with  a  diving  bell  attached  to  it,  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
gravel  and  collecting  gold  from  the  bed  of  water  courses.  The  "Herald" 
gives  the  following  account  of  "gold  specimens"  found  in  the  vicinity. 

"A.  McLaughlin,  Esq.  of  our  county,  exhibited  to  our  inspection,  a  few 
days  since,  a  specimen  from  his  mine,  weighing  upwards  of  forty  dwts. 
supposed  to  be  four-fifths  gold,  the  remainder  rough  sand,  which,  from 
every  appearance,  must  have  been  cemented  to  the  bulk  by  heat  at  tha 
time  of  its  formation. 


300  APPENDIX. 

"Col.  D.  C.  Gibson  has  also  brought  us  a  specimen  taken  from  the  bed 
of  the  Chestatee  river,  on  the  lot  owned  by  himself  and  Col.  Calhoun, 
weighing  nine  lbs.  and  three  oz.  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  parti- 
cles of  gold  upon  its  surface,  plainly  perceptible  to  the  eye. 

"On  Gen.  Lawhon's  lot  in  Cherokee  county,  we  understand  that  a 
piece  of  pure  gold  was  found  last  week  weighing  upwards  of  thirty  dwts." 


SPERMACETI  WHALE  FISHERY. 

From  the  Nantucket  Inquirer. 

For  the  following  statistical  views  in  relation  to  the  spermaceti  whale 
fishery,  we  are  indebted  to  a  merchant  of  this  place,  who  has  carefully 
compiled  them  from  the  most  authentic  sources.  We  believe  it  to  be  the 
only  accurate  account  yet  published,  of  the  importations  of  spermaceti  oil, 
at  the  various  ports  of  the  United  States  during  the  past  year;  and  of  the 
exact  number  of  vessels  actually  engaged  in  the  fishery  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  current  year. 

By  comparing  the  importations  of  spermaceti  oil  in  1832,  with  those  of 
the  preceding  year,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  supply  was  diminished  more 
than  25  per  cent. 

Produce  of  the  Spermaceti  Whale  Fishery  in  1832. 

Imported  in  Pacific  ocean  ships  at  N.  Bedford  and 

Fairhaven,  30,476  bbls 

Do.                        do.                          Nantucket,  30,450  do. 

Do.                         do.                           Newport,  4,120  do. 

Do.                         do.                           Plymouth,  2,120  do. 

Imported  in  Brazil  ships,  New  Bedford,  5,550  do. 

Do.                 do.         Nantucket,  407  do. 

Do.                 do.         New  London,  703  do. 

Do.                 do.         Sagharbor,  1,000  do. 

Do.                 do.         Bristol,  200  do. 

Do.                 do.         Warren,  223  do. 

Sent  home  by  outward  bound  ships,  2,000  do. 

Taken  in  Atlantic  ocean  by  small  vessels,  1,750  do. 


Total  import  of  1832,  79,999  bbls. 

Import  of  1831,  107,751  bbls.— Deficiency,  28,753  bbls. 


APPENDIX.  301 

At  sea  from  the  United  States,  employed  in  the  spermaceti  whale  fish- 
ery, Jan.  1, 1833, 203  ships  and  harques,  viz: 

From  New  Bedford  and  Fairhaven,  ninety;  Nantucket,  fifty-seven; 
New  London,  ten;  Bristol,  ten;  Warren,  five;  Edgartown,  five;  Falmouth? 
five;  Hudson,  four;  Newport, four;  Plymouth,  two;  Salem,  two;  Fall  river, 
one ;  Portsmouth,  one ;  Poughkccpsie,  one ;  Rochester,  one ;  Wareham, 
one ;  Dartmouth,  one ;  Holmes'  Hole,  one ;  New  York,  one ;  Sagharbor,  one 
— Total,  two  hundred  and  three.  Of  which  eight  sailed  in  1829 — forty- 
eight  in  1830 — seventy  in  1831,  and  seventy-seven  in  1832. 


MISSOURI  LEAD  MINES. 

Official  information  has  been  received  by  the  superintendent  of  the 
United  States1  lead  mines,  at  Galena,  that  the  lead  mines  of  the  west  bank 
of  the  Mississippi,  recently  ceded  by  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  will  be 
opened  for  lease  on  the  first  day  of  June  next. 

A  writer  in  the  Galenian  states  that  new  and  valuable  discoveries  of 
lead  ore  have  been  made  upon  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
between  the  Platte  and  Grant  rivers,  in  Iowa  county,  M.  T.  The  ore  is 
said  to  be  of  the  best  quality,  found  in  large  bodies,  and  over  an  exten- 
sive tract  of  the  country.  Among  the  most  valuable  discoveries  is  a  hor- 
izontal cave,  the  entrance  of  which  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  river.  It  is  from  two  to  four  feet  wide,  and  from 
six  to  nine  feet  high.  From  this  cave,  about  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds  of  lead  ore  have  been  taken  with  little  labor,  and  the  operation 
was  still  continued.  The  land  is  of  the  best  quality,  and  covered  with 
timber.  A  town,  called  Van  Buren, — which  name  has  also  been  given  to 
the  mines  and  cave  adjacent, — has  been  laid  out,  and  that  part  of  the 
country  is  rapidly  increasing  in  population. 


302  APPENDIX. 


CHOLERA. 


As  the  foregoing  work  treats  more  particularly  of  the  western  country,  it 
mav  not  he  uninteresting  or  irrelevant  to  add  in  a  note,  that  while  this  work 
was  going  to  press,  the  painful  intelligence  reached  us  from  every  direc- 
tion, that  the  terrific  scourge  Cholera,  which  visited  many  cities  in  the 
east  and  in  the  west  of  our  country  last  autumn,  has  returned  upon  the 
courses  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  in  its  most  appalling  and  mortal  form. 
It  is  now  spreading  in  all  directions  in  the  great  valley,  more  especially 
south  of  the  Ohio.  In  no  place  in  the  Union  has  it  been  more  mortal 
than  in  Lexington,  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  and  hitherto  deemed  one  of 
the  most  healthy  towns  in  America.  It  would  be  useless  to  enter  into 
the  terrible  details  of  its  prevalence  there.  It  is  probable,  that  more 
than  one-tenth  of  the  population  has  already  fallen,  and  yet  the  plague 
does  not  seem  stayed.  It  has  been  exceedingly  malignant  in  many  other 
places.  It  is  already  a  question  proposed  every  day  by  thousands  of  the 
citizens  of  this  beautiful  and  most  fertile  country,  will  this  frightful  disease 
become  endemic  among  us,  and  add  a  new  weapon  to  the  hand  of 
death?  We  should  hope  not.  Amidst  all  the  anomalies  of  this  strange 
malady,  which  have  baffled  all  human  calculation,  and  overturned  theo- 
ries as  fast  as  they  were  formed,  its  commencement,  progress,  and  de- 
cline, seem  wonderfully  conformable  to  a  general  analogy.  The  history 
of  the  disease  on  the  Ganges  and  its  waters  for  the  same  length  of  time 
that  it  has  prevailed  here,  might  answer  for  that  of  our  valley,  noting  on- 
ly an  increase  of  mortality  there,  corresponding  to  the  greater  population 
of  the  country.  We  every  where  observe  the  disease  here  following  the 
same  laws  that  regulated  it  there.  We  may  therefore  infer,  as  far  as 
analogy  will  warrant,  that  having  swept  the  country  with  its  besom  of  de- 
struction for  a  period,  it  will  disappear,  as  the  sweating  sickness,  the  black 
fever,  and  the  plague  did  from  Europe,  after  having  ravaged  that  country 
at  distant  intervals. 

Meanwhile  the  doctrine  of  the  Atlantic  people,  that  this  valley  must  be 
particularly  and  comparatively  unhealthy,  in  consequence  of  its  having 
suffered  from  this  disease  more  generally  and  severely  than  the  Atlantic 
country,  docs  not  seem  at  all  founded.  It  has  been  exceedingly  mortal 
in  Russia,  one  of  the  healthiest  countries  on  the  globe.  Montreal  and 
Quebec,  which  have  suffered  as  severely  as  the  western  cities,  have  for- 
merly been  proverbial  for  their  salubrity.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
New  York.       It   is  earnestly  wished  that  the  Atlantic  country  may  not 


APPENDIX.  303 

furnish  in  its  turn  an  example  of  the  fallacy  of  its  impressions  on  this 
subject  by  its  own  experience  of  the  renewal  of  the  scourge  there.  What 
effect  its  prevalence  in  the  west  may  have  upon  the  future  progress  of  the 
country  in  population  remains  to  be  seen. 

Meantime,  we  cannot  refrain  from  adverting  to  the  fearful  remedy 
which  this  disease  applies  to  the  apprehensions  of  the  disciples  of  Mai- 
thus,  founded  on  a  theory  which  has  always  seemed  to  us  equally  unphi- 
losophical,  and  we  might  almost  say,  impious.  For  it  must  be  built  on 
the  supposition,  that  there  is  an  order  of  things  in  progress  in  the  world, 
tending  to  misery,  that  is,  excess  of  population,  for  which  there  is  no 
provision  in  the  natural  and  moral  laws  of  the  world.  It  is  wonderful, 
that  these  theorists  have  not  remarked,  that  either  a  long  end  of  destruc- 
tive wars,  as  those  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  those  of 
Genghis  Khan,  or  the  desolation  of  plague,  sweating  sickness,  and  chol- 
era, at  intervals  of  four  or  five  centuries,  has  relieved  all  apprehensions 
that  the  world  will  ever  become  too  populous.  S^ill  more,  the  organic 
remains  every  where  imbedded  in  strata  of  monumental  stone  prove  to 
us,  that  we  inhabit  a  world  containing  the  ruins  of  a  former  world. 

No.  Not  one  of  these  evils,  but  what  is  provided  for  in  the  plan  of 
Him,  who,  when  he  fixed  the  natural  and  moral  laws  of  the  world,  left 
no  ground  of  apprehension  to  his  creatures,  that  the  world  would  ever 
become  too  populous. 

The  ruins  of  Tadmor,  Palmyra,  and  Babylon,  the  immense  oriental 
deserts,  where  onco  rolled  the  tide  of  life,  might  have  taught  a  different 
lesson.  For  a  country  to  be  crowded  with  population  is  an  evil,  but  one, 
over  which  it  would  be  as  unwise  to  legislate  against,  as  it  would  against 
drought  or  pestilence.  It  is  an  evil,  which  in  the  moral  constitution  of 
the  world  includes  its  own  remedy.  Let  the  people  marry  and  give  in 
marriage.  Flood  or  pestilence,  earthquake  or  war,  will  adjust  the  scale 
of  population  much  more  philosophically  than  any  laws  against  mar- 
riage. 

Another  reflection  arises  in  this  view  of  the  subject.  The  present  era 
is  one  of  an  alarming  preponderance  of  physical  over  moral  improvement. 
The  march  of  mind  seems  all  towards  the  former.  This  must  unbalance 
the  moral  construction  of  the  world,  and  produce  a  fearful  reaction. 
Cholera  seems  obviously  one  of  these  reagents.  It  is,  if  not  the  product 
of  the  improvements  of  the  age,  one  of  their  accompaniments.  It  is  the 
disease  of  the  crowded  towns  and  tenements  of  artisans,  of  the  crowded 
highways  of  the  Ganges  and  Mississippi,  rendered  such  by  the  new  me- 
chanical power  of  steam.  It  is  the  disease  that  hovers  round  the  erec- 
tions of  human  pride,  and  extends  itself  along  the  diggings  of  canals  and 
railways.     The  drodigious  increase  and  rapidity  of  intercommunication 


304  APPENDIX. 

diffuse  it  over  the  globe,  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind.  Wherever  there 
are  the  greatest  triumphs  of  modern  improvement,  there  are  the  amplest 
visitations  of  cholera. 

Beside  one  great  benefit  that  has  alread)'  resulted  to  humanity  from  the 
prevalence  of  this  scourge,  that  is  to  say,  its  solemn  enforcement  of  the 
laws  of  temperance  and  self-government,  it  promises  to  increase  the  diffi- 
culties, and  consequently  the  unfrequency  of  war.  It  seems  to  be  the 
twin  brother  of  that  accursed  destroyer.  It  hovers  over  the  marching 
armies,  the  crowded  fortifications,  the  leagured  cities,  the  floating  war- 
ships, the  tented  camps,  and  would,  probably,  at  present,  in  case  of  war 
in  any  country,  destroy  thrice  the  numbers  of  the  sword.  Can  there  be 
a  lesson  so  awful,  so  salutary,  so  restraining,  to  induce  the  rulers  of  the 
nations  to  allow  their  people  to  remain  in  domestic  segregation  in  the  pure 
air  of  the  fields  1 

Should  cholera  become  an  endemic  among  the  nations,  such  are  the 
wonderful  provisions  of  the  remedial  process,  the  great  vis  medicatrix 
natures,  provided  in  the  moral  constitution  of  the  world,  that  having 
performed  its  great  ministry  of  restoring  the  right  balance  of  population, 
it  will,  probably,  cure  its  own  evils,  by  restraining  intemperance  and  the 
indulgence  of  those  excesses  which  are  found  to  give  birth  to  the  dis- 
ease; and  by  preventing  the  millions  of  deaths  which  originate  directly 
or  indirectly  from  this  source,  save  more  than  it  will  destroy. 


CONTENTS    OF   VOL.   II. 


Brief  general  view  of  the  United  States,  3.  Mountains,  4.  Lakes, 
Rivers,  Geology,  and  Physical  Aspect,  Climate,  5.  Soil,  Productions, 
Articles  of  Export,  G.  Rank  of  Chief  Towns,  Canals  ,7.  Rail  Roads,  8. 
Schools,  Religion,  9.  Military  Force,  Revenue,  Federal  Constitution? 
10.  Aborigines,  Public  Lands,  11.  Public  Debt,  12.  Appropriations, 
Manufactures,  General  Remarks,  13. 

Atlantic  States.     Maine,  General  Aspect,  Climate,  Productions, 

17.  Harbors,  Counties,  Bays,  Rivers,  Lakes,  Manufactures,  Towns, 

18.  Population,   Education,  19.     Religion,  Government,  Panoramic 
View,  20. 

New  Hampshire.  20.  Divisions,  Population,  Aspect,  Manufactures, 
Lakes,  21.  Rivers,  Towns,  22.  Literary  Institutions,  Character  of  the 
Population,  Commerce,  Natural  Curiosities,  23. 

Vermont,  Divisions,  Physical  Aspect,  Forrests,  Productions,  24. 
Climate,  Character  of  the  Population,  Rivers,  Lakes,  25.  Towns,  Reli- 
gious Character,  26.     Literature,  Exports,  27. 

Massachusetts,  27.  Divisions,  Population,  Aspect,  Education,  28. 
Religion,  Mountains,  Bays,  Chief  Towns,  29.  Islands,  Roads  and  Ca- 
nals, 36.     Productions,  History,  37. 

Rhode  Island,  Counties,  Population,  37.  Physical  Aspect,  Rivers, 
Bays,  and  Islands,  Productions,  Chief  Towns,  38.     Exports,  40. 

Connecticut,  Divisions,  Physical  Aspect,  Productions,  40.     Rivers, 
Vol.  II.  39 


306  CONTENTS. 

Religion,  Literature,  41.     Manufactures,  Towns,  42.     Roads,  Canals, 
&c,  Manners,  Minerals,  Fossils,  &c,  44. 

New  York,  44.  Divisions,  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  45.  Islands? 
Mountains,  Rivers,  and  Lakes,  46.  Canals,  47.  Watering  Places — 
Mineral  Waters,  Curiosities,  48.  Productions,  Exports,  Climate,  Na- 
tives, Chief  Towns,  49.  Scenery,  56.  Education,  57.  General  Sta- 
tistics, Manufactures,  58. 

New  Jersey,  59.  Physical  Aspect,  Rivers,  Divisions,  Population, 
Climate,  Products,  Manufactures,  60.  Religious  Denominations,  Litera- 
ture, Chief  Towns,  61.     Roads  and  Canals,  63. 

Pennsylvania,  63.'  Divisions,  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  64.  Soil 
and  Productions,  Religion,  Rivers,  65.  Canals  and  Rail  Roads,  66. 
Manufactures,  67.     Education,  Chief  Towns,  68. 

Delaware,  Physical  Aspect,  73.  Divisions,  Manufactures,  and  Com- 
merce, Canals,  Literature,  Religion,  Chief  Towns,  74.    History,  75. 

Maryland,  Divisions,  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  Productions,  76. 
Rivers,  Climate,  Religion,  Literature,  77.  Exports,  Roads,  and  Canals, 
78.     Chief  Towns,  79.    Manners  of  the  People,  82. 

District  of  Columbia,  Divisions,  Population,  Towns,  82. 

Virginia,  Divisions,  85.  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  Rivers,  86. 
Productions,  87.  Minerals  and  Fossils,  88.  Canals,  89.  Climate,  Cu- 
riosities, 90.  Religion,  Education,  Exports,  Chief  Towns,  91.  Char- 
acter and  Manners,  93. 

North  Carolina,  Divisions,  94.  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  95. 
Minerals,  Rivers,  96.  Climate,  Chief  Towns,  97.  Religion,  Educa- 
tion, 98.     Roads  and  Canals,  General  Remarks,  99. 

South  Carolina,  Divisions,  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  100.  Cli- 
mate, Productions,  101.  Minerals,  Rivers,  102.  Exports,  Literature, 
Chief  Towns,  103.     Roads  and  Canals,  Religion,  General  Remarks,  105. 

Georgia,  Divisions,  106.  Population,  Physical  Aspect,  107.  Cli- 
mate, Productions,  Exports,  Canals  and  Internal  Improvements,  Educa- 


CONTENTS.  307 

tion,  108.    Natives,  Rivers,  Island?,  109.     Chief  Towns,  110.     Mine- 
rals, Religion,  General  Remarks,  111. 

Danish  Possessions  in  North  America,  Position,  Climate,  Soil,  and 
Country,  112.  Smoke  of  Ice,  Animals,  Exports,  Natives,  Language, 
Implements,  and  Canoes,  1 13.  Character,  Religion,  Population,  Towns, 
114. 

Iceland,  Rocks,  Mountains,  Volcanoes,  Hot  Springs,  Fossils,  115. 
Air,  Climate,  Vegetation,  Domestic  Animals,  116.  Fish,  Divisions, 
Towns,  Commerce,  Inhabitants,  117. 

Spitsbergen,  Whale  Fishery,  Floating  Wood,  118. 

New  Siberia — Russian  America,  Physical  Aspect,  Natives,  Com- 
merce of  the  Russians,  119. 

British  Possessions  in  North  America,  Physical  Aspect,  Rivers, 
120.  Climate,  Soil,  Fish,  Animals,  Vegetation,  Trade,  Lord  Selkirk, 
Natives,  121.     Knistenaex,  Indians,  122. 

Labrador,  122.     Moravians,  Icy  Archipelago,  123. 

British  America,  124. 

Newfoundland,    Productions,  Climate,    Banks,  Fish,   124.     Dogs, 
Population,  Inhabitants.  12G. 

Nova  Scotia,  Climate,  Trees,  125.     Chief  Towns,  126. 

Cape  Breton,  126. 

Prince  Edward's  Island,  126. 

Anticosti,  127. 

New  Brunswick,  St.  John's  River,  Population,  Towns,  127. 

Gasspee,  127. 

Lower  Canada,  Divisions,  Rivers,  Montmorency  Cascade,  Soil  and 
Climate,  128.     Agriculture,  Animals,  129.     Metals,  Chief  Towns,  130 


308  CONTENTS. 

Commerce,  Population,  131.     Amusement?,  Society,  Government,  Rev- 
enue, Expenses,  Military  Importance,  Savages,  History,  132. 

Upper  Canada,  Divisions,  Population,  Rivers,  133.  Soil  and  Pro- 
ductions, Climate,  Animals,  Towns,  Lakes,  131.     Canals,  135. 

Mexican  Republic,  Physical  Aspect,  136.  Provinces,  Square 
Miles,  Population,  Chief  Towns,  137.  Divisions,  Mountains,  138. 
Mines,  Rivers,  Lakes,  139.  Harbors,  Climate,  140.  Periodical  Rains, 
New  Mexico,  Vegetable  Productions,  141.  Edible  Plants,  Zoology, 
142.  Population,  143.  Languages,  Topography,  145.  Savages,  Pro- 
vinces, Chief  Towns,  and  Mines,  147.     History,  151. 

South  America,  152.  General  Aspect,  Rivers,  153.  Mountains, 
154.  Temperature,  155.  Animals,  156.  Caraccas,  157.  Popula- 
tion, 158.  Llanos,  New  Grenada,  159.  Chief  Towns,  160.  Volca- 
noes, the  Gallipagos,  162.  Peru,  Mines,  163.  Towns,  164.  Popula- 
tion, and  Character  of  the  Inhabitants,  165.  Paper  Insect,  166.  Chili, 
Paraguay,  Terra  Magellanica,  or  Patagonia,  166.  Aspect  of  Chili,  and 
Productions,  166.  Animals,  Towns,  Cuyo,  Tucuman,  167.  Paraguay, 
Towns,  168.  Monte  Video,  Missions,  Buenos  Ayres,  Adjacent  Provin- 
ces, 169.  Patagonia,  Straits  of  Magellan,  170.  History,  Government, 
171.  Brazil,  Inhabitants,  Soil,  172.  Climate,  Minerals,  Precious 
Stones,  &c,  173.  Plants,  174.  Birds,  Departments,  Chief  Towns, 
Rio  Grande,  175.  St.  Catharine,  Corritiva,  District  of  Santos,  San 
Paulo,  Minas,  Geraes,  Goyez,  176.  Bahia,  Pernambuco,Peauhy,  Grand 
Para  and  Rio  Negro,  177.  Natives,  Government,  Guiana,  Seasons, 
178.  Diseases,  Inundations,  Medicinal  Plants,  Forest  Trees,  179. 
Quadrupeds,  Essequbo,  Demaiara,  and  Berbice,  180.  Surinam,  Revol- 
ted Negroes,  Cayenne,  181.     Indians,  182. 

West  Ixdies  or  Columbian  Archipelago,  Animals,  183.  Inhabi- 
tants, Population,  184.  Cuba,  185.  Jamaica,  186.  St.  Domingo, 
187.  Porto  Rica,  Bahamas,  Santa  Cruz,  188.  Anguilla,  St.  Martin's, 
St.  Bartholomew,  St.  Eustacia,  Antigua,  St.  Christopher's  189.  Gua- 
deloupe, Martinico,  190.  Barbadocs,  Tobago,  Trinidad,  191.  Cura- 
coa,  Bonair,  and  Aruba,  Trade  of  the  West  Indies,  192.  Morning  in 
the  Antilles,  193. 

Appendix.  Area  of  the  Country  watered  by  the  principal  Rivers 
and  branches  in  the  United  States,  135.  Meteorological  Table,  197. 
Trees  common  to  Louisiana,  201.     Flora  of  Louisville,  202.     Crypto- 


CONTEXT?.  309 

gamia,  210.  Flora  of  Nachitochcs,  211.  List  of  the  Animals  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  Catalogue  of  Birds  most  commonly  seen  hetween 
the  Lakes  and  the  Sabine,  213.  Religious  Denominations  of  the  West- 
ern Country,  215.  Exports  from  Cincinnati  and  New  Orleans,  217. 
Steam  Boats  on  the  Western  Waters,  217.  Prices  of  Passage  from  dif- 
ferent points,  218.  Military  Posts  and  Arsenals,  218.  Census  of  the 
United  States  for  1830,  220.  Free  White  Males,  222.  Free  White 
Females,  224.  Male  Slaves,  228.  Female  Slaves,  229.  Free  Color- 
ed Males,  230.  Free  Colored  Females,  231.  White  persons  included 
in  the  foregoing  who  are  deaf,  or  dumb,  or  blind,  or  aliens,  or  foreigners 
not  naturalized,  234.  Slaves  and  colored  persons  included  in  foregoing, 
who  are  deaf,  or  dumb,  or  blind,  235.  Recapitulation,  exhibiting  the 
the  general  aggregate  of  each  description  of  persons  in  the  United 
States,  Population  of  the  Counties  and  County  Towns  of  the  different 
States,  according  to  the  Census  of  1830,  Maine,  New  Hamsphire,  Ver- 
mont, 237.  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  238.  New 
York,  239.  New  Jersey,  240.  Pennsylvania, 241.  Delaware,  Mary- 
land, 242.  Virginia,  243.  North  Carolina,  246.  South  Carolina,  247. 
Georgia,  248.  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  250.  Tennessee, 251. 
Kentucky,  253.  Ohio,  256.  Indiana,  257.  Illinois,  258.  Missouri, 
District  of  Columbia,  Florida  Territory,  259.  Michigan  Territory,  Ar- 
kansas Territory,  260. 

Miscellaneous  Statistical  Table.  Executive  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, 261.  Synopsis  of  the  Political  Statistics  of  the  States  in  their 
order:  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  264.  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  265.  Connecticut,  New  York,  266.  New  Jersey,  Pennsylva- 
nia, 267.  Delaware,  Maryland,  268.  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  269. 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  270.  Ohio,  Michigan,  Kentucky,  271.  In- 
diana, Illinois,  Missouri,  272.  Tennessee,  Arkansas  Territory,  Note 
containing  specific  and  important  information  relative  to  the  latter,  273. 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  279.  Note  containing  important  information  in 
regard  to  the  latter,  280.     Louisiana,  Florida,  District  of  Columbia,  281 . 

Purlic  Lands.  Costs  of  the  Public  Lands,  and  Amount  paid  for  and 
on  account  thereof,  284.  Statement  rendered  in  pursuance  to  a  Resolu- 
tion of  the  House  of  Representatives,  January,  1832, 2S5. 

Commerce.  Statement,  exhibiting  the  value  of  every  description  of 
Imports  from,  and  Exports  to,  each  Foreign  Country,  during  the  year 
ending  30th  September,  1830,  286.  Statement  of  the  Commerce  of 
each  State  and  Territory,  commencing  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1829, 


310  CONTENTS. 

and  ending  on  the  30th  September,  1830,  288.  Abstract  of  the  Exports 
and  Imports  of  the  United  States  for  1830  and  1831,  Totol  of  Imports 
and  Exports  for  several  successive  years,  289.  Cotton  Crop — Growth 
and  Consumption,  290. 

Public  Debt  of  the  United  States.  Statement  of  the  Funded 
Debt,  exhibiting  also  the  dates  of  the  Acts  under  which  the  several 
stocks  were  constituted,  and  the  periods  at  which  they  are  redeemable, 
Statement  of  the  Unfunded  Debt,  291. 

Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  the  United  States,  292.  Estima- 
ted Receipts  in  1831,  Estimated  Revenue  for  1832,  293. 

United  States  Mint.  The  Officers  and  their  duties,  294.  Opera- 
tions of  the  Mint,  295. 

Population  of  the  United  States,  297. 
Aionr  of  the  Revolution,  298. 
Georgla  Gold  Region,  299. 
Spermaceti  Whale  Fishery,  300. 
Missouri  Lead  Mines,  301. 
Cholera,  302. 


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